We all tend to overindulge during the holidays. Did you know that most people pack on a lasting few pounds? My scale is already creeping up. Here's the official skinny on holiday weight gain and people of a certain age:
"Most people don't ever lose the pound of weight they put on during the holidays, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. Since the average weight gain during adulthood is about one to two pounds a year, that means much of midlife weight gain can be explained by holiday eating."
OK, enough of that nonsense. Let's find a fun way to keep the weight off. I like to encourage my workout enthusiasts to get a wintery workout - to embrace the crisp air and fresh snow by hitting the slopes, going ice-skating or just taking a walk in the woods.
When I was growing up my dad built an ice rink in our backyard each year. One of my fondest memories is of my hockey-player dad all bundled up on snowy evenings heading for the backdoor. He would announce that he was going out to "water the rink". Here is a post called, The Home Ice Advantage: Make An Eco-Skating Rink that I wrote about my experience of building an ice rink for my kids (you can catch a glimpse of them skating on the rink in the post).
The full holiday gift guide for the Gym Rat includes all the reasons to work out, how many calories you can burn off doing winter sports, how to make your own gym clothes (no, you can't always wear your pj's) , and how to create your own gym equipment. Check it all out here.
The cartoon is used with permission from New Yorker cartoonist, Liza Donnelly. It's from her funny new book, When Do They Serve the Wine.