WELL WOMEN OF COLOR | Rosalind Brooks

How to avoid the holiday curves

The holiday season is synonymous with indulging for six weeks on not-so-healthy food choices. The average American gains between five and ten pounds between Halloween and New Year’s — and those pounds are hard to lose. Roughly 75 percent of annual weight gain takes place during the holidays. For most of us, the pounds do not go away. And if you put on five pounds a year over 10 years, that’s 50 hard-to-lose pounds! This is called “creeping obesity” — and unless you can avoid holiday weight gain, it’s hard to avoid the creep.

Here’s what you can do:

• Eat carefully. No matter what you eat, be present and mindful of that moment. Acknowledge that you are on your second huge serving. Know that you are eating another slice of pie. Feel your pants getting tight and stomach feeling full.
• Don’t drink your calories.
• Trade holiday events for eating out. If is easy to overindulge while on the Christmas party circuit, so trade one meal for another. If your work buddies have a holiday gathering, skip the fastfood lunch and brown bag a lunch that day.
• Dress your best. It’s really tempting to throw on baggy sweaters and loose pants this time of year — but form-fitting outfits can make you pay more attention to what you eat.

Tip: Think of each of those pastries, cocktails and third helpings as if they were a tattoo. You’d better really love them — because they will be a permanent part of you from now on.

If you have any questions about how you and your loved ones can stay healthy, send an email to roz@wellwomenofcolor.com. You can also visit the Vegas Roots Community Garden to purchase fresh, life-giving vegetables straight from the source. For more information, go to vegasroots.org.