6 Tips to Avoid Packing on the Pounds for the Holidays

When I just started University, I was plagued by The Freshman 15. I gained 15 lbs and more in my first year because I was stuffing my face during study sessions and classes with Cream cheese bagels and French Vanilla coffee with extra whipped cream. I’m surprised all I gained was 15 lbs. I imagine there is a term similar to The Freshman 15 for the Winter Holidays: The Onesie 15? The Bed to Fridge to Couch 20? It is easy to gain weight in the Winter time, and these simple Math equations explain it all: Holidays = Vacation time, Holidays + Vacation = A family visit + Homecooked meals, and Holidays = Relaxing + Creativity + A Desire to try new baking recipes. Unfortunately, missing in each equation is the number of pounds we will add exponentially. While being in a pandemic may sadly take away the ability to visit our families this Winter, it will not eliminate our desire to eat hearty and bake anything we want. In fact, it might increase our desires to do so to make up for lost quality time with family and friends. If you aren’t bothered by this, then power to you. If you’d like to figure out how to have an amazing Winter Holiday without restricting your eating, feeling like you hate your life, and eventually rebounding and inhaling everything in sight, then keep reading for these 6 tips:

26 is an arbitrary number. Please do not ruin your Holiday meal experience by counting your chews. But what is of importance is to chew your food properly. Chewing food properly to the last morsel stimulates amylase, the enzyme to digest starches. Good digestion begins in the mouth. Good digestion means there are less chunks of food hanging around in your stomach, making it down to your small intestine to be properly digested. Complete digestion in the small intestines means less chance for fermentation in the gut. Less fermentation means you can reduce the amount of bloating. Less bloating = Less weight gain.

Exercise before eating. I’m specifically referring to weight training. By engaging in weight or strength training, you will engage your muscles long enough so that you can generate an afterburn. Afterburn is the process of burning calories post workout. The easy thing about this is that you can engage your muscles by doing bodyweight exercises, no equipment needed. Some examples are squats, push-ups, burpees with push-ups, tricep dips and lunges. Do whatever is comfortable for you, but you will want to do more than just one type, and enough reps to feel a challenge. Depending on how many different sets and reps of each exercise you do, it will take you at least 5 minutes. Surely you have 5 minutes to spare!

Generally, when we cook for the Holidays, we make more food than we normally would any other time of the year. More food = Stacked plates + More servings. We are basically overeating. The implied equation here is that the more food we eat, the higher our chances for gaining weight. We still want to enjoy our Holidays so denying ourselves a second plate of food when we really want one is not an option. May I suggest waiting it out? If you eat your first portion or plate and know you want to get another, wait at least 15 minutes. Find something else to do in the meantime, like a quick phone call or face-to-face conversation. Your stomach cells will expand enough to send a message to the brain that you have eaten something. Much of our sense of satiety is completed in the small intestine during digestion and will not happen within 15 minutes. However, there are hormones that slow down the movement of food from your stomach to the small intestine, giving your brain a chance to understand that you are getting full. By waiting 15 minutes, you will feel fuller than if you had not waited, and so your second plate should be less stacked. A Lighter second plate = Less calories ingested.

In bartering, you exchange goods or services with someone else without using money. In the case of creating your Holiday dinner, barter with yourself. If you want to enjoy a tasty meal and avoid crying on the scale the next morning, swap in healthier ingredients. You can still enjoy the meals you always do if you make healthy choices. For example, replace butter with grapeseed oil. Grapeseed oil has a high cooking point meaning it maintains its integral structure and prevents cholesterol buildup, and it is high in the antioxidant Vitamin E. Add a twist to traditional recipes by swapping in brown rice, brown pasta or quinoa for a recipe that typically calls for white rice or pasta. White rice is higher in calories and sugars and has significantly less fibre. If a recipe calls for cow’s milk, then use nut milk which is lower in sugars, calories, and fats. Use Stevia to sweeten your desserts, a natural sweetener that is sweeter than white sugar meaning you can use less of it. Lastly, you can opt for baked versions of fried recipes such as baked plantain or oven “fried” chicken. Baking lets you avoid the absorption of fat from oils used for frying. Essentially, in this bartering system you exchange high calories, fat, and weight gain for a tasty, guilt-free meal experience, and sanity.

Eating to feel full means that you are choosing the first foods you eat wisely. Whatever you eat first, will kick off the process of satiety, so you’ll want to eat more of the foods that are nutrient dense. You can still eat baked mac and cheese, or fruit cake. Just make a salad or a side dish of veggies. And put a nice portion on your plate. And eat them first. Earlier I mentioned swapping in brown rice and pasta or quinoa for white rice and pasta. These foods are high in fibre. Salad and veggies are high in fibre, and they also have a high water content. Foods that are higher in fibre and water make us feel fuller. Feeling fuller = Less calories + Less weight gain.

Do something awesome that nourishes your soul and makes you feel fulfilled, however that may look like to you. Often when we overeat or indulge in sweet, creamy or fatty foods, it is because we are trying to use food as comfort. Food is being used to satisfy an area of our lives that we subconsciously feel is inadequate or lacking. Stuffing our faces might seem like a great solution to the need for comfort, but the reward we receive from it is temporary. You know what isn’t temporary? The extra pounds from the binge session! By engaging in an activity that is fulfilling, you can satisfy that desire for comfort without increasing numbers on the scale. Then come mealtime, the food you eat will serve only one purpose: to satisfy physical hunger.