How to avoid weight gain during the festive season?
Weight gain is easy during the holidays and festival season. Festivities bring with them celebrations, time with family and friends, snacking, drinking, and a whole lot of sinful delicacies. Food becomes the centre of focus at such times. The goodies are usually fried snacks, chocolates, sweets, pastries, cakes which are high calorie, high fat, and high sugar foods. These appeal to the taste buds, tempt a person to overindulge and could pose a risk for weight gain. Avoid weight gain during holidays and the festive season becomes the key focus.
What do statistical research findings show?
At most times, people weigh more right after festivals than what they weighed before the festival. Research studies show that significant weight gain was observed around major holidays in Japan, America and Germany. Statistical research findings show that holiday weight gain may be an important contributor to the rising prevalence of obesity. The various factors during the holiday celebrations that encourage overconsumption are longer eating durations, easy access to food, eating in the presence of others, and increase portion sizes. De Castro (1995) reported that meals eaten in the presence of others were 44% larger than when meals were eaten alone.
As per 3 key research findings, there are only small seasonal fluctuations in body, individuals may be more aware of body weight during holiday periods and falsely attribute excess weight at this time to recent gain which they think is 3 times more than they really gain. However, overweight or obese individuals have much more weight gain than others, and 14% gained more than 2.3 kg. In short, obese people are at a higher risk to gain weight.
Top 5 health tips to avoid weight gain during festivals and holidays?
Did you know that you can avoid putting on weight even during the festive season by being more mindful of what you eat? Besides food and dietary changes, behavioural or environmental changes, such as quitting smoking or emigrating to a more highly urbanized culture can also be associated with weight gain. It could be stressful for those who are already trying to lose weight.
Here are Top 5 health tips for the holiday season that will help you keep your weight and health in check
- Exercise
Regular exercise followed by increased exercise just before and during holiday season can help to burn calories, avoid weight gain and help you stick to your good health goals.
2. Mindfulness and smart eating
Just being conscious about what you eat and how much you eat, will help to curb indulgences. Step away from buffets, watch every morsel you eat and avoid second helpings on your plate.
3. Avoid fasting
Most people who go for holiday meal tend to skip breakfast or eat very light so that they can binge while eating out. Avoid fasting to stay away from binge eating behaviours and make wrong food choices.
4. Avoid binge eating and quit smoking. Drink plenty of water in between to avoid hangover especially if you drink and eat with your drink.
5. Slow down
Chew food properly and eat slowly for 20 minutes or more. This prevents overeating and indigestion. It is interesting to know that it takes 20 minutes for the brain to register that there is food in your stomach.
Need for intervention strategies to avoid weight gain
There is a need for the implementation of effective intervention strategies in those groups most at risk for obesity development and its associated co-morbidities. Please note that if you adhere to a low-fat, low-calorie diet as advised by a qualified diet professional with increased exercise, it could lead to greater self-monitoring and even weight loss. Yanovski et al., 2000 suggest that those who can maintain weight control behaviors, such as a high level of physical activity, are the least likely to gain weight over the holidays. However, maintaining such behaviors in the face of competing demands requires significant effort.
It is advisable to consult a qualified nutritionist and dietitian who can guide you in advance with food alternatives, lifestyle tips to help you stay healthy and on the right track. Unfortunately, it may not always be possible to do so before the festive season. Most people end up consulting a dietitian after they put on a few kilos. This could be preventive rather than curative if you consult in advance.
Read our strategies on Dont Quit Say No To Excuses to motivate you to stay on track with your weight loss or good health goals.
Scientific References
1. Van Staveran WA, Deurenberg P, Berema J, et al. Seasonal variation in food intake, pattern of physical activity and change in body weight in a group of young adult Dutch women consuming self-selected diets. Int J Obes 1986;10:13345
2. Andersson I, Rossner S. The Christmas factor in obesity therapy. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1992; 16: 1013-5
3. Roberts SB. Holiday weight gain: fact or fiction?. Nutr Rev. 2000 Dec 1;58(12):378-9
4. Hull HR, Hester CN & Fields DA. The effect of the holiday season on body weight and composition in college students. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2006;3, 44.
5. Baker R, Kirschenbaum DS. Weight Control During the Holidays: Highly Consistent Self-Monitoring as a Potentially Useful Coping Mechanism. Health Psychology 1998; 17(4):367-370
6. Hull HR, et. al. The effect of the Thanksgiving Holiday on weight gain. Nutrition Journal 2006, 5:29
7. Phelan S, Wing RR, Raynor HA, et. al. Holiday Weight Management by Successful Weight Losers and Normal Weight Individuals. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008 June;76(3): 442–448.
8. Boutelle KN, Kirschenbaum DS, Baker RC, Mitchell ME. How can obese weight controllers minimize weight gain during the high risk holiday season? By self-monitoring very consistently. Health Psychology 1999;18(4):364-368.
Pallavi Pinge is a Clinical Nutritionist and Dietitian | Content Director & Editor for health websites | has a passion for digital health and enjoys promoting health and wellness. She’s the founder and director of Ambrosia Wellness, where she provides personalized nutrition counseling, education, and coaching to individuals with various health conditions. You can follow her on her social media channels below to stay tuned in with the latest in health and wellness | Health Blog | Contact her for appointments |
