The final two months of each year can add on the pounds. Weight Gain in November and December is a national pastime in the good old USA. Two of the greatest festivals of food (not to mention the extra alcohol consumed thrown in for good measure) Thanksgiving and Christmas will add unwanted calories to anyone's normal diet.
It is difficult to avoid this train wreck, but you can limit the damage to an acceptable level. A good method to keep calories consumed from escalating is to pay attention and tract daily intake. Most people get caught up in the individual numbers and miss the huge amount in the overall number.
In a brief amount of several weeks, you are tempted by many holidaymakers' traditional gourmet delights that are very high in fat and low in nutritional value. High sugar content, many food items are smothered in gravy and sauces with high levels of fat, and tempting alcohol concoctions all contribute to the number of calories.
Enjoying a piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream or apple pie ala mode (750 calories approximate figure - just for example) is not different from a normal dessert. But then you add a meal with 7 courses, wine and nibbles before that and you win the prize of 2800 or even more calorie meals. We won''t even discuss the snack of leftovers later that night.
Then add a few parties in the mixture and you add several events with this kind of meal, and calories add up fast. Treats people bring to work, you shop and eat out more, and your normal exercise routine may get kicked to the curb too. Avoiding all these extra calories and those tempting treats is darn near impossible.
It is well known that many people gain at least 10-12 pounds during this holiday period. And if you're already a little over your desired weight, it can be a killer to get that extra weight off in January.
Let's say you were already at least 8 pounds over your desired weight at the start of the holiday season, so in January if you acquired additional 12 pounds over the holidays, bingo, you now have a whopping 20 pounds to lose, instead of the original 8. It's a big difference and, according to many authorities, each pound equals 3,500 calories - so that means you need to lose around 70,000 calories. Ouch!
Coming to grips with an extra 12 pounds or 42,000 calories to lose in January is not a good thing. Nothing to look forward to for anyone. Most experts recommend a low enough calorie intake to lose 2 pounds a week, so at that rate, those 12 extra pounds will take at least 6 weeks to lose.
A good way to avoid this problem is to maintain a daily count of calories you take in every day. The numbers don't need to be exact, but you need to know the general amounts. Take a look at a guide to calories and check the calories of popular items. It's also important to know how many calories you can have per day to maintain your desired weight (the amount you can eat every day and stay at your current weight).
The size of servings can be a huge factor in having some of your favorites, but never go way over on your base number of calories. Adding a brisk walk for about an hour whenever you have time can burn away an extra 320 calories, running will burn up to 700 calories per hour. The choice of meat rich in protein reduces the calories and requires more effort to digest so they can actually get rid of a few extra calories too.
Each day you can do a total count of calories and if it is high, you can reduce the next day's calories or up the exercise to burn those additional calories. Use the stairs instead of the elevator, park far away from building entrances, walking after each meal for 10-15 minutes is good, drink water, not a soft drink, do not snack while cooking, take the dog for a walk, all these small activities will help burn up some calories.
It is far easier to compensate for 500 extra calories at a time than let them add up and deal with a whopping 42,000 to lose in January. Try not to go into absolute denial on the good stuff that just makes you cranky. Have fun but keep an eye on the number of calories you eat each day and determine how best to compensate.
Dieting Without Sacrifice
There are many spices out there that can make even the blandest of foods a little exciting. Fish and chicken are popular diet foods because they are lean meats. However, adding a little blackening seasoning is a great way to put a little punch in your meal that will make it taste great without packing on the calories of dressing marinades or soaking in butter before broiling. You do not have to stop there. Italian seasoning can also add a little flavor to your kitchen without adding the extra calories that you are working so hard to avoid.
There are all kinds of seasonings that will work well in this instance. Many great seasonings for chicken also make great additions to chicken that will be included in salads for healthier lunches or salad wraps. Grains are good for you when you concentrate on whole grains. They are quite often the primary source of fiber in a diet and you need fiber almost as much as you need water. At any rate, simple things that spice up the same old lunch can have a huge impact on your enjoyment of food.
You can even enjoy the occasional treat when dieting as long as you do so sparingly. The key when dieting is to learn about proper portions and moderate indulgence. You can find all kinds of low sugar or low carb desserts on the market that you can enjoy sparingly. You can even find sugar free or low calorie candy in some cases though you should keep in mind that calories, particularly when it comes to candy you eat unconsciously add up quickly and you must pay close attention to those things you put into your mouth.
My point in all this though is that you do not have to sacrifice flavor in order to diet. You can live without butter; there are many substitutions on the market that are quite remarkable. But seasonings are a great way to add a lot of flavor for a tiny bit of effort on your part. Desserts are also great and you can find many dips and sauces that can be made with fat free or low fat mayonnaise or sour cream in order to cut a few more calories during your dieting process.
These dips and sauces can often make a great substitution, when paired with vegetables, for those chips and dips we love so much and often miss when dieting. Cucumbers, green, red, and yellow peppers, broccoli, and carrot sticks all have a nice little crunch to them that when combined with a good low fat dip can help cure the crave beast for greasy chips that often rears its head when dieting.
If you watch your calories carefully during meals you should be delighted to know that there are many little snack treats that are prepackaged in 100 calorie packs for your enjoyment. This means that you can indulge on occasion in those treats that you love most without sacrificing all your dieting efforts in the process. These snack packs have become one of the best marketing ploys since the invention of diet colas. We all want the benefits of losing weight and will readily admit that if it were a simple process we'd all be thin. However, having something like these hundred calorie snack packs to carry you through the worst of your cravings can mean the difference between dieting success and failure. They are definitely the difference in the old way of dieting and the new way of dieting without sacrificing flavor.
Dieting with a Busy Schedule
When it comes to dieting many of us find that the number one hindrance to our success is the lack of time to prepare the proper meals and snacks for our dietary needs. It is often much more convenient to throw one thing in the crock pot for the family or resort to the fast food last resort rather than preparing the healthy and nutritious meal that we should be eating.
There are things you can do however that will reduce the temptation to hit the drive thru and keep you on course with your dieting needs. The first of these is a process known as once a week cooking. With this method you cook enough meals to last you a week on one day. This means that for every night of the week you have a diet friendly meal ready to go. If your entire family is dieting or eating healthier with you, this works for this situation as well. Dieting and incorporating healthier eating habits into the food for your entire family is a great way to set an example for your children will keeping you motivated and removing temptation.
With once a week cooking you freeze the food that won't be immediately consumed and thaw it the morning you will be eating the food to cook when you arrive home after work or decide it is time for your evening meal. This is a process that works well no matter how many soccer games, dance practices, and band recitals you have on your calendar for the week. You can manage to stick to your diet while having a great meal for your family each and every night of the week.
You should also make sure to have a nice supply and cleaned and cut fruits, vegetables, and salad ingredients in your refrigerator in order to make these dishes readily assessable for quick lunches or snacks. Having these foods readily available will help you resist the temptation to snack on higher calorie prepackaged food while also helping to insure that you have a ready supply of fresh fruits and vegetables to help you get your 5 servings a day.
You should also keep some conveniently packaged yogurt on hand as a good quick and easy dairy product. Sugar free pudding cups are another decent snack for those who need something quick and easy to have on hand. Preparation and planning are essential to successfully meeting your weight loss goals. By preparing as much of the food as possible ahead of time you will never even miss the convenience of those high calorie pre packaged meals and snacks that so many of us survive on when not dieting.
Another time saver is to work your fitness opportunities into the course of your day. Rather than performing one lengthy workout each day, try to find methods of bringing a little fitness activity into the most mundane portions of your day (go stair climbing at lunch, park on the top level of the parking garage and walk down-then up when returning-the stairs), park far away from the door of the supermarket and see if your mall has a walking path that is clearly marked. You'll be amazed at the hidden opportunities many of us have for exercising during our busy days. The trick is often in discovering the activities rather than the time.
When all is said and done, dieting doesn't have to be as time consuming as you may think it is. There are all kinds of prepackaged plans for dieters however if that is the choice you feel is best for you. Whether you are going with Lean Cuisine meals, Weight Watchers frozen entrees, Jenny Craig, or the Slim Fast program there are all kinds of opportunities to work dieting and fitness into even the busiest of schedules. When planning your dieting practices be sure to consider the tips and advice mentioned above.
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