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How to survive the holiday feasting

Almost all of us have experienced weight gain or loss during our lives. If they balance out over time, there is no problem. The challenge in Singapore happens when we gain 1-2 kg during the holiday season from Christmas to after the Chinese new year.

The problem is that this "creep" of weight gain happens over time, and during the rest of the year we don't do anything about it. A few years later, "poof" we are 10-12 kg overweight and have far worse markers of health. i.e. fitness tests, blood work, overall energy etc.

So, here are some things you can do to make this holiday season less damaging!

Eat a healthy food before any feast

Arriving at a party or feast famished is a big mistake. Almost anyone will tend to overeat if they starved themselves the whole day. In addition, party foods are highly packed with bad calories. This means that you can eat a lot of it, not feel full, and go way overboard easily. For example, when most people are asked how many calories are in a medium pizza, they guess 600-700 or so... in fact it has more than 2,400 for a 13-inch pizza.

So, get some healthy food like lean meat and veggies in before the party, and your cravings will be far less.

Do resistance training on feast days

The "magic" thing about resistance training is that it makes your muscle cells more receptive to nutrients. Cardiovascular training does not do this. The benefit is that your food is more likely to go into your nice lean muscles, rather than store as fat.

Focus on special foods

During the holidays, you don't need to eat everything in sight. There will be foods that you get year round. So choose the foods that you can't normally get. For myself, it's my aunt's Nonya cooking. I don't go crazy on foods I can normally get for e.g. ice cream or cake.

Compensate on non-feast days

If you do overeat, make sure to cut back for a day or two after the feast. I certainly don't suggest starvation diets! But cutting back on refined carbohydrates and fats for a day after a feast is a good balance, and a rest for your digestive system.

People first, food a distant second

Most importantly, I like to say that "we are not animals, and shouldn't reward ourselves with food". The magic of the holiday season is not the food that we eat but rather, our family, and friends.

So we should focus on building relationships with those we love, and not how much pizza we can eat!

Here's wishing you a happy, healthy and strong holiday season.

For the best fitness boot camp program, ExpressFIT program in the CBD, and personal training in Singapore visit www.genesisgym.com.sg or the Genesis Gym facebook page. Or visit Coach Jonathan's homepage and blog at www.coachjon.com