How to Get Fit After the Holidays

Take it Off Keep it Off Lesley Rotchford

Between the holiday parties and ever-present treats, December can be a tough month to make healthy choices. We talked to Lesley Rotchford, author of Womenโ€™s Health Take It Off! Keep It Off! ($12.91), for easy-to-follow-tips for the holiday season and beyond.

โ€œMost people gain an average of one pound over the holiday season (overweight people gain five or more pounds), and despite virtuous resolutions and new gym memberships, most people donโ€™t take the weight off in the new year,โ€ says Rotchford. Setting up the groundwork for a diet and exercise plan now will prevent holiday weight gain, so you have less damage to undo in January. Hereโ€™s how:

ย Keep temptation at bay
โ€œThe key is avoidance,โ€ says Rotchford. If your coworker has peppermint bark sitting out on her desk, take a different route to the bathroom so you arenโ€™t tempted to pop a piece in your mouth every time you walk by. And bring your own pre-portioned snacks to work (like a low-sugar nutrition bar, a Greek yogurt, or a Ziploc bag containing cut-up veggies or 1-ounce portion of almonds) so you arenโ€™t starving and ravaging the office for treats.

โ€œAt parties, stand as far away from the food table as possible to prevent temptation,โ€ says Rotchford. Want proof? A study by researchers at Cornellโ€™s Food and Brand Lab showed that people with higher BMIs were more likely to seat themselves facing the buffet at a restaurant.

Avoid common holiday mistakes
First, skip the pre-party snack. Rotchford says this favorite advice from nutritionists doesnโ€™t work in practice: โ€œI have always found that to be unrealistic advice. If thereโ€™s guacamole in front of me, Iโ€™m going it eat whether Iโ€™m hungry or notโ€”especially if Iโ€™m drinking.โ€ Second, try to be mindful of small apps like meatballs and pigs-in-blankets, which are easy to inhale without realizing it. Instead, take time to make a balanced plate of food; include a treat or two, but fill up on mostly healthy options.

Use the holiday time to ease into a New Yearโ€™s program
Key word here is planโ€”not start. โ€œThe holiday season is not the time to suddenly adopt a strict exercise program,โ€ says Rotchford. โ€œBetween parties, shopping, cooking, tree trimming, and other holiday festivities, none of us have a spare momentโ€”not to mention a spare hourโ€”to hit the gym everyday.โ€ Same goes for intense dieting. Thereโ€™s just too much temptation. Instead, use this month as an ease-in period. Rotchford notes that research shows it takes 66 days to develop a new habit. So get a jump on the process by establishing a few manageable healthy habits nowโ€”like going to the gym three times a week and only drinking on the weekends. โ€œWhen I say manageable, I mean something you can realistically stick toโ€”vowing to work out every single day and not drink at all are not habits most of us can swing this time of year,โ€ says Rotchford. By mid-to-late January, these new behaviors will start to have become ingrained and youโ€™ll feel healthierโ€”which will make you want to keep them up!

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