Stop the Insane Holiday Weight gain
10 strategies to stop the scale from moving up!

by Gay Riley, MS, RD, CCN
NetNutritionist.com

No matter your holiday traditions, your race, your religion, what part of the country you live in, the holiday food festival is in progress. The Jewish New Year, Ramadan, the county fair, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year, Chinese New Year, and many more celebrations that all have their special foods will take place again this year. Americans in particular, do not need any reason to gain weight. We have a wonderfully efficient and successful food industry that will make sure we have available every food ingredient we could possibly need for our holiday festivities so we can continue to be the fattest humans on the planet. (http://netnutritionist.com/fa7.htm)

Now is the time to take a stand. This is a matter of conscious effort, health, awareness, reputation, and deliberate action. We must put an end to the tradition of holiday weight gain.

We can still have fun. Fun is not weight gain. This is a battle to break the acceptance of gaining weight so we do not have to diet or stay fat the rest of our lives. Really, the battle is to learn to maintain our weight. To maintain weight in and of itself is a challenge. Can you imagine that most people around the world do not face the problem of eating too much food? In Africa it is famine, in Pakistan and other regions of the world where natural disasters and political struggles cut people off from food sources, lack of food and starvation is the problem. Most Americans (60%) have the challenge not to eat, and to move more to not gain weight. In other regions of the world people walk miles to work, or go to school. We have to plan physical activity.

This holiday season, start a new tradition and stop the insane holiday gain. The following strategies can help, but they must be religiously adhered to. Weight gain is as easy as drinking a glass of water during the holiday months. Food is everywhere, so be armed and ready not to fall victim to the mindless hand to mouth activity.

There is no magic to it, folks. It is totally behavior. There are medications that cause weight gain, but mostly it is the lifestyle we lead and the choices we make day to day. Remember, it is all about homeostasis, biochemical balance, and energy balance.

1. Know how much food you can eat daily to maintain your weight. Stick with it. Keep food records to help you stay aware of what you are putting in your mouth. If you don’t write it down, you don’t eat it! A handful of pecans (200 calories), 20 candy corns (80 calories), an 8 oz glass of red wine (180 calories). See how it adds up. Know what a normal portion of food is. An Einstein Bagel is 3-4 ounces; a standard bagel should be half that size. See the following link to test your knowledge of serving sizes and calories:
   http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/portion/portion.cgi?action=question&number=1
   http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/portion/portion2.cgi?action=question&number=1
   
   
2. Walk at least 30 minutes a day on top of your exercise. Even better, take three 10 minute walks a day. It is easy, realistic and doable. 2500 steps is a mile. 10,000-12,000 steps if you don’t exercise. Exercise will relieve stress, lower cortisol levels, increase endorphins, burn calories, improve circulation, and calm and reduce appetite. Buy a pedometer and put it on from morning to bedtime and record your steps.
   
   
3. Get 7-9 hours sleep every night. Go to bed earlier than usual. Turn the TV and computer off 2 hours before you plan to sleep. Lack of sleep causes weight gain. Deep REM sleep produces Growth Hormone/Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 to manage cortisol metabolism. In other words, it helps you maintain a normal cycle of cortisol metabolism. Lack of good sleep inhibits these hormones that control cortisol, contributing to central obesity and belly fat.

   The Proof: Sleep Deprivation and Weight Gain
   Ghrelin is a hormone involved in the regulation of appetite and energy balance
   Leptin (from the Greek leptos, meaning thin) is a protein hormone with important effects in regulating body weight, metabolism and reproductive function

   • Subjects that slept an average of 4 hours a night:

     ↓Leptin (18%), ↑ Ghrelin (a hormone involved in appetite and energy balance) (28%)
     ↑ reported hunger (24%), ↑carb cravings especially sweets, salty, and starchy high calorie snacks. (1)

   • >1000 volunteers: those that averaged 5 hours of sleep had a
     ↓Leptin (15.5%), ↑ Ghrelin (14.9%), ↑ BMI (3.6%).
     Results were regardless of the subjects' diet and exercise habits.
     (2)
     
   • Heymsfield and Gangwisch analyzed NHANES I data, and found that subjects with an average of 5 hours per night of sleep had a 73% increased likelihood of obesity over those who slept 7-9 hours. (3)
     
   • The study showed a linear relationship: reduced amounts of sleep are associated with overweight and obesity. (4)
     
   • Chronic partial sleep loss or insomnia associated with decreased glucose tolerance, decreased leptin levels, increases in evening cortisol levels. (5)
     
     
4. Reduce stress as much as possible. Get plenty of rest and relaxation. If you need a nap, take a 15 minute nap. Do not get dragged into the materialistic marketing of the holidays. Do things that make you calm: yoga, meditation, warm baths, good books, music, etc. If you do not have to drive, don’t. Ask yourself if that purchase or trip to the store is really necessary. Give gifts of love rather than competing or being pressured to give something that is not in your budget or against your belief. Going against your principle or instinct induced by holiday pressures and stress can lead to overspending, overeating anxiety, and depression.
   
   “Stress that leads to increased cortisol concentrations induces increased food intake. Stress may contribute to abdominal obesity characterized by increases in cortisol and leptin concentrations.”
   (6)
   
   
5. Eat at the same time daily, even if you have a party to go to. Eat every 4 hours or so. Never get hungry. Hunger may lead to overeating. Do not party on an empty stomach. Never go to a party hungry. Eat a big salad or something before you go. Eat foods that help maintain normal blood sugar like lean proteins, cold water fish, wild game, fibrous vegetables, and healthy vegetable fats, nuts and oils. These foods will also provide you with essential minerals and a more alkaline blood pH. Eat a bowl of cultured yogurt daily to keep your intestinal tract healthy and fight off infection. Eat breakfast every day and keep the rule that most food (60%) is consumed by 4:30 pm. Choose low glycemic foods. Try to include those in your diet to avoid blood sugar highs and lows.
   
   

   Moderate to Low Glycemic Foods:
   	Fruits & Vegetables	Starches	Dairy	Other
   Medium Glycemic Level	Cantaloupe Grapes Oranges Orange Juice Strawberries Peaches Pineapple Watermelon	Brown Rice Corn Fettuccini Oatmeal Pasta Peas Pita Bread Pinto Rye Bread Yam
   Low Glycemic Level	Apple Apricot Asparagus Broccoli Brussels Sprouts Cauliflower Celery Cherries Cucumber Grapefruit Green Beans Green Pepper Lettuce Mushrooms Onions Plums Spinach Tomato Zucchini

   
   
6. Reality Check. Stay in touch with your body image by wearing clothes that fit - not clothes with elastic waistbands that are loose around the waist. Wear your snuggest jeans, button and zip pants or skirt throughout the holidays. This will give you a day to day reminder of how you are doing or overdoing. Weigh yourself a couple of times a week to know your true weight. Sometimes you will retain fluid (2 cups of water or fluid is a pound on the scale). Everybody is different but 5-8 pounds fluid shift is not uncommon. Find out your true body weight and try to maintain it. If you have a loose fitting outfit you want to wear, tie a ribbon around your waist under your clothes to remind you if you overeat. Sound extreme? So is gaining 10 pounds in 6 weeks!
   
   
7. Drink plenty of water. This cannot be stressed enough. Dehydration leads to overeating, higher numbers on the scale, and fatigue. When you are tired, you go for more food to keep your strength. Chances are you are thirsty. Hunger and thirst are sometimes closely linked.
   Drink fluids 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after meals to avoid diluting digestive enzymes. Do not drink big glasses of fluids with meals. Diluted digestive enzymes leave food sitting in the stomach, creating Co2, gas, heartburn, indigestion, bloating, reflux, and inefficient digestion of vital nutrients.
   
   
8. Plan your food indulgences. If you are going to a great party with champagne and chocolate truffles, mark the day and stay active and eat healthy until that occasion. Don’t go to the party hungry. And write down your indulgence. Then you know the damage! I am serious. It sounds restrictive but we are in crisis and the mission is to NOT GAIN.
   
   
9. Do not drink alcohol or eat sweets on an empty stomach. By adhering to this rule you will be able to keep your blood sugar from peaking and dropping. Those drops cause you to reach for more. Once this cycle starts it is hard to stop until the New Year’s Resolution or some other trigger. This is what I call the trigger to the holiday weight gain. You grab a glass of wine on an empty stomach, then another, then some chips and dip, a piece of fudge, and you’re off. The next day you decide to diet and by the middle of the day your blood sugar is low and you start all over again.
   
   
10. Know the calorie content of your favorite holiday foods. Know how much exercise you need to do to burn off the calories if you eat them. For example, a 4 oz slice of pecan pie (about 1/6th of a small pie) is roughly 500 calories. To burn it off, you need a good brisk 4 mile, 1 hour walk. A cup of egg nog is 350 calories. Add a jigger of whiskey that equals 450 calories - add another 4 mile walk!
    
    
11. Let me just add eleven. Take the best multivitamin you can buy, a good antioxidant formula with vitamin A, C, E, Zinc, Selenium, and Alpha Lipoic Acid to keep your immune system strong. And if you do not already, take your fish oil (EPA/DHA) to ease your joints, muscles, moods and nerves. (Always consult with your healthcare professional if you are taking prescription medication.)

Good luck. I will be right there with you, turning away from all the temptation, eating small bites, writing it down, taking extra steps, wearing my snug jeans, getting to bed early, going to yoga, taking my vitamins, and making new healthier dishes to fill me up, not out. Stay in touch and email me when the holidays are over to tell me you maintained your weight during 2005.

As a holiday gift to you I am offering the Pocket Personal Trainer and Daily Records books as a package for $12 ($24 value). If you really want to see how many calories you are burning, steps you are taking, and know how many calories you can eat learn more about the bodybugg™ program. Click here for a bodybugg demo. It is the best thing since the invention of the wheel! The typical holiday weight gain is 7-10 pounds. After years of gaining and dieting, the weight loss becomes harder and harder. It is almost like our bodies become used to the game. So let’s change the gain for good!

Happy Holidays!

(1) Ann Intern Med, 2004, vol. 141, pp.846-850
(2) Mignot et al, Stanford School of Medicine, Dec 2004
(3) Study reported at North American Association Study of Obesity annual scientific meeting November 2004
(4) Arch. Intern Med, 2005;165:25-30
(5) Spiegel et al. Lancet 1999 354; 1435-39 and Spiegel et al. J Clin Endocrin Metab 2004, 89(11); 5762-71
(6) Bjorntop P. “Consolatory eating” is not a myth. Stress-incuced increased cortisol levels result in Leptin-resistant obesity. Lakartidningen. 2001 Nov 28;98(48):5458-61.

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