Victoria Alacorn
Sports & Health Editor
Like a lot of students, Erika Mulder felt compelled to eat – or, more accurately, overeat – during the holidays this year.
“The whole [holiday season] is like a festival where you’re supposed to get together, eat and share food. People feel obligated,” said Mulder, a third- year fine arts major. 
The winter holiday means different things for different people, often depending on your ethnic and religious background, but “eating lots of food” is an almost essential ingredient. Cranberry pudding, almond cookies and tons of Lindor chocolate – many students just can’t help indulging in holiday treats.
The dilemma crops up when the holidays are over and people are stuck in the aftermath of eating too much, exercising too little and forgetting everything that they did to stay healthy.
According to award-winning fitness instructor and physical health educator Maureen Hagan, however, it’s a problem that’s not impossible to fix.
“The best way to lose holiday weight is by moving your body more,” says Hagan, vice-president of operations at GoodLife Fitness Centres.
“Ask yourself how important it is for you to feel better, and lose the weight. The motivation comes from that self-reflection, the wanting to look and feel the same way before the holiday or before the period of time you lost your way.”
Hagan recommends starting off at a manageable level, with aerobic and strength training activities. When it comes to aerobic exercise, students should run, jog, cycle or swim for a period of 20 to 30 minutes, where your heart rate is high enough that you feel somewhat breathless, but not entirely – you should be able to maintain a conversation with someone.
Strength training is just as im- portant, notes Hagan, encouraging students to combine the aerobic ac- tivities with push-ups, sit-ups, squats and lunges afterwards, to rebuild the muscles you lost and help burn more calories in the long run.
“Going hard is going to make you feel lousy or lethargic, tired and a little bit under your fitness level,” says Hagan. “That’s not the motivation that’s going to keep you going. If you do moderate activity that’s both aerobic and strength training in nature, then you’ll feel better.”
Most people overestimate how much weight they have actually gained, often because they’re both feeling fat from the size of the holiday smorgasbord and fatigued after eating all of that food, says Hagan.
“People miscalculate what they think they’ve gained because what they’ve actually gained is a bad cycle. If they don’t change in the first couple of weeks in January, it will then lead to further bad habits,” said Hagan.
The hardest part for students seems to be the cravings they get when trying to stay healthy, in particular sweets such as chocolate, cake and soda pop.
Hagan advises the best way to stop the cravings is by simply drinking water.
The Canadian food guide recommends drinking water regularly and replacing other beverages with water to quench your thirst.
The outcome is a fuller feeling and a zero-calorie intake. “If you drink water before the meal and if you drink water in the afternoon when people tend to feel sluggish, you’ll be less likely to want to eat fatty, sugary foods from the holidays,” says Hagan, who recommends 8 to 10 glasses of water a day. When it comes to meals, following the Canadian food guide is the best way to maintain a healthy diet, Hagan informs.
The secret is eating enough protein, healthy carbs and vegetables to let your muscles build. Hagan personally recommends eating food on a smaller plate and filling it up with as much vegetables as you can – that way you feel that you are eating more.
It’s not easy getting rid of the excess weight or finding a way to stop eating all those delightful holiday treats you may have gotten used to, but the key is being consistent, forgiving yourself and being a great time manager, Hagan says.
“The people who are best at losing weight make no excuses. People’s biggest excuse is ‘I don’t have time’ – it’s the number one excuse noted in the research, but you’ve got to be able to manage your time and be an organizer to lose weight,” says Hagan.
According to a 2009 StatsCan survey, 52.5 percent of Canadians stayed moderately active during their leisure time and males were more likely to stay active than females.
Dont’s
Diet or skip meals
The brain cannot handle negatives and will constantly be thinking about eating.
Add sauces or condiments
Adding mayonnaise, or ketchup to meals will add weight. That includes sour creams, gravies, jellies, butters or anything that is calorie-latent.
Start with a heavy first work- out
You’ll feel lousy and sick with sore muscles if you start on a high intensity level.
Do’s
Drink water
Drink 8 to 10 glasses and replace all coffee and pop with water. It will reduce cravings and help digestion.
Go with a friend to the gym
Working out with a friend or joining a group class has been proven to make people go to the gym more often.
Eat on a full, smaller plate
Psychologically, your brain will think you ate a whole plate of food, but in reality with a smaller plate you consume less.
Compiled by Victoria Alarcon
Canada’s Food Guide for adults between the ages 19 to 50 — what goes in one serving?
Vegetables and Fruit
Males 8–10 servings Females 7–8 servings
• 1/2 cup fresh or canned vegetables
• 1 fruit such as a banana or apple
• 1/2 cup of cooked leafy vegetables such as spinach
Grain Products
Males 8 servings Females 6–7 servings
• 1 slice of bread or 1/2 a bagel
• 1/2 cup of cooked rice
• 1/2 cup of cooked pasta
Milk and Alternatives
Males 2 servings Females 2 servings
• 1 cup of milk
• 3/4 cup of yogurt
• 1 1/2 oz of cheese
Meat and Alternatives
Males 3 servings Females 2 servings
• 1/2 cup of cooked fish or lean meat
• 3/4 cup of beans
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup of peanuts, pistachios or nuts
With files from Canada’s Food Guide
How to lose the holiday weight
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