How to enjoy the hol­i­days with­out gain­ing weight

Now that Thanks­giv­ing is done, we have a whole month of hol­i­day par­ties and cel­e­bra­tions in front of us! With all that tempt­ing great food, no won­der the most pop­u­lar New Year’s res­o­lu­tion is to lose all that weight we’ve gained.

But by fol­low­ing these three rules, you can avoid the extra hol­i­day pounds and stay in top run­ning shape.

1. Watch your por­tion sizes

Just because the food tastes really good doesn’t mean you need to fill your plate. Smaller por­tions means less calo­ries. If you’re at a party with hors d’oeuvres, then use a small plate and be sure to leave some white­space around your food. Take only small por­tions of a cou­ple of selec­tions and make your­self have to choose to go back for more instead of pil­ing your plate high. Not only does this cut down on your por­tion sizes, it also makes you look like less of a glut­ton! And inbe­tween the crab ran­goon and saucy meat­balls, make sure you select some fresh veg­eta­bles and other health­ful choices (see #2 below).

When at a buf­fet or sit-​​down din­ner, remem­ber that you are in con­trol of how much food you put on your plate. Most plates, espe­cially at restau­rants, are much too large for reg­u­lar por­tion sizes. Keep some space around each item on your plate instead of fill­ing it. When eat­ing, try to put your fork down between each bite and don’t pick it up again until you’ve swal­lowed. In this man­ner, you can pace your eat­ing just like you do your running!

2. Opt for health­ful choices

Most hol­i­day fare is extremely rich — which is what makes it so good! You don’t have to com­pletely avoid the good stuff (after all it is the hol­i­days), just make sure to mix in health­ful choices as well. When select­ing your por­tion sizes, try to make the por­tion sizes for health­ful choices a lit­tle larger than their more tasty but less health­ful counterparts.

So what do you select for health­ful hol­i­day fare? Start with sal­ads and fresh veg­gies (but remem­ber not to go over­board on the dress­ing). If fruit is avail­able, that’s great too! If you start with some low-​​fat low-​​calorie health­ful choices, you’ll sat­isfy some of your appetite and will be less tempted to over-​​indulge on the deca­dent stuff. Sauces tend to be extremely high in unwanted extra fat and calo­ries, so try to find selec­tions that go light on the sauce. Creamy sauces (hol­landaise, alfredo, etc.) tend to have more calo­ries and fat than other sauces (au jus, marsala, etc.). Opt for fish or white meat over red meat. And always go for the veggies!

3. Calo­ries In <= Calo­ries Out

No mat­ter what you choose to eat (or how much) over the hol­i­days, remem­ber that your ulti­mate weight gain (or loss) is gov­erned by the above equa­tion. Calo­ries In come from the food you eat, and Calo­ries Out are the result of energy burned dur­ing activ­i­ties like running.

If you over-​​indulged the night before, or if that extra dessert was just too good to pass up, then all is not lost. Just tack another mile or two onto your next run to make up for it! Of course, you should always try to make the calo­ries you take in be as health­ful as pos­si­ble — but after all, the hol­i­day sea­son only comes once a year!

So if you can’t pass up that suc­cu­lent steak, or just have to try the five layer choco­late cake which is to die for, then go ahead! As run­ners we have a decided advan­tage over our non-​​running asso­ciates. Run­ning is a very effi­cient way to burn calo­ries. Although your actual calo­rie burn rate will depend on your body weight and run­ning pace, the gen­eral rule of thumb is that run­ning will burn about 100 calo­ries per mile. To fig­ure out how many calo­ries you’re burn­ing, use this handy calo­rie cal­cu­la­tor from Map​MyRun​.com.

So enjoy your hol­i­days, have fun, and get out there and keep running!

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