The Holidays and Your Health

This entry was sparked when I listened to Ryan Seacrest on the radio talk about how he had to put his diet and fitness goals on hold because of the holidays.

I also have had a few conversations over the past 10 days or so with people about how holiday eating/drinking effects the health of Americans. It is my belief that our Obesity Epidemic is largely due to the behavior of Americans during the Holidays. People take a period of time from November 27th until January 2nd of the next year and gorge themselves on dinner, drink, dessert, and more drinks like there is no tomorrow. The problem doesn't lie with the small percentage of Americans who train at the gym by themselves, with trainers, or who play sports. The problem lies with the HUGE percentage of us who sit at desk jobs and lack the motivation to get to the gym more than once per month. Think about putting 8 pounds of lard on during the holiday season, not working out and keeping the weight hanging around your midsection. Now 8 pounds may not be noticeable at first but repeat this practice for 7 years. How do you think your current body would look carrying an extra 56 pounds of fat? Decent?

Solution

I am never the type of person to tell you you can't indulge once and a while, I think you would go insane. And if you are around me at all during the holidays you know I put on the feedbag as much as anyone. The difference is what people don't see, and the fact is that even during the holidays I train with high intensity 5 days a week so that the 8 pounds average Joe American stuffs on, may only be a pound or two for me, which as soon as the new year hits and my diet gets back on track will be torched off with a few workouts.

So the choice is yours. Continue to make excuses and put 8 pounds on, or get after it in the gym and put zero to one pound on.