How much weight do you think people gain on average during the holidays?

The answer might actually surprise you…

3 lbs?

5 lbs?

10 lbs or more…?

While it may feel that way after a holiday meal, all of those are actually not true.

The average weight people gain?

ONE pound.

Whew, you’re off the hook right and you can feel better about letting loose this holiday season?

Not so fast…

Here’s the real surprising part:

While that one pound is much less than what many people would guess, there’s more to the story.

Studies found that the one pound you gain isn’t actually lost by the following year.

Said another way, that one pound has the potential to be PERMANENT weight gain.

While one pound seems insignificant, 5-10 lbs of permanent fat gain over the next 5-10 years is no joke

And this weight gain will absolutely affect:

1) Your body composition (how you look)

2) Your health markers (ex: cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc)

3) Your physical performance (decreased relative strength in the gym, decreased endurance, more potential for joint pain)

4) Your overall mental/psychological well being (less confidence, decreased energy)

But before you jump into fear mode or feel guilty about enjoying yourself, here’s the good news:

It only has the potential to be permanent weight gain if you decide not to do anything about it.

No judgment from us either way - how you choose to spend the holidays as it relates to your health is up to you.

And there is no right answer.

But it is important to know, if you want to avoid long-term holiday weight gain, there are only a few ways to do it:

1) Be strict or rigid during the holidays with your fitness and nutrition, say no to any get togethers, eat only chicken/rice/broccoli, be miserable

2) Let loose during the holidays, feel guilty with how you look and feel, and join the crowd of ‘committed’ New Year’s Resolution-ers that vow to burn off their holiday weight (which >90% will give up on by the end of January)

3) Have a plan for minimizing or preventing any weight gain during the holidays (through your exercise program, nutrition, and accountability), while still enjoying yourself, so that you don’t have to follow a ‘crash’ diet or exercise program at the new year

While #1 and #2 can work for some people, let’s be honest…

They usually don’t.

And strategies 1 and 2 are not healthy physically, mentally, emotionally, or if you want to have any relationships.

Trust me - I’ve tried both many times.

If you're more interested in strategy #3 (which I would definitely recommend), then you can follow these 10 tips below as a starting point ⬇️

How to Avoid (Permanent) Holiday Weight Gain:

1) Eat Slowly

You'd be amazed at what the power of eating slowly can do for your overall health and body composition. Especially when you're surrounded by tons of delicious food you're not used to having around. Many binge eating episodes can be prevented simply by slowing down and being more mindful of what you're eating.

Try to challenge yourself to be the last one finished eating, count how many bites you chew, or set your silverware down in between each bite

2) Eat Until 80% Full

Piggy backing off of point number one, eating slowly will allow you to eat until you're 80% full (or comfortably full)

It will be very hard to gain weight if you actually follow this tip, as your body is a great indicator of telling you when you're actually full (if you actually listen to it).

It's important to note it can take 20-30 minutes (or longer) before you realize you're comfortably full (and not overly stuffed), which is why eating slowly is an important first step

3) Prioritize Protein and Veggies

You're probably not going to get fat off of chicken breast, turkey, steak, seafood, and spinach on its own. Protein and veggies should make up the majority of your plate for a variety of reasons:

• It's very hard to overconsume protein and veggies to the point of gaining weight
• Protein has a higher thermic effect compared to other macronutrients (it burns more calories simply to digest it)
• If you have more protein and veggies on your plate, you have less room to pile on carbs/fats (which are very easy to consume and pack on unwanted weight)
• You will have better hunger regulation with protein and veggies than with other foods (have you ever noticed how you can almost always find more room for another dessert compared to another chicken breast?)

4) Strength Train

Do not, under any circumstance, let your strength training routine fall by the wayside during the holidays. Strength training will help provide all that extra glucose and sugar with somewhere to go and will set your metabolism up for success come the new year.

5) Plan Ahead

You should have a good idea of what types of get togethers are coming up over the next few weeks. If you know you have a potluck at work, two family get togethers, and a holiday party with friends over the next week - it might be a good idea to cut calories and focus on having some salads/lean protein at meals leading up to those events.

6) Decide What's Worth It

Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to eat everything.

Understood?

I know this might come as a shock to some of you.

You do not have to try every single thing at the party.

You do not have to eat that dessert just because someone brought it into work or it's a family member's special recipe.

You are not actually missing out if you choose to say no.

Decide what food is actually important and which ones just are not.

Deciding this ahead of time is the best strategy so that you don't get stuck with worthless mental chatter in the moment about whether it's worth it or not to eat this or that, or to give yourself time to justify why you deserve to eat it

It's only food and sometimes saying no is the best option

7) Pick Your Battles

Similar to deciding what's worth it, it's important to pick your battles and have a plan before you go somewhere to eat.

It's usually not a good idea to eat and drink it all.

As a rule of thumb - I would choose between alcohol OR dessert

Choose between a sweet treat OR a second helping of the main course

It's okay to overindulge a bit, but when you start having seconds, dessert, and alcohol - your body is going to get overloaded

Which just means you'll gain weight and feel like garbage 

8) Get Quality Sleep

Here is a wildcard tip for you.

The one most people ignore.

Getting quality sleep can improve your metabolism, regulate your blood sugar, and help boost your willpower reserves.

Running on low sleep and trying to eat healthy during the holidays can be very challenging.

Aim to get 6-8 hours of quality sleep each night.

9) Face The Facts

Don't be naive to the fact that you can gain some real weight and put on fat over the holidays.

I've heard people say "you can't gain weight from a single meal/vacation/party/etc"

You certainly can.

While you shouldn't fear enjoying yourself, you also have to acknowledge that every pound of fat you gain over these next few weeks is a pound you'll have to diet off come the new year.

And unfortunately, most people don't have the willpower and discipline to actually follow through on dieting off the gained weight over the holidays.

Which is why every 10 years people end up with 10 lbs of extra fat on average.

Don't be scared of enjoying yourself, but don't be ignorant either in thinking the laws of weight gain don't apply just because it's the Christmas party

10) Relationships > Food

Too many people say the parties are all about the relationships while they focus so heavily on the food.

One simple tip is to focus on the relationships. Think less about what appetizer, food, dessert, or drink you want to indulge in next and spend more time talking to the person in front of you.

There's a reason some of the healthiest people that live the longest prepare food together, enjoy food together, and have a high sense of community and relationships.

Focus on what matters instead of what doesn't (that's my 3rd grade paraphrase of Matthew 6:25-34, go read it if you need some more convincing)

Following these 10 tips is a great start to avoid holiday weight gain. Don't underestimate the simplicity of them - because I guarantee you that if you are following all of these tips (or even 80% of them) then you aren't struggling with maintaining a healthy body composition.

If you're struggling with accountability - with actually following through on workouts and nutrition - I can help.

If you want to lose 10 lbs of fat and put on 10 lbs of muscle in 2024, send me a message on Instagram that says '10/10'

I haven't really been able to take on any new clients in the last 12+ months, and I am finally getting ready to open my schedule back up, so don't wait on jumping on this new year program.

I've only got space for 10 men, so reply right here if you want to drop 10 lbs of fat and put on 10 lbs of muscle in the next year (while maintaining it for life)