Holidays are all about family, festivities, and fun. Unfortunately, those are all a recipe for overindulgence and weight gain too. But that doesn’t have to be the case.
We asked the experts responsible for keeping Hollywood’s hottest bodies in shape to share their tips for having a super-sized holiday season without becoming super-sized, yourself!
Follow these tricks to eat, drink and be merry — without kicking off the New year with pounds to lose.
Eat breakfast. Sounds simple and it is! Often how you start your day is how your day will proceed. Eating breakfast revs up your metabolism, and can help you set a healthy tone for the day. If you make time for a healthy breakfast (think: oatmeal with fruit, eggs and toast, yogurt with flaxseed and fruit), you are more likely to make better food choices throughout the day.
Be consistent. As much as possible, maintain your regular sleep, exercise and eating patterns, says Jessica Setnick, Ms, Rd, Cssd, Cedrd, Director of Education and Training at Ranch 2300 Collegiate Eating Disorders Treatment Program in Dallas. This is not the time to “go on a diet” or make drastic changes to your lifestyle. Don’t skip meals, even if you have a big one coming up soon. Eat on time so that you are not starving when you are surrounded by tempting treats.
Watch out for those drinks. Even non-alcoholic beverages can add up. To avoid “drinking your calories,” switch it up as often as possible between soda water with a splash of fruit juice and wine or a cocktail. Water in a fancy glass tinkling with ice cubes, in between “real” drinks will help slow you down and keep you hydrated.
Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate! “The first step in pressing “reset” on January 1 is to re-hydrate,” says Kristy Lambrou, R.D., Culinary Nutritionist at the Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate restaurant in New York City. This means taking a hiatus from sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages and loading up on caffeine-free, sugar-free fluids, especially water – the more of it, the better.
Once is enough. Yes, those leisurely multi-course meals are a standard every holiday. But, really, do you need to eat everything? Nope. Have one serving and enjoy every bite. Also, right now go ahead and decide now which 5 “cheat” items you are going to eat this holiday season, without any guilt, says Kirsten Helle personal chef and nutrition consultant at Mesa de Vida in Seattle. You are not going to gain 10 pounds by eating your favorite treats 5 times over the holiday season. If it is worth it to you, enjoy it!
Eat Real. Skip the marshmallow-topped canned sweet potatoes or the candy you could live without. Instead prepare cleaner, real foods, which will go further in satisfying your cravings without causing more. Think: gorgeous roasted root vegetables with garlic and olive oil. For appetizers, choose nuts, seeds. For desserts, consider fresh fruit, dark chocolate, and high-quality cheeses.
Spice things up. Add chili pepper flakes to your meals, which studies show can give your metabolism a quick boost and help suppress your appetite.
Get the rest of our expert secrets to staving off the holiday weight gain here.
What are your secrets to warding off the holiday weight gain? Share them below.
See the hottest Hollywood diet fads in the video below.
By Aly Walansky
