Dietary and nutritional content reviewed by Jasmin Gorostiza, DT, DM, DSS, CFPP.️
The holidays are here. They’re not even around the corner but they’re actually here. It’s an exciting time of the year but here comes the parties. With the parties come the calories and the weight gain.
It’s the same thing over again. You start making your New Year’s resolution with the hope of following it through. Come on! Get real! Do you actually think you can follow through with your New Year’s resolution? How many years have you been doing that?
This is not to demoralize or to dampen your spirits but according to forbes.com, only eight percent really follow through with their New Year’s resolution. It doesn’t really specify what this small percentage of people focus on for their New Year’s resolution. Nonetheless, you only have a small percentage of them.
However, it is alarming just the same because this small percentage is taken from the 40% of Americans who make a New Year’s resolution. You just wonder how much of that eight percent is actually focused on weight loss. Definitely, a lot smaller than eight percent.
However, it is alarming just the same because this small percentage is taken from the 40% of Americans who make a New Year’s resolution. You just wonder how much of that eight percent is actually focused on weight loss. Definitely, a lot smaller than eight percent.
The point is, making that New Year’s resolution to lose weight is most likely, a futile act. Instead of wasting your time and energy with useless new Year’s resolution, why not take it from a medical expert instead. Related read: Avoid weight gain with frozen food from Nutrisystem
A senior attending physician of emergency medicine from the St. Barnabas Hospital, Dr. Ernest Patti, has some great advice for you. He is featured on this video. Here are his tips.
Do You See Yourself Losing … 7. Pick A Few Treats
Yes, pick a few treats. Don’t end up eating everything you see just because it’s the holidays. Take it easy.
Just pick the treats that are really only available during the holidays. Here’s what Dr. Patti has to say:
Just think of those things that you really want to indulge in during the holidays; Grandma’s pecan pie, maybe that special pasta dish. whatever it is …So you have to limit it. You don’t want to go into the holidays thinking I’m going to engorge myself with everything. So pick those few treats, try to enjoy them, stick to them, but use common sense.
So there you go. Use some common sense and don’t feast on the treats that you can get anytime of the year.
6. Give Yourself An Early Fitness Present
Start now. Don’t wait. Get some exercise now. According to Dr. Patti:
Don’t wait until the first. If you go out, buy yourself a new pair of running shoes or something prior to the holidays, you’ll get in that mode of maybe I should start using them. Get the Fitbit. Start to clock the number of steps that you walk during the day. If you can have a goal during the holidays, you’ll keep your metabolism higher, burning more calories.
So as early as now, start moving. Start exercising. If you don’t know how to start, try Nutrisystem. Aside from their filling food replacements, they also have some easy physical activities that you can do anytime of the day.
5. Have A Filling Snack
Did you ever think that snacks could actually help you lose weight or at least, help you maintain your weight? Well, having a regular snack during the day is going to help you stay full. However, you just can’t snack on anything. According to Dr. Patti:
High protein is the key. A filling snack means a high protein snack. A nice turkey sandwich or maybe just some meat or vegetable …something with a lot of protein in it. Fills you up. It burns longer and it allows you to stay away from the fried fatty …a handful of nuts works.
So don’t forget to choose your snacks wisely.
4. Say Hi To Everybody
How can you actually avoid gaining weight during the holidays when there are just too many parties to go to? It’s just not easy to stay away from the abundance of food and drinks. You know what? You can. Here’s a good suggestion from Dr. Patti:
You want to walk through the whole party quickly. While you’re saying hello, there might be a high protein station where there’s a lot of chicken on skewers, maybe beef on skewers. Things that you might enjoy that will fill you up quicker and allow you to stay away from the higher fat carbs.
3. Keep Your Hands Busy
This is another good advice from Dr. Patti. He says:
Well obviously, it can be interpreted many different ways but what they’re looking at is, maybe you’re the person who likes to take photos. If you have a camera in your hands and you’re engaged that way, you maybe apt to put less food into your mouth. Another thing is, if you like to walk around with a drink, one of the things I suggest to folks is, tab your drink. Use sparkling water. Put a splash of fruit juice …or sometimes fresh fruit. It’s festive. It looks like a cocktail and it also keeps you hydrated, which many times, during the holidays, we get dehydrated.
If your hands are busy or you’re too busy talking to your friends, you won’t put too much attention on the food that’s readily available. Related read: Enjoy this Nutrisystem promo
2. Don’t Wait After The Holidays
By now, you know that only eight percent of folks follow through with their New Year’s resolution. Unless, you see yourself as part of the eight percent, then go right ahead and wait for the New Year to come.
It also wouldn’t hurt to see what Dr.Patti has to say about it. Take a look at this first.
New Year’s resolutions are notoriously not kept because it’s in the middle of the winter. The weather’s bad. It’s cold. You don’t want to go outside. It’s better to keep this in mind in the beginning. If you can go into the holidays, fit and even a few pounds on the lighter side, with these tips at the back of your head, you may survive the holidays better. Come out on the other end, ready for the New Year.
Why wait after the holidays when you can act now?
1. Make It A Drama Free Zone
Stress and drama can lead to emotional eating. Don’t do that. Take it from Dr. Patti.
Spend time with family. Make it a drama free zone. Stay away from drama and troubles. Enjoy yourself. Live, laugh; laugh is very important for the heart and for the immune system … Enjoy the time with loved ones. Remember the focus.
The holiday season is meant for you to enjoy and to take some time to look back and be grateful for all the blessings. It’s not an eating spree of sorts. So take it easy and remember that you can always avoid the weight gain if you eat smarter over the holidays.
Do You See Yourself Losing … 
Setting a regular time for snacking is not much of a challenge but choosing something that’s filling and protein-rich is not easy. The first thing that comes to mind when snacking is junk food but of course, that is not an option.
I have been exploring the snacks from Nutrisystem and they’re not bad at all. I’d definitely recommend them.
Very timely article you have here. The tips are very helpful most especially numbers 4 and 3. They’re pretty funny as well. Thanks.
Nice tips! Thanks for sharing. Dieting is never included in my weight loss resolutions. That’s because I always try to lose weight any time of the year. Seriously at my age now, I just really try to eat right. I “pick a few treats” once in a while. 🙂