With the holiday season officially in full swing, keeping your figure in shape might be kind of difficult.  Between the company potlucks, the holiday parties, the dinners and the alcohol, the months of November and December always seem to be the months of mass consumption.  And don’t even get me started on the chocolates at work and the candies stuffed into your stockings on Christmas morning!

Besides just consuming massive amounts of food, everyone is much busier around the holidays.  Work always seems to be much more stressful and demanding than usual because it is heading into the fourth quarter; not to mention making sure you get gifts for everyone on your list requires more than one trip to the shops at the mall.  In addition, the holidays means endless trips from old friends, family and neighbors.   Having to constantly entertain while getting ready for Christmas ultimately means that personal fitness and exercise land right at the bottom of the priority list and quickly fall to the wayside to be forgotten.
Of course come January everyone is back on track with their daily routines, trying to finally accomplish one of their many New Year’s resolutions of losing ten pounds or reading two books a month.  If you have ever been in a gym during the first week of the new year then you know how impossible it is to get a full twenty minutes on the elliptical, or to be able to run five miles on the treadmill.  The gyms are just packed…
This year, things could be quite different just by making a few small changes to the way you approach eating and exercising.  Instead of being one of the hundreds of adults who neglect their healthy lifestyle and eating habits during the holidays only to rush off to the gym first thing on January first, keep track of your health and weight this season with a weight loss calculator and food journal.  Mark down your progress and write down everything you eat; you’ll find that it is much easier to lose weight and stay on track if you don’t want to remember the twenty different things you tried at the office holiday party.  If you just stick to proteins and vegetables and mark down everything along the way, losing weight (or at least not gaining any) this holiday season will be remarkably easy.
Another tip for tackling the holiday buffets and fanciful feasts is to start with a plate of just vegetables and salad.  You will fill up on the healthy stuff that is good for you, too, and then be less full when it comes time for the pumpkin and apple pies, the fruitcake, and the Christmas cookies.  While everyone else is taking naps from their food comas after stuffing plate after plate of food down their throats, you will feel energized and healthy all season long.  Just because it is Christmastime does not mean that you give up on your figure and gain five kilos, and following these tips will help.