Holiday Weight Gain (All Wrapped Up)

holiday-weight-gain

This post will wrap up all ten tips to help you avoid gaining that pesky pound this holiday season. In my first post I covered tips 1 through 3 you can read it by clicking here. In the second segment, I covered tips 4 through 7, if you’ve not had a chance to read that post yet, you can read it by clicking here. Today, we’ll go over the last three tips that will have you singing the Hallelujah Chorus when you step on the scale for the first time after the holidays have passed.

Tip #8: Make Healthy Food (or Better Yet) Non-Food Gifts  

Why is it that we feel we need to fill the holidays with sugar and spice which leads to pants twice the size?   Do we really  need to make cookies, candies, chocolates, and caramel corn to give as gifts? My bet is that you’ll end up licking out the bowls, “taste testing” the finished product (probably two or three times just to “make sure they are good enough to give away”  ), and maybe even saving some of each treat for yourself, after all you did slave away in a hot kitchen all day. If food gifts are an absolute  must for you, then try making something healthy like  granola, homemade whole wheat bread or rolls, home canned fruits, jellies or vegetables. These healthy gift ideas still convey your appreciation for your neighbors, without adding to their waistline or their cholesterol count.  

Another idea is to skip the food gifts all together and  craft homemade gifts such as magnets, small wooden signs, candles or Christmas ornaments. A trip to your local craft store will provide you with  limitless possibilities.  

The whole point of a neighbor gift is to show your appreciation for them. Each holiday season, I open the door to plate, upon plate, upon plate sitting on my doorstep loaded to the brim (and then some) with cookies, sweet rolls, homemade fudge and other “goodies”. I appreciate my neighbors thinking of me, but I’d really rather skip the plate o’ carbs and saturated fat, and just take the card all by itself. Really. I don’t know about you, but high cholesterol and blood pressure due to  a dozen paper plates with a variety of fat laden cookies and candies wrapped three thousand times in saran wrap with a Christmas bow perched precariously on top and then left on my doorstep doesn’t really give me the warm fuzzies. On the other hand, a candle glowing softly in the background, while my kids and I string popcorn for the tree? Consider me warm fuzzified!   🙂

Tip #9: Drinks count towards your caloric intake too!

The holiday season has it’s own selection of high (yet empty) calorie beverages to choose from. Make sure to be conscious of how many calories you consume in drinks such as  hot toddies, holiday punch, wassail, hot chocolate, eggnog or other drinks that contain sugar and or alcohol. Drinks such as these will add  significantly to your caloric intake, they do not necessarily  curb your appetite for food. In order to avoid gaining weight, your caloric intake must be less than your caloric burn. If you want to enjoy a certain food, those calories can be worked in by skipping the hidden calories  in holiday drinks, and choosing water instead.  

Tip #10: Celebrate Sensibly, and You’ll Avoid Putting on Weight.

The holidays are a time to enjoy the company of family, good friends, and yes, even good food. Go ahead and enjoy those treats that you only get this time of year, but do it sensibly and in moderation. Eat only the foods you know you love, don’t waste calories on treats that you know are not as good as they look. Keeping all 10 of these tips in mind will help you enjoy all the holidays have to offer–without any guilt OR that extra pesky pound.    

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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