Six ways to stay healthy over the holidays

The holiday feasts are around every corner this time of year and maintaining your fitness and nutritional goals is difficult, to say the least. To help you avoid gaining holiday weight here are a few tips to keep you on goal this holiday season.

Eat breakfast
Your body has been starving all night long, and it needs nutrients to rebuild itself. If you just catch something quick – on the run – instead of eating a full meal, it negatively impacts your workout, and everything else you do during the day. Eat sufficient protein (30-40 grams) and a complex carbohydrate, like oatmeal and a piece of fruit, to start your day off right.

Reduce starchy carbs
Consuming too many starchy foods, such as potatoes, rice, pasta and breads (especially at one sitting), provides your body with more than it needs for energy and glycogen stores; anything left over will be stored as fat. So watch the mashed potatoes, stuffing and rolls. Moderation is key with starchy foods.

Eat 5-6 small meals a day
Dieters often decrease the number of daily meals in an attempt to reduce calories – a BIG mistake. If you eat six meals a day versus three with the same total calories, you can lose more fat because more meals burn more calories – by increasing thermogenesis. Your metabolism will be constantly working to burn the calories you are consuming.

Stay away from junk food
The carbs and sugars associated with junk food work against all your diligent efforts. To ensure that you stay on track during the holiday season take a strong stand against the excessive holiday cookies, candy, high fat chips, dips and snacks. One cookie, piece of fudge or slice of pie a day will help you feel that you are participating in the holiday fare without denying you your favorite treats.

Eat protein
The holiday season is a carb-filled 40 days of eating. Often overlooked is protein. Maintaining a low fat protein intake and eating a moderate amount of complex carbohydrates five to six times a day is the best combination of food to help you stay on your nutritional and physical goals.

Limit sugar
Consuming simple carbs (sugars) right after weight training replenishes muscle and liver glycogen storage, but excess sugar consumed at other times will be stored as fat. Satisfy your sweet tooth occasionally (no easy task during the holidays), but try limiting your intake of sugar to fresh fruit.

Holiday parties, shopping and general vacation preparation can derail your workout routine. I encourage all my clients to stick to their daily workouts as much as possible. I also highly encourage my clients to do an additional 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise during their workouts. This added cardio time helps remind the body sculptors how much work it takes to burn calories.
Be diligent in your workouts and keep a close eye on your food intake. Enjoy the holiday fare and remember if you eat too many cookies one day, get right back on the nutritional track the following day. I wish you good nutrition and a happy holiday season.