How to Avoid Gaining Weight During the Holidays?

How to manage food during the holiday season? What to do with all the free time? And how to avoid gaining weight? Meital Ezer, a clinical and sports dietitian and the resident nutritionist at Herbalife, has compiled the right tips to prevent weight gain:

1) Order in Disorder: When it comes to eating, our body loves and needs routine. The more regularly we eat throughout the week, the more our internal clock adjusts, making it easier to maintain weight. To stay somewhat balanced, try to establish a routine even during vacations. This might mean sticking to regular sleep and eating patterns or creating a new routine and sticking to it.

2) Make Declarations: Announce your goals loudly, tell your family and friends about your decision to go through the holidays feeling good and comfortable with food and weight. Aim to finish the holiday meal feeling light, not heavy and tired. Making declarations serves as a double commitment, both to ourselves and to those around us, which motivates us to strive harder to achieve our goals.

3) Steer Clear of Temptations: Even with determination and good intentions, it is hard to face temptations for a whole month. To avoid falling into temptation and exhausting our self-control resources, it's advisable to distance ourselves from temptations when possible. This means not leaving cakes, cookies, and other special foods around just because they were left over from a holiday evening.

4) Avoid the "Snowball Effect": This refers to what happens in cases of overindulgence, that small moment where we eat a bit too much or something unplanned, and suddenly the small voice in our head tells us we've failed, so why not eat more during the meal and even for the rest of the day. Remember, each overindulgence has a beginning, middle, and end. If we see it in the correct perspective, understanding a slice of cake is just a slice of cake, and a holiday meal is just one meal, we can stop sooner and prevent further deterioration.

5) Start Your Day Right: Don’t skip breakfast, even if yesterday you overate and decided to fast today - that’s not wise. Breakfast is crucial for metabolism, balancing blood sugar levels, and managing hunger throughout the day. Especially with no set schedule and changing routines, it's important to start the day on the right foot. Ensure you 'refuel' with a breakfast rich in protein, vitamins, and minerals such as bread with cheese, eggs and vegetables, oatmeal with raisins, yogurt with fruit, etc.

6) Stay Hydrated: Water is a crucial component of the human body and contributes to concentration, alertness, and even a good metabolism. When there is no routine, it is particularly important to carry a water bottle as part of preparations before leaving the house. Otherwise, you might go through whole days with very little to drink, ending in headaches and fatigue. A refreshing way to increase water consumption is by adding flavor, such as lemon, herbs, or aloe vera concentrate.

7) Dietary Fibers: Dietary fibers benefit digestive health and help maintain a sense of fullness. The recommended amount is 25-30 grams of dietary fiber per day. To reach this amount, it is advised to incorporate vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains.

8) Exercise: Physical activity has numerous physical and mental benefits. Physically, it burns calories, strengthens muscles, shapes the body, improves posture, and prevents back pain. Mentally, it reduces stress, improves mood, increases alertness, and offers a generally more energetic and positive feeling. The holidays and a new year are excellent times to incorporate physical activities into leisure or a regular workout routine.