How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

I really enjoy reading blogs, especially those of fellow photographers that I admire. It's interesting to see what they post, especially when they're not posting pictures. Yeah, I know that I eat up their eye candy photos like cordial cherries in December, but I'm really intrigued by the other things they post that let you know a little bit about them. Like Jasmine Star's last post about eating organic foods and grass-fed beef (it's pretty funny) and Davina Fear's regular posts about staying healthy. Are you seeing where I'm going with this? Those of you who know me well know that I at least attempt to live a moderately healthy lifestyle, or that I like to think that I do. While this post has very little to do with photography, I feel that I should post a little something that lets you get to know me better. And who knows, this may actually help somebody besides myself this holiday season. It's from a Men's Health article that I read online today called Avoid Mindless Eating at Holiday Parties by Erin Hicks. I know, it's sounds so very riveting, doesn't it? By the way, I'm paraphrasing, so be sure to read the whole thing.

1. Budget your calories. You already know that you're going to be at a party where there will be no shortage of food, so plan ahead and save set aside a few hundred calories for the party. That way, the food you do eat won't be extra.

2. Hit the veggie platter. Appetizers are usually high in calories and they're made so that you eat a lot of them. But veggies are perfect for late night parties because they have very few carbohydrates and are less likely to be stored as fat.

3. Pick protein. Turkey or ham is a good option.

4. Talk more, eat less. Spend more time talking to people and you'll eat less.

5. Shrink your plate. This idea is really basic, Brian Wansink (author of Why We Eat More Thank We Think) has challenged people to eat their largest meal of the day from a 10-inch plate rather than a 12-inch plate for one month, which would equal 22 percent fewer calories and a loss of around 18 pounds per year. Awesome!!! Check out his blog here.

6. Shake up your cheat day. One cheat day a week isn't going to hurt anyone and it can be good for you. If you usually cheat on Sunday (like me) then you can simply rearrange your schedule for Christmas day on Friday this year.

7. Wake up to yogurt. Eat something like the day after and like yogurt and a glass of water so your body can detox itself. And don't overdue it on the leftovers. Keep it light for the rest of the next day too.

8. Burn it off. This was really interesting to me. Workouts simply aren't going to undo what we do to ourselves this Christmas. Check out these numbers to see what it will take to burn off calories from some common foods.

2,100 jumping jacks = 1 cup of egg nog
280 pushups = one glass of wine
1 hour, 30 minutes of calisthenics = one serving of nuts
2 hours of moderate walking = one slice of pecan pie
13 minutes of jumprope = one shot (of alcohol, I guess)


Well, that's the short version of that really cool article. Be sure to check out the full post here

P.S. Be sure to check back soon, as I have some cool shoots coming up and plenty of new pictures on the way!