Five Holiday Weight Management Tips that Work

By Dr. Seun Sowemimo, Board-Certified Bariatric Surgeon & Obesity Specialist

This month can be challenging to stay on the weight loss track and maintain your exercise schedule. You have very little downtime–you may be attending several work or social events or hosting a party or meal. Regardless, you will probably be faced with a plethora of tempting foods and beverages at seemingly every turn. But you have worked hard in 2022–this is no time to backslide! How can you fully enjoy the holidays and still stay on track?

I'm sharing a few proven tips to get you to 2023 without facing significant holiday weight gain:

1. Step-Up Your Workouts

Did you notice your local fitness center is a little quiet this month? That’s because everyone is busy with holiday season activities. Therefore, it’s a perfect time to add an extra class or workout to your weekly schedule before the January ‘resolutions crowd’ arrives in January. Better yet–make workouts fun–try skiing or ice skating. Run along the Shore with your kids so they can burn off excess energy. But make no mistake–what you eat counts most when it comes to weight maintenance and weight loss. No amount of exercise will make up for several nights of gorging on low-quality food and empty-calorie beverages.

2. Pre-plan your ‘indulge’ meal

Schedule an event to indulge–perhaps it’s Christmas Day, one or two special nights of Chanukah or New Year’s Eve. Overeating one day will not cause weight regain, but overeating several days can add pounds. It is not the actual holiday eating that causes weight gain, it’s the continuous overeating for several days before, during and after the holiday.

3. Post-holiday, get rid of those treats and rich foods

If you host an event, purchase small take-away containers and send home leftovers with your guests to remove the temptation. You can also deep freeze them for future special occasions.

4. Create a healthy food environment

Keep the right foods in your kitchen and workplace. Certainly, the special treats will be everywhere, but if you have the right foods close at hand, you can fill up on them first and foremost.

5. Think about January 2023

All good things must pass, including the fun and festive holiday season. When January sets it, don’t look back at December and realize that you under-exercised and over-indulged, causing far more weight gain than you anticipated. Better yet, follow the tips I’ve recommended here to maintain your weight–even if you gain a few pounds–that’s fine. Hunkering down in January to lose a few pounds is easy. Starting the year with a 10-pound weight gain isn’t as easy.
Finally, remember that the holidays are not about the food–they are about family, friends and celebrating the joyous reasons for the season. Happy holidays!

Dr. Seun Sowemimo is a board-certified bariatric and general surgeon specializing in the treatment of metabolic syndrome and obesity. He is the medical director at Prime Surgicare and Central Jersey Bariatrics, located in Freehold and Jackson, NJ.