The Holidays Are Here, Pass Me Another Dessert
This is probably not the best time to ask, but ... How's the diet going? According to a recent OnePoll survey of 2,000 winter holiday celebrating adults the answer is not good.
Over the course of the holiday season from Halloween through New Year's Day most adults will gain 6 pounds. Yikes! What's to blame? Well, the details vary from person to person but for a lot of us, it's cookies. And desserts. And bigger meals. And sometimes two holiday meals in one day.
In the study, published in Yahoo News, 44 percent of the participants admitted to having two or more desserts at one meal and 36 percent admitted to having more than one holiday meal in one day. That's why a full 30 percent admitted that they've had to unbutton their pants because of over-eating.
Why do we do this? Partly because of the continuous supply of extra calories presented over the season. Between get-togethers with friends, office parties, and family events we constantly have more food than normal placed in front of us. And a lot of that food is in the form of sweet, tasty treats that we wouldn't normally eat.
Another reason seems to be that as a society we are increasingly prone to tossing out our diet for the last two or three months of the year so we have a handy New Year's Resolution to latch onto come January.
What's the solution? Trying to load up on the healthy foods so we're not tempted by the extra desserts is a good start. So is making it a priority to stick with our workout program. But even those simple ideas are difficult to follow through on at this hectic time of the year. So, as one of my fitness coaches used to say, "Do your best. Forget the rest", and I'll see you at the gym next January.