32 Science-Backed Ways to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

By Nicole McDermott

Avoiding holiday weight gain may sound as feasible as Santa fitting down billions of chimneys on Christmas Eve, but we promise there are logical strategies to stay on track. Many of us experience weight gain during the festive winter months, but packing on a few pounds in December is far from inevitable A prospective study of holiday weight gain. Yanovski, J.A., Yanovski, S.Z., Sovik, K.N., et al. Development Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD. New England Journal of Medicine, 2000 Mar 23;342(12):861-7. Weight and body composition change over a six-week holiday period. Wagner, D.R., Larson, J.N., Wengreen, H. Human Movement Science Program, HPER Dept., Utah State University, Logan, UT. Eating and Weight Disorders, 2012 Mar;17(1).. Don’t get us wrong—the holiday season is all about celebrating, having fun, and indulging. So pass the eggnog and yule log (in moderation) and let’s tackle how to navigate holiday party food spreads, hectic schedules, and sidelined gym routines—without turning into Mr. Scrooge.

Tips for Eating and Drinking

1. Pick protein.

Protein can help maintain a healthy weight because high-protein diets are associated with greater satiety (and as an added benefit, it’s important for healthy muscle growth) Effects of a high protein diet on body weight and comorbidities associated with obesity. Clifton, P. Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia. The British Journal of Nutrition, 2012 Aug;108 Suppl 2:S122-9.. Make sure to serve up some turkey, roasted chicken, or prepare animal-free alternatives like quinoa, lentils, or beans.

2. Eat before celebrating.

Skipping breakfast or lunch in order to “save your appetite” probably isn’t the best weight-maintenance tactic Neural responses to visual food stimuli after a normal vs. higher protein breakfast in breakfast-skipping teens: a pilot fMRI study. Leidy, H.J., Lepping, R.J., Savage, C.R., et al. Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. Obesity, 2011 Oct;19(10):2019-25.. While the jury’s still out on how important breakfast really is, not breaking the fast ‘til the afternoon may lead to bingeing later on (read: four slices of pumpkin pie) Breakfast consumption affects appetite, energy intake, and the metabolic and endocrine responses to foods consumed later in the day in male habitual breakfast eaters. Astbury, N.M., Taylor, M.A., Macdonarld, I.A. School of Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK. Journal of Nutrition, 2011 Jul;141(7):1381-9. Epub 2011 May 11.. Make sure to stick to a reasonably sized breakfast with plenty of protein, which will help tone down the urge to stuff your face later.

3. Bring …read more

Source:: Greatist