As Christmas is rapidly approaching, are you worrying about piling on the pounds? Wondering how your body will handle all the Christmas nights out and feasts that come along with it? Are you looking at your schedule over the next few weeks and seeing an ever expanding waistline?
Here are 5 reasons why we put on weight in the holiday season, and what you can do about it:
Holiday Weight Gain Reason #1 Schedule Changes
Once the holidays arrive, a strictly scheduled week begins to unravel. Suddenly there are 3/4 day weekends with ample opportunity to sleep in and be lazy. Not to mention the Xmas parties with heavy eating and drinking, gyms that either close early have new and unpredictable opening hours. Travelling to see friends and family takes you to new and different places, where working out is not at the top of your priorities.
Holiday Weight Gain Reason #2: Stress Increases
At the same time that your schedule changes, you also suddenly have added pressure of shopping, family obligations, and changes to your daily routine. As a result of this added stress, your blood pressure and heart rate can go up, your motivation for exercise can go down, and you can gain weight and retain fluid as your body produces of a hormone called Cortisol.
Ironically, of the best ways to control stress is to exercise. For this reason, i advise doing a little something as soon as you wake up, even if its just a couple of sets of squats, pressups etc and a little stretch, all this takes less than 10 minutes and will help you relax. This will also decreases stress enough to squeeze in a bigger exercise session later in the day!
Remember the only workout you will regret is the one you dont do.
Holiday Weight Gain Reason #3: Food Everywhere
As if it weren't hard enough that all this added stress makes you want to eat more, it seems that there are usually cookies, mince pies, snacks,chocolate and drinks in constant view during the holidays. It's no secret that when tempting treats surround us, we're far more likely to eat them.
The solution to this is simple: Hide the treats and snacks during the holidays. Keep cookies in opaque, non-transparent containers. Cover and place pies or other desserts back into the refrigerator immediately after you're done with them. Put alcohol in a closed cupboard. Avoid putting dishes of sweets or chocolates out on tables and counters. These snacks are what really rack up the calories as it becomes mindless eating.
Holiday Weight Gain Reason #4: Cold Weather
Cold weather can also be a reason for holiday weight gain. After all, who wants to go out for a brisk morning walk or jog when you have to spend all that extra time putting on multiple layers, gloves, a hats and so on. Even driving to the gym can be annoying when the roads are covered in snow or you spend the first half of your workout just trying to warm up.
A good solution for this problem is to keep your body as warm as possible throughout the day. For example, when it's cold outside, try do small bursts of exercise throughout the day - simple movements that use alot of muscles. If your working alot then try squeeze these in on your breaks . Just this small amount of activity can keep your body warm and ready to exercise when it actually is time for a workout.
Holiday Weight Gain Reason #5: Peer Pressure
You probably wouldn't be reading this article if holiday weight gain wasn't an "accepted" societal normality. "Santa belly," "festively plump," and "food coma" are terms that are freely thrown around during the holidays. And if all your friends accept something as normal, it's less likely to bother you. For this reason, it's easy to feel less guilty about overindulging and becoming lazy during the holidays.
But wouldn't it be much better if you could arrive at Jan. 1 with a New Year's resolution other than "lose weight"? Dont fall into the mentality of ill start at new year, so for the time being im going to eat as much rubbish as i can - this will only mean that when you do eventually start it will take 1 - 2 weeks longer to see results compared to if you had just started before you went on your final flourish.
This season, consider not succumbing to peer pressure and societal acceptance of holiday weight gain and instead stay physically active and avoid unplanned eating. Remember Christmas is what you make it, if you see it as a few days relaxing and eat fairly well then your body will stay where it is - but if you see it as a 10 day binge then expect to see a dramatic increase on the scale.
Try not to break your routine too much and still exercise during the festive season.
Your body will thank you when the New Year rolls around.
