How to Make the Holidays Bearable, By: Evan Waters
Uh-oh, Christmas and New Year’s are right around the corner. Year after year, these winter holidays spell disaster for the layman trying to maintain or even lose weight. The decision to start dieting is usually brought on by the weight gain as a result of Thanksgiving. Although a noble decision to start dieting, the choice does not usually end up being a successful one due to the massive amounts of Christmas cookies and the like ingested during the holidays.
#1: Take it one Step at a Time.
It is often overwhelming for a person to be at a Christmas party with the array of desserts and fatty foods available. It starts with “I’ll just have one” and often develops into “Hey, it’s the holidays, I deserve it”. I often preach to my father (who just started up a diet) and other dieters that you need to combat each day like its own battle. I war cannot be won without winning the battles along the way. Similarly, long term weight loss cannot be achieved without winning the battle against calories each and every day. I often tell my dad to look at each meal as its own battle. Taking this short-term approach will result in much success. It teaches the mind next time it’s at a party to “put that cookie back” or to “take a little bit less”. Winning the daily battle will ensure the success of your long-term weight loss goals.
#2: Limit alcohol consumption
Alcohol is one of the biggest reasons for why you aren’t losing weight at the rate you hoped. It also has a great effect on your lifting and cardiovascular work and can be particularly harmful to the athlete. According to the UK Department of Health, the estimated average requirements for daily calorie intake is 1940 calories per day for women and 2550 for men. To lose weight, you need to burn off more calories than you take in. Throughout the day and during sleep most people will burn off the 2,000 calories. This results in a maintaining of weight. However, to lose weight, one must either eat less or work out more resulting in more calories burnt. By the same respect, if you eat 500 more calories than you burn off it will result in a one pound per week weight gain. In a glass of white wine there is roughly 89 calories. If you have three glasses of wine during a party you are adding 267 calories. While 267 may not seem like that much, it adds up and even this menial amount of calories will add pounds to your body if not burnt off. In the same sense, a can of beer has about 182 calories. Three cans of beer add 546 calories to your diet. 546 calories accounts for roughly 27% of your allotted calories. So plan ahead if you are going to drink.
#3: Cut out the soda
Although this may be hard at first, this is a necessity for any dieter. A can of Coca Cola has 155 calories. Many soda drinkers often consume about four cans worth a day. As you can see like in the alcohol setting, these calories add up. Even if you just switch to diet soda, it will help your cause dramatically. A common belief is that a person needs eight glasses of water a day. And likewise a common belief is that soda has carbonated water in it, so drinking it is like drinking water. This just isn’t true. Water flushes the body of fat-binding toxins while the acidic properties of soda bind to the muscles and result in a greater amount of lactic acid buildup. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, soda has been linked to obesity, weakened bones, and caffeine dependence. Many professional bodybuilders drink three gallons of water a day. I, myself, bring a gallon jug of water to school and drink another gallon at home. While you may be thinking achieving this water intake is near impossible, it is much easier than you think. You will be very surprised just how often you will be drinking in water if you carry a sports bottle of liter sized bottle around with you in the car or in the workplace.
#4: Make the right decision when eating out
When going out to a restaurant, the chef usually prepares you a meal that is immense in size. And the normal person usually eats this, because it is sitting right in front of them. Referencing back to point #1, you need to win the battle of eating out. To avoid the over abundance of eating either ask the waitress for a half portion or before you start eating cut/divide your food up so that you limit what you know you should eat. Bring the rest home and eat it for lunch the next day. Because of the lack of time, long lines at stores, and the near impossibility of finding a parking spot at the mall, many turn to fast food during the holiday season as it provides a quick and inexpensive meal. While chains like Wendy’s and McDonald’s have made vast strides in making their menus for diet friendly, they are still a ways off. Making the decision to eat at a fast food restaurant is basically losing the battle before you begin. Still, you may be able to cut your losses and instead of leaving the battlefield with the majority of your soldiers dead on the battlefield, you can raise the white flag and give up without suffering many losses. For example, at Wendy’s ask for a baked potato instead of medium French Fries. The baked potato has 280 calories, whereas medium French Fries from Wendy’s have 390 calories and significantly more fat. Also, try to make the decision to order the grilled items oppose to the fried. At McDonald’s a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese has an astounding 770 calories, 47 grams of fat, while only providing 46 grams of protein. However, a Chicken McGrill has 400 calories, 26 grams of fat, and 27 grams of protein. Order it without mayonnaise and you cut about 12 grams of fat.
Conclusion
To sum up the article, it is best to know while it may be a difficult task maintaining or losing weight in the winter months and holidays it is not impossible. Through some tough mental preparation and just being an informed consumer you can easily accomplish your goals. It is interesting to note, that if you are someone who plans to bulk during this season, you should do the exact opposite of what I mentioned (minus the alcohol consumption). Through relatively simple decisions goals become achievable effortlessly. Feel free to contact me with questions/comments/concerns.
