Have you been doing your best to maintain or achieve a healthy weight, only to be faced with the prospect of Holiday weight gain at the end of the year?

If you are currently overweight or actively trying to shed pounds, this may affect you most. In an unfair twist, it seems that Holiday weight gain affects those who are overweight more than those who are already lean.

But it doesn’t have to be your fate. Here are 5 Ways You Will Gain 5 Pounds this Holiday Season if you’re not careful, how to avoid them, and reasons avoiding holiday weight gain is harder for some than others.

5 Ways You Will Gain 5 Pounds this Holiday Season

1. Enjoying a Week or Month-Long All-You-Can-Eat Carbohydrate Buffet

Simply put, there is no better way to pile on pounds than to start eating a lot of carbohydrates and sugar. Unfortunately, many “Holiday foods” are loaded with them. Cookies, cakes, candy, mashed potatoes, and more.

To make this worse, many individuals who normally avoid high amounts of carbs, indulge for the entire season rather than just 1 or 2 days.

To avoid it, make a commitment to only indulge on the actual Holiday date, and not the entire season, if any. One or 2 days of eating rich foods will not make or break your weight. A month of indulgence? It can sabotage all the work you’ve put in during the year.

To stay on track, join our Keto Zone Challenge! It’s free, and it will get you started with tips, recipes, and more. You can also fast-track with the Keto Zone Diet Book. It is your comprehensive guide to ketogenic eating. It will help you omit the carbs that cause most fat gain issues. As you do so, you will work towards a healthy weight rather quickly, which will inspire you to stick with it.

In addition, try these Keto Zone recipes and The Quick & Healthy Keto Zone Cookbook.

2. Losing Track of What You’ve Eaten Will Help Holiday Weight Gain

I get it. It can be a lot of work to stay on top of what you eat and to keep caring. But this matters! In fact, keeping a food diary is a great tool for reaching a healthy weight. Many studies have shown significant results in fat loss in those who keep a diary versus those who don’t (1).

If you don’t want to keep a food diary and track all your numbers, just track your carbohydrates and fiber. Aim to keep your net carbs at 25 grams or below each day (carbohydrates minus fiber) to get into the Keto Zone. You can simply use pen and paper, or an online program or app. For more tips to get into the Keto Zone, see our Tips to Stay on Track with Keto Zone from real Keto dieters!

There’s nothing magic about food diaries, but they are a very useful tool. They will help you take ownership of what you eat, provide self-accountability, and allow you to make needed adjustments based on the numbers. And last but not least, studies show they work. You will stay on track and move towards a healthy weight with a food diary.

As a bonus, some studies have also found that daily weighing, just through the Holidays, helps those looking to lose weight stay on track (2).

3. Staying Indoors

If you want to add pounds and inches, feel grouchy, and let vitamin D levels dive, stay indoors this Holiday Season.

In fact, don’t be active at all.

Sedentary lifestyles and overeating often go together. When you feel frumpy and sedentary, it’s easy to give up and overeat. But, when you feel strong, lean, and active, it can inspire you to keep up healthy eating, too.

Getting outside will likely also help you sleep better during the night, support your mental health, and improve your mood.

4. Isolating Yourself

It’s easier to gain weight when you don’t have support. This year, many people feel isolated and unsupported.

Reach out to friends and family. Find online groups for Keto Zone, Keto Recipes, healthy eating and weights, and more. Call or text a friend.

You don’t have to be on your healthy-weight journey alone. Take the steps to find another person, in-person or online, for support and accountability. Offer the support back. It can make a world of difference.

5. Giving Up on The Year and Waiting for New Year to Start Again

Have you ever heard of “quitters?” I don’t mean people who quit. I mean the cozy pajama pants we put on at the end of the day when we’re simply done for the day. These are “quitters.”

This time of year, many people put on their proverbial quitters for the rest of the year. They are done. They’ve lost their fight. They figure they will just veg out, wait until the New Year, and then they’ll start aiming for a healthy weight again.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t turn out too well. They often gain weight at the end of the year, start and give up on New Year’s resolutions and goals throughout the year, and see the weight creep up year after year.

Don’t put on the full-time quitters!

Enjoy the Holidays, relax with family, but keep pushing toward your goals. You’ll have a much easier time continuing with a healthy lifestyle in the New Year if you don’t quit now!

Why Do Overweight Adults See the Most Weight Gain During the Holidays?

There are many reasons adults gain weight during the Holidays. Most studies show a gain of 1-5 pounds, with a lesser amount among young people, such as those who are college-aged (3).

Most adults gain weight because they eat more food, richer foods, more sweets, and more convenience foods than usual. In addition, they may be more sedentary due to busy schedules and winter temperatures. But, why might overweight adults gain more? The reasons include:

  • Carbohydrate-rich sugary foods are even worse when your body is overweight, and your cells are insulin resistant. For many overweight adults, sweets are a downward spiral of fat storage and insulin resistance. More sweets equal more fat storage, more fat storage equals more insulin resistance, which equals more fat storage when you eat sweets. See how this could be especially problematic during the Holidays? Of course, Keto Zone removes the sugar.
  • Our bodies fight for homeostasis. When you make changes to an overweight body, unless drastic such as Keto Zone, it will fight to resist weight loss and maintain its mass. In fact, studies show that even if you’ve worked hard all year and achieved some weight loss, various neuroendocrine, metabolic, and behavioral mechanisms are set in motion to counteract it (, ). Unless, you’ve used a method that completely changes the way your body produces energy and metabolizes food, as with Keto Zone.
  • Frustration can easily set in when you don’t see results. If overweight, and barely seeing the scale move, it can be especially tough to stick to a plan during the Holidays, when seemingly everyone else can eat what they want. Thankfully, the Keto Zone lifestyle produces results effectively and efficiently.
  • The holiday season is hallmarked by food traditions. It can be especially tough for anyone who grew up or is accustomed to the celebrations centering on overeating and foods.

Bottom Line

If you want to be successful at yearly holiday weight gain, eat all the carbs and sugar you can, lose track of what you eat, stay indoors, isolate yourself, and give up on the year.

And if not, do the opposite. You don’t have to gain weight this year. Instead, get a jump-start on 2021, with a healthy lifestyle and great outlook.

If you’d like to join us, sign up for the 21-Day Keto Challenge today. You’ll enjoy guidance, tips, recipes, and more. You can do it!