Does Thanksgiving make you fat?

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and with it the start of the eating holiday season. Turkey, ham, stuffing, cranberry, candied yams, pumpkin pie…I can’t weight…I mean wait!

The truth of the matter is one meal isn’t going to make you fat, but overeating for an extended period of time sure will. A 2000 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that we do gain weight during the holidays (mid-November to mid-January), but not as much as you think, in fact less than a pound. The problem is that we don’t lose this holiday gain over the course of the year. In fact we are gaining weight at about 12 pounds a decade. And no, this is not ‘just how it is’, but because of the choices we make. The fact that this weight gain is concentrated around the holidays should cause us to take a look at our behaviour.

So what do we do about it? I certainly wouldn’t ask you to skip Aunt Edith’s sweet potato pie, would I? No, but you might want to stop at one piece, fatty!

Seriously how can we get through the holidays without having to buy stretch pants? Put some of these tips into action and you might even lose a little bodyfat!

• Don’t stop your exercise program during the holidays (you do have one, right?)
• Don’t load up your plate at mealtime, take a small portion of everything you enjoy. Then have some more tomorrow. Seconds and thirds are not a good idea.
• Enjoy your holiday meals, but pay attention to all the snacking between meals. It’s not mandatory you eat cookies at the office.
• Learn to say ‘no thank-you’ when someone sticks that piece of holiday fudge in your face. You don’t have to try it.
• Don’t let yourself get hungry. There are better alternatives when you have to have a snack, such as a handul of almonds or walnuts.

I am reminded of what Dr. Rugg said in the article I posted a few days ago – “Health is not a freebie”. It does take work, but it’s worth it!

References: Yanovski JA et al. A prospective study of holiday weight gain. N Engl J Med 2000 Mar 23 342 861-867. Original article , Medline abstract

[tags]Nutrition, Weight Loss[/tags]