By Marjet Heitzer, Ph.D.

The Plateau-proof Diet Foundation



Although the holidays are a time of celebration as well as reflection, they also represent a veritable dieting nightmare. Almost as a rule, each holiday party contains a wealth of food items deemed untouchable to most dieters. It is no mistake that following the revelries of holiday binges come the all-forgiving New Year's resolutions, which most likely include some of the characteristics such as overeating displayed during the previous weeks. This article will discuss some facts concerning weight loss maintenance during the holidays as well as some helpful hints to get you through them.

The average person gains approximately 1.1 pounds (0.5 kg) during the holiday season (1). Furthermore, people of all sizes gain weight in December and January. Specifically, obese and normal-sized individuals gain 1.32 pounds (0.6 kg) and 0.88 pounds (0.4 kg), respectively (2). Although gaining 1.1 pounds may seem like no big deal, for a person trying to lose weight, gaining instead of losing weight is devastating and may threaten their desire to continue dieting.

So, why do we gain weight during the holidays? As you can probably imagine, the reasons behind holiday weight gain are subjective, varying from person to person, as well as complex, possibly involving multiple factors such as financial and family stress along with increased social interactions surrounding foods (i.e. holiday parties). Although occasional binge episodes during the holiday seasons may seem harmless, there is evidence that people suffering from periodic overeating are less likely to continue a dieting regimen (3). Furthermore, people, who occasionally overeat, are more likely to have harder time controlling their weight.

There is some evidence that self-monitoring, the systematic observation or recording of target behaviors, may assist people during the holiday, helping individuals to stay focused on their diet (4). In a study conducted by Baker et al., participants that self-monitored, writing down their total food intake daily as well as time the food was consumed and their weight each week, continued to lose weight during the holiday season (4). However, the control group, participants that didn't self-monitor, gained 500% more weight over the holiday. Perhaps, self-monitoring serves as a checkpoint between putting a food item on your plate and into your mouth. Even outside of the holiday season, individuals that self-monitor, lost 64% more weight and continued with their diet as compared to participants that didn't self-monitor (5).

Perhaps self-monitoring provides some dieting consistency throughout the year. A recent study of the National Weight Control Registry, composed of people who lost significant amounts of weight and maintained their weight for 1 year, asked the question: Does consistency in dieting matter in weight loss maintenance? The answer was yes, people who maintained the same diet over weekdays, weekends, and holidays were 1½ times more likely to maintain their weight as compared to people dieted strictly on the weekdays and non-holidays (6). So, staying consistent throughout the holiday season as well as self-monitoring can help you get through the upcoming season, losing weight instead of gaining it. The Plateau-Proof Diet Foundation offers a free on-line weight loss log (Http://www.plateauproofdiet.com/log/register.php ) where you will be able to record your weight loss, thus, self-monitor.



1. Garrow J 2000 Christmas factor and snacking. Lancet 355:8

2. Andersson I, Rossner S 1992 The Christmas factor in obesity therapy. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 16:1013-5

3. Wadden TA, Bartlett S, Letizia KA, Foster GD, Stunkard AJ, Conill A 1992 Relationship of dieting history to resting metabolic rate, body composition, eating behavior, and subsequent weight loss. Am J Clin Nutr 56:203S-208S

4. Baker RC, Kirschenbaum DS 1998 Weight control during the holidays: highly consistent self-monitoring as a potentially useful coping mechanism. Health Psychol 17:367-70

5. Sperduto WA, Thompson HS, O'Brien RM 1986 The effect of target behavior monitoring on weight loss and completion rate in a behavior modification program for weight reduction. Addict Behav 11:337-40

6. Gorin AA, Phelan S, Wing RR, Hill JO 2004 Promoting long-term weight control: does dieting consistency matter? Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 28:278-81

About the author:

Dr. Marjet Heitzer is a biomedical scientist specialized in cancer and endocrine research. She is the founding editor of 'Trimming America', the free journal of 'The Plateau-proof Diet Foundation'. She is a strong proponent of reversing obesity and some of its comorbidities, including type II diabetes and hypertension, with a lifestyle change that has healthy dieting at its core.

http://www.plateauproofdiet.com