Staying fit and lean this holiday season > Cliff Sheats
With the holiday season, can you still eat, drink, be merry and still stay fit? Answer: Absolutely—and here are some easy-to-follow guidelines to help you. If you stick to these, you’ll start 2007 in super shape – with no need to make New Year’s resolutions…
Avoid or limit alcohol consumption. When there’s alcohol in your system, the liver has to work overtime to
Veggies
process it, so it doesn’t have adequate time to process fat. Sip on seltzers, club soda or sparkling mineral water on the rocks with a citrus twist.
Stay active. Sticking to your regular weight-training and aerobic exercise routines is one of the best ways to fight fat gain during the holidays. So regardless of what comes between you and your workout, try not to eliminate it all together. If you’re like most people, you’ll need to let off some steam during the often-stressful holiday season, and exercise is the perfect stress reliever. Plus, it helps to burn off the extra calories that you’ve eaten at those parties and holiday get-togethers.
Push it aerobically. If you have the luxury of vacation time during the holidays, why not engage in a little additional aerobics to burn off those extra calories? Do a bit more of your usual aerobic activity or try some new types just for fun. If you are not that adventurous, try to slightly increase the duration and/or frequency of your usual aerobic exercise routine.
Check out the Parrillo CapTri® Cookbook. Most people don’t realize it, but the traditional holiday dinner with appetizers can weigh in with thousands of fat and sugar-filled calories. Look at John’s cookbook for some recipes that make great holiday fare! There are new, healthier, and delicious ways to cook with turkey, sweet potatoes, and more.
Plan ahead. It’s easier to stick to a healthy course of action if you decide to do so ahead of time, before the situation presents itself. Decide ahead of time what you will eat, and how much. Planning ahead of time works much better than merely throwing caution to the wind.
Try “pre-dieting.” It works like this: Start trimming off a few pounds of fat before the holidays get in full swing by following the Parrillo Nutrition Program. Pre-dieting has been shown in clinical trials to offset holiday weight gain. Obesity researchers in Sweden studied the effect of eating during the Christmas holidays on 46 obese patients in a weight-maintenance program. Those dieters who had lost more than 6.6 lb by pre-dieting during the six months prior to Christmas gained less weight (from 0.4 lb to 4.8 lb) between Christmas and Epiphany (a religious festival celebrated on January 6) than those who didn’t pre-diet. By contrast, the patients who gained more than 6.6 lb of body fat during the six months prior to Christmas put on an additional 5 lbs. on average during the holidays. The message is clear: Pre-dieting clearly keeps the holiday pounds from piling on.
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