Gaining Weight During the Holidays

How Much Weight Do You Plan to Gain Before Going on a Diet at the Beginning of the New Year?

While this question may sound a bit nutsy-coo-coo, it's exactly what a lot of individuals do who are currently overweight and obese.

No- they probably won't think of their personal situation in this light - and won't try to determine how much weight they plan to gain, but they will start thinking about all of the wonderful treats that they will be eating over the holiday season.

And unfortunately, the amount of food as well as the types of food - including beverages - that they plan to poke into the piehole will more likely than not generate weight gain. More. Unwanted. Pounds. Which equates to more unwanted body fat. More specifically, more unnecessary and harmful-to-health body fat.

And in America - the holiday 'eating' season generally starts from October 31 until January 1 of the new year. The average overweight American gains rather than loses amid this holidays - and the amount varies.

So How Much Weight Can You Gain During the Holidays?

Let's use a couple of examples. In addition, let's set our timeframe from December 1 to December 31.

1. If Penny's body requires 1800 daily calories in order to maintain her current weight, if she consumes an average of 500 more calories daily, she will gain about 5 pounds. 500 calories equals a slice of chocolate cake - although some chocolate cakes contain 400+ kcals while others exceed 800+ kcals, depending upon the recipe used at home or at the restaurant.

That's another unfortunate thing about caloric intake, types of foods and recipes. The end results, even when they are in their natural state - such as a fresh peach or apple, vary in energy values. That's why an approximate is always used in setting the caloric content of foods.

500 calories is also about-equal to the following: one pancake with maple syrup, two-three large cookies such as those found at fast food restaurants, one medium-size cheeseburger with Mayo, 45 potato chips OR 20 served with 4 Tablespoons of onion or ranch dip, 1 fried chicken breast or thigh, large order of French fries or a large regular soda OR tea OR shake OR malt.

2. Joe requires 2000 calories to support his current body weight. During the holidays he went overboard on calories several days, but there were also days when he ate healthy, skipping the holiday treats. However, during Christmas week he decided to eat as much of his favorite seasonal goodies as he could possibly manage. This was one solid 'week of binge' which would leave Joe about 20+ pounds heavier at the end of the month.

He enjoyed hunks of his wife's delicious 10-pound fruitcake, about three quarts of eggnog during this time - and it's quite high in energy values at 400 kcals per cup. He enjoyed mounds of ambrosia salad and stuffed himself with stuffing. He crammed in the cranberries and gulped down gallons of specialty holiday coffees, teas and cocoas - and barrels of regular soda. And oh my - that rum cake was totally unforgettable.

So simply put, one can EASILY gain 10, 20 or even 30 pounds during the month, depending upon how many calories they consume over the amount their body requires to support their current weight.

Length of Time Needed to Lose 10 Pounds

We lose a pound every time that we decrease our diet by 3500 kcals. For example, in order for Penny or Joe to lose 1 pound per week, they would need to decrease their caloric intake by about 500 kcals daily. For two pounds - about 1000 daily. BUT....herein lies the problem with losing weight.

For those which only have 10 to 20 or so pounds to lose, because they are not significantly overweight they aren't consuming a lot of energy values over their current required intake. Therefore, they may not be able to trim 500 or more kcals from their day without impacting their state of health. A diet deficient in kcals equals a body deficient in vitamins and minerals. Simply put, the less weight that one has to lose, the more difficult and challenging.

For the individual who is 50 or more pounds over their recommended healthy size - they can easily trim back 500 or more kcals daily. The closer that they get to their recommended size, the more challenging losing becomes.

It requires about one month to lose 10 pounds for those individuals who are 50 to 75 pounds overweight. For those 75 to 100 pounds overweight, the amount increases because the more you have to lose, the more energy values can be trimmed from the daily diet. An individual who is 100 pounds overweight may lose 20 or more pounds during the first month of their reduction plan. However, the closer they get to their goal weight, the less they will lose per month [or week or day].

Results of Overeating During Holidays

While Penny and Joe gained a lot of enjoyment over eating as much food as they wanted during the holidays, their adventure wasn't all fun.

What happens to our body when we overeat? The following are common side-effects.

1. Digestive upset which includes nausea, bloating, gas pain and pressure, belching at both ends, insomnia due to accompanying side-effects, at times vomiting, and breathing issues.

2. Blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and heart and vital organ health can be impacted due to weight gain.

3. Overeating can be expensive in other areas outside of the grocery bill. We grow wider and require more clothes because our old ones no longer fit. We also may feel embarrassed and lose self-confidence. At times, we search for fat-binders which aren't capable of compressing those unsightly rolls of fat.

4. Bingeing amid the holidays sets an unhealthy eating pattern. It makes dieting after the season even more difficult as the belly is used to being full - and will produce a gnawing pain, demanding to be refilled until it is retrained - and the tummy shrinks.

In Conclusion

As we have learned, nothing positive is produced when we put on excess pounds. Before you go on a seasonal binge, we encourage you to think twice before grabbing too much of a good thing, because too much of a good thing generally turns into a bad thing. And where weight gain is involved, it will require a lot of challenging work in order to remove what was gained.

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