Try Step Goals for Preventing Holiday Weight Gain.
We have just finished Halloween and are into the Holiday countdown. I have been told that the average American gains 10 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This is actually not true. In one study, A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4336296/ results were “Average holiday weight gain is 0.37 kg, far less than commonly asserted. As this gain is not reversed during spring or summer months, the net 0.48 kg fall/winter weight gain appears likely to contribute to the increase in body weight that frequently occurs during adulthood.”
I have found additional sources that support that the problem is that the weight is not lost post Holiday and this affects the long term weight gain increase. So, what can you do about this? You can be mindful of your lifestyle and wellness habits as you swing into the Holidays. One way to do this is to monitor a step goal. You can use a fitness watch, a pedometer that goes in your pocket or your smartphone pedometer.
It is too easy during the Holidays to let events get in the way of our health and fitness. Here is a link to The American College of Sports Medicine recommendations on how to start a walking program:
https://www.acsm.org/docs/default-source/files-for-resource-library/starting-a-walking-program.pdf?sfvrsn=85e9d2d9_2#:~:text=A%20daily%20 goal%20for%20 most,day%2C%20 or%20 approximately%20five%20 miles.
Set a Holiday daily step goal November 1- January 1. And keep it. If you fall off, get back on! Select an accountability partner. Share your daily goal with them. You can use me, if you don’t have anyone!
