22 Nov Five tips to stay thin during the holidays

With Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday, it officially kicks off the holiday season.
If you’re lucky like me, I actually usually go up to four Thanksgiving meals counting my extended family and and annual work carry-in.
Before you know it, then it’s time soon after for numerous Christmas festivities and New Year’s Eve and Day.
If you’re not careful, you might wind up ushering in 2011 with a very unwanted present – a big gut.
The average American packs on 5-10 extra pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s day.
Here are some tips to make sure you give yourself the gift of fitness – not the gift of being stuffed like a turkey:
* Control your diet – Eat smaller meals rather than one epic smorgasbord. Eat an apple or other healthy snack one hour before you sit down at Aunt Maggie’s Thanksgiving feast to help curb your appetite.
* Be disciplined with your workout schedule – It’s even more important than usual to stick to your workout schedule. It will not only help you burn off extra calories, but aid with stress relief from staying at your mother-in-law’s house, or dealing with cousin Bryan’s seemingly wild pack of indoor dogs and cats.
* Be forgiving of yourself – Don’t beat yourself up too badly if you slip up on your diet once or twice, or miss a workout or two. Just try to compensate by getting back on the treadmill or jogging trail as soon as you can.
* Make time for yourself – Finally, with all the demands other people put on you, which can result in great family memories, make some time for yourself, too. And that time should include fitness!
* Get plenty of exercise – Burn calories before you sit down to eat big meals and try to work out the next day to run them off as well.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com