During the holidays, you'll likely gain at least one pound, according to a study that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. While that doesn't sound like much, you probably won't lose that pound, either. As the years go by, those accumulated pounds become harder to shed. "This extra weight accumulates through the years and may be a major contributor to obesity later in life," the study says.
Not convinced? Just ask John Hennigan, also known as Johnny Nitro of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) fame. "It's way easier to keep weight off than to take it off," says the former wrestler, who has co-developed the Out of Your Mind Fitness training program. "Think about how much it takes to burn off a single Christmas cookie. Everyone who goes to the gym knows how much work they have put in, so why put it to waste in one weekend of gorging?"
Avoiding holiday weight gain, in theory, is as simple as setting realistic diet and exercise goals and sticking to them. But that's not so easy when, between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, you're perpetually teased by ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie, eggnog, wine, cookies, cakes, you name it.
Fortunately, there's no shortage of affordable consumer tech to help: Activity trackers such as Fitbit; mobile apps for counting calories, such as MyFitnessPal; Nintendo Wii fitness games; heart-rate monitors, and Wi-Fi-enabled bathroom scales, such as the Withings Smart Body Analyzer, which sync your weight and other stats with diet and fitness apps.
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