Brace yourself. The next 10 weeks will be filled with super-size holiday meals, precious little time to exercise and plenty of sweet treats. But that doesn’t have to mean packing on holiday pounds, says Leigh Taylor, a personal trainer at LifeWorks of Southwest General.
“So much of what we do is focused on eating as a social activity,” says Taylor. “We have to stop thinking this way and look at eating [as a way] to fuel our bodies.” She suggests starting new holiday traditions centered on physical activity, such as a Halloween hide-and-seek, Thanksgiving touch football or ice skating on Christmas Eve.
The holidays are not the time to try to lose weight — “just maintain and be happy with that,” Taylor says — but focus on food moderation and “adding activity whenever and wherever possible.” Here are some of her holiday-season activity tips:
|
Season Activity |
Calories Burned* |
|
Trick-or-treating with the kids |
342 calories/2 hours |
|
Raking leaves |
202 calories/45 minutes |
|
Fall trail hike |
306 calories/45 minutes |
|
Fall bike ride |
134 calories/30 minutes |
|
Window shopping |
171 (slow) to 236 (moderate) calories/hour |
|
Shoveling snow |
188 calories/30 minutes |
