Holiday Fitness Strategies: Exercise and Diet During the Holidays (Or Not)

Holiday weight gain is no myth, according to a study reported several years ago in the New England Journal of Medicine.* The good news is on average the pounds added were modest (net-net, about one pound). The bad news is those pounds tend to stay on and accumulate over the years.

If you want to avoid that, you need to ask yourself some hard questions. For example, how do you avoid the chocolate covered pretzels at work? How do you say no to Aunt Edna’s cookies, or the gravy and mashed potatoes? Equally confounding, how do you keep on a fitness schedule when all your time is consumed with merriment (or buying things to create the merriment)? I suggest following one of three strategies.

1. Live with it and force yourself into corrective measures next year

2. Limit the carnage

3. Make calories your friends with the December-January workout

The second and third options are healthier and less likely to strain buttons on your clothes, but who am I to kill the holiday spirit? The direction to take is yours.

Strategy 1: Live with it and force yourself into corrective measures next year.

Call this “going with the flow.” It’s part one of what almost everyone does. Part two is fixing it, beginning in January. Treadmills, exercise classes and personal trainers will be there for you when you decide it’s time. Along the way, amuse yourself with the predictably outrageous claims in advertising for diet plan pushers around that time (be particularly skeptical of words “miracle” and “no exercise,” which have an inverse relationship to credibility).

Strategy 2: Limit the carnage.

No one says you need to stay home and chew on celery all month. Just because you’re out and about doesn’t mean you have to be indulgent or lazy. Just learn to party within limits.

Understanding the historical origins of the holidays might be a start. Going back a few hundred years, life in the northern latitudes (from whence cometh most holiday traditions) was a grim affair. A chocolate bar and some citrus was the basis of a party – when times were good. Fermented ciders and wine cooked on the stove with some cinnamon was a once-a-year indulgence. Today we can pick up most of this stuff down at Walgreen’s, any day of the year. So tell us again so special about all this?

Eh, entertaining with overabundance is the cultural norm of modern times. So if you’re going to park your caboose at the buffet table – don’t think people don’t notice because they do – here are some tips:

1. Don’t arrive at the party hungry. Eat an apple with some peanut butter before you leave home – both suppress appetite.

2. Try the healthiest stuff first to fill you up. That includes shrimp (a no-fat protein), chicken skewers and vegetables. Follow it with a sampling of cheeses (fatty, but satisfying if eaten slowly).

3. Can’t avoid that amazing crab dip and other fatty hors d’oeuvres? Practice one off/two on: for every portion of something indulgent, eat two excruciatingly healthy items, such as a vegetable with no dip. Then excuse yourself from the food area and go check out something/someone else.

4. For indulgent stuff (including the appetizers served on trays by roving wait staff), allow yourself one of everything. OK, maybe two of an item if it’s really good. Then stop there. Seriously, do. Those waiters, so polite to your face, might talk when they get back to the kitchen. And it’s not kind. You don’t want to be Missy Red Dress Who Ate Six Spanakopitas.

At the bar, here are some numbers to help guide you:

Spirits (vodka, gin, etc. at 80-100 proof) are 100 to 125 calories per shot (1.5 ounces)

• Regular beer (12 ounces) 180+ calories
• Lite beer (12 ounces) 100 calories
• Wine (5-ounces) 90 calories
• Champagne (5 ounces) 106 calories

Of course if a mixer is used with spirits, a range of zero (diet soda or water) to bazillions of calories (creamy, sugary concoctions) will add to this. For more on this topic, see HubPage article on calories in alcohol by this writer.

About exercise: Even with these measures, chances are pretty good that the holidays will net-net add to your total caloric intake. Just be authentic with yourself. If you want to bring balance to the equation, haul your buffet butt to the gym. Maybe it’s a good time to try working out at a different time of day. For example, if you usually workout at night try the morning instead. When you have to get to work by 9 a.m., you might be more efficient with your time. Join a new exercise class or hire a trainer (another smart self-gift – at a time of year when they tend to be more available). And start walking outdoors more; the fresh air will add a layer of holiday glow to your skin, you’ll get sunshine-sourced Vitamin D – adding to that flush you get from those vodka cosmopolitans.

Strategy 3: Make Calories Your Friend – with the December-January Workout

This is a version of “if you can’t beat it, join it.” To do it right you need to maintain a schedule and approach it with discipline. So even if the office wingding is on a Friday night, you have to honor your commitment to the Saturday workout.

Competitive bodybuilders know there is a phase in building muscle mass (“hypertrophy”) that requires extra calories**. Great – you have that point already covered by nut-covered cheese balls from that dorky guy in HR. But you have to do some heavy lifting to use them to greatest effectiveness. The good news, perfect for holiday and end-of-year work schedules, is that it may take less time than a regular workout. Here’s how to do it in two four-week phases.

Note: This may seem more like a male-focused workout plan to you. If so, don’t be so sexist – women need strength and muscle tone just as much as men. It has the same impact on calorie consumption.

Phase one (December 1-January 1): Strength development

This is where you increase muscle and bone strength, which is a slightly different phenomenon from increasing muscle size (see phase two, below). This is characterized by heavier weights and fewer repetitions. For example if you currently bench press 100 pounds with 8-12 reps, try instead 120-140 pounds at 3-6 reps, repeated three times.

Under normal circumstances, you are highly encouraged to follow a full body workout that addresses the core muscles (abdominal-, sides- and back-regions) as much as the upper and lower body. Assuming you already do that to the point of relatively good conditioning in these parts, your workouts this month can focus much more on the larger muscle groups such as chest, shoulders, arms, back and legs. Incidentally, the larger the muscle group, the greater an impact it has on metabolism (i.e., bigger muscles burn more calories).

With a little extra time available, you can concentrate several exercises within a body part on the same day. Examples:

Chest/Triceps: chest press in narrow and wide grip positions, plus flyes (dumbbell or cable versions) along different paths of motion (low, middle and above the shoulder). Pair with various triceps presses.

Shoulders/Biceps: shoulder press (straight up or in a V-path), followed by anterior (front) or lateral (side) dumbbell raises. Alternate with bicep hammers and curls.

Legs: Work the hamstrings and glutes (backside, with lunges and squats) the same day as a quadriceps concentration (front thighs, with leg extensions).

Back/Traps: Perform back rows in a variety of positions, adding shrugs and upright rows to concentrate on the traps.

Phase two (January 2-31): Muscle size development

Do each of the exercises as in December, but in January switch to lighter weights and higher (8-15) repetitions, still taking them to failure. Greater muscle recruitment and blood flow contribute to muscle size increases overall.

Of course, this means you still must budget some time for gym workouts. If you have an after-work conflict, consider a morning or lunchtime session. And if self-discipline is not your best suit, make this the time you hire a personal trainer (easier in December, harder in January) who can keep you on track and supply additional strength phase ideas.

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Russ Klettke is the author of “A Guy’s Gotta Eat, the regular guy’s guide to eating smart” (with Deanna Conte, M.S., R.D., L.D, Marlowe & Co., 2004). The book restores sanity to nutritious living, reconciling the practical realities of modern life with the basic needs of human physiology. It is available where books are sold, and in more than 100 public library systems in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Klettke is also a certified personal trainer (ACE), speaker and business writer.

*A 2000 study by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) suggests that Americans probably gain about a pound during the winter holiday season. This extra weight accumulates through the years and may be a major contributor to obesity later in life. This finding runs contrary to the popular belief that most people gain from five to ten pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The results of their study appear in the March 23 2000 New England Journal of Medicine. "These findings suggest that developing ways to avoid holiday weight gain may be extremely important for preventing obesity and the diseases associated with it," said NICHD Director Duane Alexander, M.D.

** Of course, for long-term health reasons we know it’s better to take in quality proteins that are low in saturated fats, along with fibrous and unprocessed plant foods. But just try telling yourself that when a party host went to all that trouble to make eggnog and a rum cake just for you.