Health & Wellness Weblog | HealthTrekker

Health & Wellness Weblog With Tips And Hacks

  • I Was Just Going To Complain About My ...

    I Was Just Going To Complain About My ...
  • How Excess Bodyfat Kills You: The Twe ...

    How Excess Bodyfat Kills You: The Twe ...
  • Crestor Cleans Arteries Like a Vascul ...

    Crestor Cleans Arteries Like a Vascul ...
  • Eating Small Meals Is A Dieting Gem.  ...

    Eating Small Meals Is A Dieting Gem. ...
  • Fast Fat Loss Formula: The Quickest R ...

    Fast Fat Loss Formula: The Quickest R ...
  • New Year’s Dieting Gem: The Hac ...

    New Year’s Dieting Gem: The Hac ...
  • Little Blue Pill, My ****! All A Guy  ...

    Little Blue Pill, My ****! All A Guy ...
  • Best Hoax Study Ever: Men Who Stare A ...

    Best Hoax Study Ever: Men Who Stare A ...
  • 19 Of Buzzfeed’s Tweets About E ...

    19 Of Buzzfeed’s Tweets About E ...
  • Sitting Too Long Is Killing You, That ...

    Sitting Too Long Is Killing You, That ...
  • Video: The Science Of Us Intros The S ...

    Video: The Science Of Us Intros The S ...
  • EWG’s Dirty Dozen, Clean Fiftee ...

    EWG’s Dirty Dozen, Clean Fiftee ...
  • Yasmina Rossi Is The New Queen Of The ...

    Yasmina Rossi Is The New Queen Of The ...
  • MDAnderson’s Turmeric Research  ...

    MDAnderson’s Turmeric Research ...
  • How To Live To Be 100: Diet, Fitness, ...

    How To Live To Be 100: Diet, Fitness, ...
‹›
You are here: Home / Nutrition
For information only. This site does not supply medical advice, diagnosis, or care.

Santa Belly: 8+ Ways To Reduce Or Avoid Holiday Weight Gain From Partying Like It’s 1899

Filed Under: Nutrition, Weight Loss / Fat Loss

Santa Belly: 8+ Ways To Reduce Or Avoid Holiday Weight Gain From Partying Like It’s 1899
plate of christmas cookies in front of tree


Bashing The Holiday Bloat:
A lot of us both enjoy the end of year festivities and also regret their toll on our bodies after January 1st.

And the struggle is real, because studies say the average person will add between 1-2 lbs to their weight between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.

No word on how much of that is going to your waistline, but suffice it to say probably most of it. It may also end up staying there, too.

But there are a few ways of varying wackiness to help you avoid a lot of the problems in the first place…

 
0) Track What You Can, Within Reason/Sanity:
This of-course goes without saying that you can probably work your way through the holidays if you just have a good idea of what & how-much you’re actually eating.

Then, if you can at-least keep a rough track of those calories and what you’re allowed each day, much of the gain can be avoided if you stick to that number and as few “Fast-Carbs” as possible.

 
1) Don’t Get There Hungry:
One of the surest ways to over-eat shown in study after study is to go somewhere on an absolutely empty gas-tank. -Like the typical Grocery Store trope.

-Why? Because butter, sugar & salt are a catering chef’s best friends.

*And everything on every hors d’oeuvre tray you see carried around will probably have the maximum-concentration of calories allowable by the Geneva Convention;

-short of just plain freebasing a stick of “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter”.

Before you realize it, and well before your body gives you the “I’m full” signal at 20 minutes, you’ve gorged yourself on enough gut-grenades to keep you alive for 3 days.

And Also: Once Salt is involved, it makes you drink more. After you drink more, you get the munchies, make bad food choices, eat even more, etc.

 
+ 1a) Pre-Game At Home First:
… So, if you eat at home a little bit first, you’ll be in much better shape to control yourself at the party.

 
2) Choose The Healthiest Stuff First.
In this study, researchers found that if people see the healthier options first, they will be more likely to pick them.

And because of that, it’s much harder to get a ton of calories, or even “bad” calories if you hit the fruits & veggies first.

Furthermore, fruit & veg will tend to have the highest fiber & the lowest calorie-density.

So excepting the extra sugars in fruit for a second, they will tend to fill you up in the most health-friendly way, too.

 
3) Trick Your Eyes:
Funnily enough, another study shows yet another strange development in our 1-plate-meal culture.

As our waistlines have expanded, (wait for it), -so have the size of our Plates!

Yes, nutbar-city, but true. Dinner plates are now 22% bigger than they were in the 1960s.

-And that gives the cue to the next hack. Use the smallest plates they have. (short of a saucer).

The greater perceived-size of the food relative to the size of the plate will trick you into thinking you’re eating more.

It will also increase the effort-ratio of you getting more food, which will naturally make you want to get less.

 
4) Mix-Around & Chat:
If you don’t treat the party as only a place to eat, you’re less likely to gorge yourself.

The more you move around the place instead of just standing next to the buffet-tables, the more you naturally pace yourself.

And you may end-up eating less.

 
5) A Little Food-Type & Nutritional-Variety Goes A Long Way:
So here, we’re getting into French Paradox territory.

Because when The French do a traditional dinner, there are several small plates.

And the standard thinking on how this helps them stay thin is they get a big amount of nutritional variety.

That way, they get an added component to their sense of fullness, as the sheer number of different macro/micro-nutrients is thought to make them feel fuller than if they had only one food.

Also, the more you vary your intake, the more likely you are to get something that’s bitter or sour, both of which tend to reduce appetite.

And if you think about it, it does seem easier to grab a ton of calories if you just sit & shovel in only one thing.

Even chefs say that after the first 7 seconds, you stop tasting the food & just start plain consuming.

 
6) BONUS! Give-In To Your Cravings! -Whaaaaat?:
We all get cravings. Who knows why. It could be an actual deficiency, or just something subconscious.

But just the way they tell you when you’re trying to lose weight that Cheat-Days are a must,

Because a Cheat-Day is there to keep part of your subconscious from going crazy, for lack of a better term.

So are SMALL indulgences at the holiday buffet.

If you’ve wanted to try something, especially because of some oddly-charming European dessert commercial, then do it.

But if you’ve been following the previous tips, the next part should be easy: Control The Portion Size.

Try keeping it to small pieces of about 1 inch square at a time.

That way just like part of the previous tip, you’re spending the maximum-time Tasting it, instead of gorging.

-And you still get your “Fix” in a less +/- destructive way.

 
7) BONUS 2!: A Good Rule Of Thumb For Counting:
Until the new HT app is ready, it will be pretty hard for most people to easily count calories in an event like a holiday party.

So here are a few good rules of thumb until then.

• Food:
Figure each roughly-golfball-sized canapé is +/- 100 calories.

It’s a good average over the fattiest ones, the leanest ones and the lightest ones.

(btw, the average comes from Olive Oil, which is about the most calorie-dense thing we have at 120/Tbsp.)

• Drinks:
Figure each Mixed-Drink is 150 calories, each Straight-Alcohol drink is 100 calories, each Glass of Wine is 150 calories, and each Glass of Champagne is 100 calories.

Again, not exact, but close-enough, easy to remember & better than nothing.


Good Luck, Merry Christmas, & Happy Holidays out there.

Check out the Links for a few more tips:


Photo Credits: “Windsor Gate – Nakoma Club Holiday Party 2011”, by Polygon Realty Limited


Links:
• Source(s): USNews | WebMD
• Source Studies: PLosOne-Slim by Design: Serving Healthy Foods First in Buffet Lines Improves Overall Meal Selection

Before you go: please share this story on Facebook, RT on Twitter,
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, Or, Subscribe to receive email updates.
-Thank you for your support!

Share On:    

Tagged: alcohol, bad nutrition, carbs, cooking, drink, fat, food, micronutrients, nutrition, the french, weight loss
By: Will  /  December 21, 2016  /  Comment

You might also like:

Weight Loss Difficulty: Does Being Fat Make You Fatter?
Fat Is Contagious And Obesity Can Spread Just Like An Outbreak Of Disease. Just A Joke, Right?...Or ...
Release The Hounds! -Dietary Guidelines Say You're Probably Not Drinking Enough Coffee

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: For informational purposes only. Should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis or substitute for professional care.

Subscribe to the HT Email Newsletter:
 

Recent Posts

  • Symptom Checkers & Misdiagnosis: Cyberchondriacs Can Get Things Wrong More Than 50% Of The Time

    Symptom Checkers & Misdiagnosis: Cyberchondriacs Can Get Things Wrong More Than 50% Of The Time

  • Running & Longevity: A Little High-Quality Cardio May Lower Your Risk Of Premature Bucket-Kickage

    Running & Longevity: A Little High-Quality Cardio May Lower Your Risk Of Premature Bucket-Kickage

  • Trans-Fats + Dementia: Tiny Amounts Of ‘Dietary-Plutonium’ May Increase Risk Of Brain Disease

    Trans-Fats + Dementia: Tiny Amounts Of ‘Dietary-Plutonium’ May Increase Risk Of Brain Disease

  • Personality Type & Lifespan: Your Score On The Big 5 Is Even More Important Than Your Credit Score

    Personality Type & Lifespan: Your Score On The Big 5 Is Even More Important Than Your Credit Score

  • Overactive Brain & Lifespan: Surprising Research Shows 1 Factor Can Make Your Life Shorter

    Overactive Brain & Lifespan: Surprising Research Shows 1 Factor Can Make Your Life Shorter

Popular

  • ring tailed lemur face looks pensive
    Gastroenteritis, Stomach Flu Cure May Have Been Discovered By Clay-Eating Cheeky-Monkeys
  • yasmina rossi bikini sunglasses desert side view
    Yasmina Rossi Is The New Queen Of The Silver Foxes! 59 Year-Old Model & Grandmother Shows Us Mortals What Age-Defying Really Looks Like
  • manchurian candidate faceoff
    Calorie-Restriction’s Mousechurian Candidate: Ancient Chinese Secret Creates Mighty-Mouse With Mighty-Brain
  • cute blonde girl drinking beer oktoberfest hofbrauhaus
    15 Benefits Of Beer, Backed By Science That Is 60% Bulls**t, -But Keep Drinking Just In Case...
  • yoga lotus pose person in gold sunlight
    Brain Benefits Of Turmeric-Like Curry Spice Might Help Your Mind Repair Itself, Chillax, Then Take Over World

Editor’s Picks

  • cool old guy with red addidas hatHow To Live To Be 100: Diet, Fitness, Connections, Mindset, DNA, X-Factors
  • gilleys cold beer dirty girls mud wrestlingDirty = Good? and the "Hygiene Hypothesis"
  • red tachometer revvingFast Fat Loss Formula: The Quickest Results Ever Were From MetRx And Sandwiches. Who Knew?
  • silver buddha head statueYou Can't Fix Stupid, but You -Can- Grow New Brain Cells
  • nanotechnology biological dangersNanotech Mega Mesothelioma w/a Half-Gainer off the High-Dive
Websites We Love

Categories

Copyright © 2019 | Terms Of Use | Top | Contact / News / Tips | Sitemap | About | Privacy

Powered by: The Genesis Framework · WordPress