Women Benefit from Starting Holiday Mornings with Exercise

No wonder so many Americans are overweight. It is definitely not easy to stay slim, especially during the winter holidays. Nonetheless, there is more to life than eating and even weight gain can be managed. During the winter holidays, starting your morning with an exercise routine or brisk walk can provide unique benefits for weight control. A study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise concluded that women who exercise in the morning responded less to photos of tempting foods and said they moved more the rest of their day. It is questionable whether you should set a goal to lose weight during the winter holiday season. After all, if you keep up your exercise routine and follow your weight-control menu plan with portion control, you can survive the holidays with no pressure to lose weight until the New Year.

• HOLIDAY EXERCISE - According to a study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, women who exercised in the morning moved more the rest of the day and had less of a response to pictures of tempting food throughout the day.
• BE METICULOUS 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 the mood strikes.
• LEARN HOW TO USE WILLPOWER - A good way to boost your willpower is never leave home hungry. A quick protein snack can help mute the lure of fast foods or the smell of fresh baked goods. Holiday vendors purposefully coax their tempting aromas your way. So, juice your willpower and it will help you ignore many seasonal distractions.
• PORTION FOOD SIZES - While having a small portion of a calorie-dense holiday dish may be in your eating plan, start by filling your stomach with lower-calorie, nutrient-dense offerings. Nonetheless, don't ignore serving sizes. It is easy to overindulge eating healthy foods during the holidays, too.
• CONCENTRATE ON YOUR MEAL - You can limit the amount of sweet treats you eat by offering to split a dessert with a sibling or friend. Dividing a holiday-size serving into smaller portions will keep you focused on your meal while allowing you to openly enjoy the special occasion.
• DRINK MORE WATER - Water is extremely important for your metabolism to function optimally, which makes it crucial for weight loss and weight management. Studies have shown that consuming eighteen ounces of water a day can increase your metabolic rate by up to 30 percent.
• INTERMITTENT FASTING WORKS 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.

According to an article in Psychology Today, your brain responds to just thinking about food by sending pleasure signals. Moreover, people who profess that they are not going to eat a specific food may have made it more difficult to forget the hunger pangs they created. The less you rely on willpower over the winter holidays, the better. Moreover, creating good strategies for managing food consumption at parties, dinners and other events, the more empowered you feel in making good food choices. Moreover, people who engaged in self-weighing every day during a holiday study avoided putting on the extra pounds. Having an eating strategy made participants extra sensitive to changes in their weight causing an immediate adjustment to reduce any discrepancies.

Healthy living programs from Metabolic Research Center are scientifically-developed to help clients adopt healthy eating behaviors and physical activities to transform their lives by maintaining a healthy weight before, during and after the winter holidays. Call an MRC near you to get started today.