12 Ways to Have a No-Weight-Gain Holiday Season!

Posted on by Jesse Santiano, M.D.

The Holiday Season is a time of fun and get-togethers. Food is always aplenty, and adding weight is a common concern. A study has shown that a weight gain of 0.48 kg (1 lb) can occur during the fall/winter period, and it can be more. Those added pounds can accumulate in a lifetime and lead to obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

How can you prevent weight gain during the holidays? Here are some tips.

  1. Use smaller plates, especially for desserts.

  2. Eat slowly. Engage someone in an interesting conversation while eating. Slow-paced eating is associated with a sensation of increased fullness. That’s because leptin increases the cholecystokinin signals to expand the feeling of fullness. Another study showed that that leptin also interacts with brain dopamine to produce a sense of pleasure after eating.

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  1. Help yourself to fiber-rich foods like vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

  2. Make your low-carb dish to share.

  3. Avoid processed foods. They are usually high in sugar.

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  1. The first dishes are typically high in carbohydrates in a buffet. Save your plate for the proteins at the end. Proteins don’t cause as much insulin spike as bread and pasta.

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  1. Keep away from sugary drinks. Club soda is a good option because it gives the same sensation as pop without sugar.

  2. Watch out for the calories in alcoholic beverages. Craft beer may have 170-350, and an 80 proof vodka or whiskey has 97 calories. Drink responsibly.

Intermittent Fasting During the Holidays

  1. If you know that your co-workers will bring food the next day, start intermittent fasting the night before at 7 or 8 pm. Skip breakfast. Remember that you can have black coffee or unsweetened tea. If the merry-making at the workplace starts at noon, you have already had a 17 or 18-hour fasting.

  2. Between the gatherings, you can continue with the 16-hour fast. Fasting allows the body to use fat stores for energy and maintain insulin sensitivity.

  3. If the Christmas party is at night, have a low-carb breakfast early in the day. Better yet, start fasting in the morning until the party.

  4. Continuing intermittent fasting after the holidays can make you lose the excess weight that may have been gained during the holidays. Have a Very Merry, Healthy Christmas!

 

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References:

  1. A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain. Jack A. Yanovski, Susan Z. Yanovski, Kara N. Sovik, Tuc T. Nguyen, Patrick M. O’Neil, Nancy G. Sebring. N Engl J Med. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 Feb 21. Published in final edited form as N Engl J Med. 2000 Mar 23; 342(12): 861–867. doi: 10.1056/NEJM200003233421206
  2. The effect of slow-spaced eating on hunger and satiety in overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Theodoros Angelopoulos, Alexander Kokkinos, Christos Liaskos, Nicholas Tentolouris, Kleopatra Alexiadou, Alexander Dimitri Miras, Iordanis Mourouzis, Despoina Perrea, Constantinos Pantos, Nicholas Katsilambros, Stephen R Bloom, Carel Wynard le Roux. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2014; 2(1): e000013. Published online 2014 Jul 2. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2013-00013. PMCID: PMC4212566
  3. Calorie count – Alcoholic beverages – U.S. National Library of Medicine

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