By: Kenzi Weidman

I don’t know about you, but when I think of “winter break,” I think of all the delicious food that will be served at the multiple holiday events I will be attending. Let’s be honest, the food is never healthy either. In my family, the more butter and sugar you add the better the dessert will taste. My goal for this holiday season: avoid the holiday food hangover. It is always exciting to eat an abundance of desserts and other foods, but do remember the saying, “a moment on your lips is forever on your hips.” Here are some tips on how to avoid over-eating and weight gain over this wonderful winter break.

Drink lots of water. Always make sure you are consuming your daily amount of water needed to stay hydrated. When you want to avoid eating too much, drink a ton more water. It will make you feel more full and will slow down your eating pace. Something I like to do is before it is time to eat, drink a large glass of water. You will see that you won’t eat as much food because your body will feel full quicker. This will save you from consuming more calories than necessary.

Remember the reason for the season. Winter break is not all about eating delicious food. It is about spending time with you family and friends. Focus more on the social aspect of the holiday parties, rather than pulling a chair up to the buffet table.

 Find a way to stay active. Over break, some of you won’t have access to a fitness facility, just like me. What are you going to do to stay active? Try doing some at-home workouts that will keep you in shape and burn some of those holiday calories. Check out the links below for some at-home workouts.

ACE Fitness Programs
Women’s Health
Askmen At-home Workouts
Allyou: No Gym Required

Keep your sleep schedule. Yes, winter break is a time to relax and “catch up” on your sleep before the spring semester begins, but try to stay on a normal sleep schedule. Too much sleep causes your body to store more of the food you eat as fat. Too little sleep causes you to over-eat and lose focus on the healthy decisions you should be making each day. Should you sleep in and lay around some days? Of course! Just make sure you don’t do it every day otherwise going back to real life at the end of January will be a HUGE struggle.

Be realistic. Losing weight over the holidays is not a very realistic goal. Unless you shut yourself out from all the fun times to be had, but no one wants to do that. Don’t beat yourself up about having a treat here and there. The holiday season is a time to enjoy life. Make it a goal over break to maintain your weight, and pick up where you left off once 2014 is here! 

The holiday season is the best time of the year. Enjoy it! Just don’t let it ruin your body. If you are around Whitewater for winter break, click the link Williams Center Hours to find all the open hours and events going on during break. Memberships for the semester break are only $30 and are valid from December 12, 2013, thru January 20, 2013.

Happy Holidays everyone! Stay active, eat healthy, but most importantly, enjoy your time to yourself and have lots of fun!

“Always remember that it doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you keep on going”

~Kenzi Weidman