Exercise Can Help Reduce Holiday Food Cravings

Thanksgiving typically marks the beginning of the high-risk season for overindulging in food and drink followed by unwanted weight gain. Let's face it there are more celebrations, more food, more alcohol, more appetizers and more calorie-dense snacks during the Holidays than any other time of the year. Moreover, our Holiday season is never just one day of overeating, which the body actually handles quite efficiently. Instead, the winter holidays represent six weeks or more of bad eating behaviors, stressful situations and sleep disturbances. Men and women who have battle weight gain, and weight loss, for years will find the holiday season difficult when it comes to weight fluctuations. However, there's more to it than simply overeating as the time of year is stressful and sleep disturbances are common place.

• HOLIDAY EXERCISE - It is easy for the holiday blues to zap your energy and make it harder to rally for a routine workout. Nonetheless, getting regular exercise, or even a little extra physical activity, can reduce cravings for comfort foods and restore your interests in your usual hobbies.
• BE PICKY BUT EAT - If you choose your indulgences wisely, you want waste calories on foods that you can have throughout the year. So, avoid everyday temptations and allow yourself a seasonal treat, but only when it is something that is really special.
• LEARN HOW TO USE WILLPOWER - Although you can plan to eat a little more on the actual holidays, being more flexible with eating behaviors for weeks at a time is not adequate for weight control. Allow yourself an indulgence when the mood strikes, then immediately switch back to controlled mode.
• PORTION FOOD SIZES - Holiday parties and potluck dinners are common during the holidays but these celebrations can be enjoyed without wreaking havoc on your diet. Since there is a natural tendency to eat more as you sample dishes, make it harder to overeat by using a smaller plate.
• CONCENTRATE ON YOUR MEAL - Instead of eliminating a certain food type, allow yourself a small serving of something special that you only get this time of year. If not, feelings of deprivation could lead to overindulgence.
• DRINK MORE WATER - From busy schedules to celebratory cocktails, making certain your body has enough water each day becomes more necessary during the winter holidays. Luckily, it will also help combat a post-party headache by making sure you stay hydrated.
• INTERMITTENT FASTING FOR THE HOLIDAYS - Intermittent fasting may be an effective tool for managing your weight during the holidays. Although practiced for ages, many people are rediscovering fasting as a self-paced and planned intervention, especially during periods where stress levels are elevated.

If you practice healthy eating habits and make the necessary lifestyle changes to prevent weight gain during the winter holiday season, you can maintain and avoid gaining weight during the holidays. Start new traditions for celebrating the winter holidays. For example, treat your friends and family to a delicious potluck Thanksgiving or Christmas meal and ask everyone to fix a traditional holiday dish but prepared in their kitchen using healthier options. To avoid feeling completely drained when you ring in the New Year, you must empower yourself to manage what you eat, how you indulge in alcohol over the holidays, which counter measures you employ to manage seasonal stress as well as what-when-and-how much you choose to eat.

During your one-on-one visits at Metabolic Research Center, you will discuss your entire weight loss experience from what you eat to why you are eating it. To get a head start for shedding unwanted weight, call or stop by for a free weight loss consultation during this winter holiday season.