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Posted on Thu, Dec 2, 2010 : 12:17 p.m.

Nine tips to enjoy the holidays without increasing your waistline

By Melissa Gerharter MS, RD

The average American gains six pounds between Thanksgiving and Jan. 1. Don’t let this be you!

Follow my nine tips to avoid packing on the pounds this holiday season.

1. Exercise! Kick it up a notch. Instead of exercising for 30 minutes three times a week, make it 45 minutes four times a week. Ask a friend to join you on a morning or evening walk, or hire a personal trainer for the season to keep you accountable.

2. Aim for seven fruits and vegetables a day. This will help fill you up on nutrients, not calories. Pack your fridge full of cut up, ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables so there are not any excuses. Make a pact with yourself that you can’t have a treat until you have eaten seven servings of these first. If you are already eating seven, make it 10 servings.

3. Limit to one a day. Allow yourself one treat a day. If your day doesn’t include any reason to have a treat, don’t double up the next day. Keep in mind that you will need to make up for that treat by increasing your exercise or making another meal a bit smaller.

4. Always plan ahead. You never want to go to a party hungry. Before going to a party, have a healthy snack such as one of your fruit and vegetable servings. This will help you avoid feeling like you're starving, which could lead to overindulging. If the party is a pot luck, bring a healthy contribution so you know that there will be at least one healthy thing on the table that you can eat.

5. Say NO! A nice way of saying no is, "Everything was delicious — I couldn’t possibly eat any more.” Don’t let anyone push you into eating more than what you intended.

6. Focus on socializing. Don’t stand around the food tables. Focus on conversations with people and not the food.

7. Don’t wear loose clothing. Be accountable to how your clothes feel on you. Loose clothing may lead you to eating more because your pants aren’t feeling tight. Make sure the pants you were comfortable in before Thanksgiving are just as comfortable Jan. 1.

8. Hydrate. Drink one or two glasses of water before heading to a party to help yourself from feeling like you need seconds.

9. Set goals. Set a goal for the day, one for the week and one for the month to keep you on track. Make them small and manageable.

Live in the present. Keep telling yourself that you are living a healthy lifestyle not I want to live a healthy lifestyle

Melissa Gerharter MS, RD is co-owner of Joust Strength and Fitness of Ann Arbor, joustfitness.com. She is also a personal trainer and an adjunct lecturer at Eastern Michigan University. She can be reached at Melissa@joustfitness.com.

Comments

Morris Thorpe

Thu, Dec 2, 2010 : 5:02 p.m.

>>The average American gains six pounds between Thanksgiving and Jan. 1