How to not gain weight during the holidays

The holiday season is an exciting time for most of us.It is a time when we surround ourselves with good friends, family, and hearty meals and desserts.Unfortunately, what began as "feel good food" often turns into "feel bad fat," leaving many of us to make the same old New Year's resolution to lose some weight.Wouldn't it be much easier if we could find an effective way to maintain our weight during the holidays so that we didn't have to worry about losing those extra pounds later?Of course it would!Here are some helpful tips for how to not gain weight during the holidays:

Get a pedometer:For those of you who don't know what a pedometer is, it is a neat little gadget that is worn on the hip and used to track the number of steps you take throughout the day.Some pedometers allow you to enter the length of your average stride so that it can calculate the average number of calories burned based on distance walked.For example, the Sportline 360 Fitness Pedometer is an extremely accurate as well as durable pedometer that has two lines on the display: one for the steps taken and another that can tell you the calories burned, speed, or distance traveled.

Maybe you think that you won't have the time to take up walking during the busy holiday season, but you will probably be doing more walking now than at other times during the year.The reason?Shopping!

Going shopping may not seem like a valid form of exercise, but the average woman burns approximately 200 calories during the basic shopping spree.Walking to and from your vehicle and wandering up and down the store's aisles looking for just the right items can actually cover quite a bit of ground.You can help yourself out even more and add some extra steps to your shopping trip by parking further away from the store's entrance rather than fighting for a parking space up front.

You can also add some steps to your day and burn some more calories when it comes time to deliver those plates of cookies to the neighbors.Instead of driving through the neighborhood, load up a basket or wagon and walk from house to house.Sure it takes a little longer but it can help you feel a little less guilty about all the cookie dough you snitched while slaving away baking the neighbors' cookies in the first place.

Another commonly overlooked form of exercise is cleaning.Taking the time to do a thorough "holiday cleaning" before and after setting up your decorations can help you burn a fair amount of calories as well.Some websites like www.bitterpoison.com or www.prevention.com have calorie calculators that can help you discover how many calories you can burn doing different daily tasks like ironing, vacuuming, or other housework.For example, a 140 pound person can burn 130 calories by spending 20 minutes scrubbing floors.So, instead of being upset by all the housework you have to do to keep things nice for company this holiday season, think of all the calories you can burn preparing for their visit!

Another way to avoid unwanted weight gain during the holidays is to have healthy pre-portioned snacks readily available.Chances are you will be on the go for most of your day and you may find yourself missing meals or reaching for the quickest, easiest meal to prepare.Unfortunately, pre-packaged foods are often high in fat and carbohydrates.By keeping your fridge, pantry, and car stocked with healthy snack alternatives like fresh fruits and vegetables washed, pre-cut and packaged into single servings you can avoid adding hundreds of unwanted calories from processed foods and other junk foods.Also, try to avoid shopping when you are hungry.This can help prevent you from buying snack foods that you might otherwise have an easier time resisting.

One more way we can avoid additional calories during the holidays is by using a sugar substitute such as Splenda when baking.When it comes to the holidays, baking cookies, pies, candies, and other goodies is just part of the season.For many of us it is difficult to resist sampling our kitchen wares whether they are for guests, neighbors, or our family.By using a no or low calorie substitute like Splenda we can greatly reduce the sugar and carbohydrate content of our favorite pies, quick breads, and cookies without losing flavor and sweetness.There are some great recipes on www.splenda.com that could easily become family favorites and part of your holiday tradition.

The questions surrounding how to not gain weight during the holidays will probably continue to plague us year after year, but by making these small adjustments in our lives we may be able to prevent gaining weight without trying to add a vigorous exercise plan or restrictive diet to our already busy lives.And who knows, by making these changes now you might be able to get into some better habits that will help you throughout the year to come.