ML Coaching
Christmas and New Year is an exciting time. Alongside the festivities, stress and baked goods, it's also the time when many people gain weight.
In fact, between mid-November and mid-January, adults gain an average of 1 pound, or half a kilogram (1).
At first glance, this doesn't seem like much. But most people never lose that extra weight again.
The good news is that gaining weight over the holidays isn't inevitable.
In this article, I'll give you 20 tips to avoid gaining weight over the holidays.
1. Stay active with your family and friends
Sedentary activities like sitting on the couch watching sports are common traditions in many families.
Inactivity can contribute to weight gain, especially when it's paired with excessive amounts of food.
Staying active during this period can really help you maintain your body weight.
Taking a walk with your family can also help take your mind off food and strengthen your bond with the people you love.
You could also sign up for a New Year's Eve run over the holidays to burn off the extra calories. There's a wide range of options out there.
2. Be smart about snack attacks
Over the holidays, there's naturally a wide variety of sweets around. When they're basically within arm's reach, snack attacks happen faster.
At home, you can avoid the problem by keeping sweets out of sight. It gets harder at work or at family gatherings.
One tip I can give you for these situations is to be more mindful about eating sweets. Ask yourself whether you're really hungry or if it's just a craving. If it's just a craving, simply skip the snack attack.
If you're really hungry, reach for real food like fruit, nuts or vegetables. They don't contain artificial sugar or unhealthy fats that can lead to weight gain.
3. Watch your portion sizes
When the holidays arrive, many people overdo it with their portions.
People who eat larger portions than recommended tend to gain weight more easily.
The easiest way to avoid this is to weigh your food or serve it on smaller plates.
To figure out the right portion size, it can help to read the label and stick to the recommended serving size.
If there's no way to measure, just use common sense when choosing your portion size.
4. Practice mindful eating
Many people are rushed and on the go during the holiday season. This leads to multitasking during meals.
Studies show that people who are distracted while eating tend to eat too much. This happens because they don't pay attention to their body's feeling of fullness. (2, 3)
Another strategy for eating more mindfully is to eat slowly and chew thoroughly, since this helps you feel your body's fullness better and consume fewer calories.
It can also help to take a few deep breaths before you start eating. This calms you down and shifts your full attention to your plate instead of your to-do list.
Some studies show that people who eat mindfully have a lower tendency to gain weight (4, 5).
5. Good sleep quality
Disrupted sleep patterns are pretty common over the holidays and can lead to weight gain.
When you sleep less, you're automatically hungrier and consume more calories while being less physically active (6, 7, 8, 9). This is also my experience as a personal trainer in Zurich.
The reason poor sleep can lead to weight gain is that it raises hormones that regulate your appetite level. (10, 11)
On top of that, poor sleep slows down your metabolism. Another reason you might gain weight.
6. Control your stress level
Keeping up with the demands of the holidays can be stressful.
People who are constantly under stress have high cortisol levels, a hormone released under stress. Chronically high cortisol can lead to weight gain, since the hormone is linked to higher food intake. (12, 13)
On top of that, a stressful lifestyle can increase your cravings for junk food.
That's why it's important to keep your stress level under control all year round, but especially over the holidays, when you have extra tasks to manage and some unhealthy eating is unavoidable.
There are plenty of ways to keep your stress level under control over the holidays, such as training, meditation, yoga and breathing exercises.
7. Keep your meals balanced with enough protein
Holiday meals typically have plenty of carbohydrates but little protein.
That's why it's important to get enough protein with every meal, since it contributes to feeling full and helps with weight control.
In fact, eating protein with your meals automatically reduces your calorie intake, since it lowers feelings of hunger and appetite. (12)
Protein is also helpful for weight control, since it boosts your metabolism and stimulates appetite-suppressing hormones. (13)
Good protein sources include meat, poultry, fish and plant-based protein like legumes, lupins, fermented tofu or tempeh. As a personal trainer in Zurich, I recommend my clients get enough plant-based protein alongside animal protein.
8. Focus on dietary fibre
Dietary fibre is one of the key nutrients that contributes to feeling full.
Some studies show that a higher fibre intake can reduce total calorie intake and so reduce weight gain over the holidays.
Unfortunately, most holiday dishes are low in fibre. Even during the holidays, try to include fibre-rich foods like vegetables, fruit, legumes, whole grains and nuts in your meals.
9. Avoid taste-testing
This might sound strange at first, but it isn't. Many people spend a lot of time baking and cooking during the holiday season.
Alongside the baking and cooking, taste-testing naturally happens too. Even if it's just small bites, the calories add up.
Taste-testing can be important, especially when you're cooking for others. But a teaspoon should be more than enough to test with.
Also make sure you're not hungry while cooking, since otherwise you're more likely to overdo it while taste-testing.
10. Bring a healthy dish to share
Holiday parties are usually a major setback in the fight against weight gain. Under these circumstances, you usually have no control over the food that gets served.
The good news is that you still have a bit of control. Just bring your own healthy dish to share with others.
That way, you're guaranteed to have something to eat that lines up with your weight goals.
11. Choose your desserts mindfully and enjoy them
Desserts are everywhere during the holiday season. This often leads to excessive sugar consumption, one of the main causes of weight gain.
Instead of eating every dessert on offer, it can help to focus on your favourites. Eat the ones you really like and leave the rest.
Another trick is to actually enjoy your dessert instead of just wolfing it down. This makes you feel happier and less likely to overdo it.
To really enjoy your dessert, eat it slowly and mindfully so you can savour it properly.
12. Limit liquid calories
Over the holidays, people typically drink more alcohol and sugary drinks.
Since alcohol itself contains calories and often a lot of sugar too, these are extra calories that can lead to weight gain. On top of that, alcohol stimulates your appetite. As you can see, it's a vicious cycle.
If you want to keep your weight under control over the holidays too, I recommend limiting your liquid calories – this goes for the rest of the year as well. I recommend the same thing to my clients as a personal trainer in Zurich.
13. Use smaller plates
Dinner parties over the holidays often make it easy to let loose and eat multiple portions.
There's a simple trick here. Just use smaller plates, so your calories are automatically limited.
With bigger plates, the risk of overeating is correspondingly higher.
14. Reduce the calories in your recipes
Excess calories are the main reason for weight gain over the holidays.
However, there are ways to lower the calorie content of your recipes. Here are the best-known ones:
Baking
- Replace butter with applesauce, mashed banana or pumpkin purée
- Use stevia instead of sugar, since it has fewer calories
- Use dried fruit instead of chocolate chips
- Flavour the recipe with vanilla, almond or peppermint extract instead of butter and sugar
Cooking
- Flavour the dish with herbs and spices instead of butter
- Use cooking methods like baking, steaming or grilling instead of frying
- Replace full-fat cream with half-fat cream or skimmed milk
- Replace cream cheese, sour cream and mayo with Greek yoghurt
Drinks
- Use club soda or sparkling water instead of sugary drinks
- Flavour drinks with lemon or lime instead of sugar
- In milk-based drinks, use low-fat or skimmed milk instead of whole milk
15. Weigh yourself regularly
Stepping on the scale regularly over the holidays can help limit weight gain.
Many studies have shown that people who weigh themselves regularly have an easier time maintaining their weight than those who don't.
Some people weigh themselves every day, others once or twice a week. It's completely individual. Do whatever works best for you. I recommend this to my personal training clients in Zurich too.
16. Get yourself a sparring partner
Many people report more success pursuing their weight goals when they have a sparring partner working toward the same goals.
Finding a sparring partner over the holidays can be really useful for staying motivated to stick to your weight goals.
Ask your friends, family and colleagues if they want to join you in a challenge like this.
17. Avoid processed foods
During the hectic holiday season, there's more processed food around, like packaged mashed potatoes.
At first glance, this seems like a simple, quick option, but these foods often contain a lot of sugar and unhealthy fats.
To avoid gaining weight, look for whole foods instead. Cook your meals yourself with individual ingredients rather than reaching for the quick fix.
This lets you control what goes into your food, helping you keep your weight under control.
18. Plan ahead
All the tips in this article rely on consistent forward planning to keep your body weight under control.
When events involving food are coming up, make a plan for how you'll handle them. Try to find out what meals will be served, and if necessary bring your own food to share with others. Otherwise, plan out how much of it you'll eat so you don't end up overeating.
It can also help to make a list of healthy meals, so you always have healthy dishes on hand and ready to bring to a party.
19. Skip seconds
Holiday meals are usually served buffet-style, where you can choose from several options in unlimited amounts.
This leads people to go back for seconds, or even thirds. This inevitably leads to weight gain.
To avoid this, check in with your appetite after your first plate and then decide whether you want to eat a bit more or not. If you're not hungry anymore, you've probably eaten enough and can enjoy the other aspects of the celebration.
20. Draw a line
Over the holidays, many people adopt the attitude "I'll change something tomorrow and eat healthy then." This attitude ends in a vicious cycle of unhealthy eating.
If you want to control your weight over the holidays, you should draw a line for where your food intake limit is, and stick to it.
Slipping up once in a while is completely fine. If you stick to the 80/20 rule, you should make it through the holidays without gaining weight.
If you still have questions or want to really get in shape for the new year, I'm happy to help as a personal trainer in Zurich. Just send me a message via the contact form on the website – I look forward to hearing from you!