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How To: Stay Healthy During the Holiday Season

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Keely Jarvill
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Peter Frankman
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Iowa chapter.

With the holiday season looming it can be a scary time for many, especially the ones that still want to stay on track with a healthy lifestyle. Studies have found that an average person can gain up to five pounds during the holiday season, which isn’t hard with all the tasty temptations that the season offers. Being healthy does not mean giving up cheesecake and pumpkin pie, there are many options in order for one to still have fun and not feel hungry.
 

  1. Don’t Starve Yourself—A lot of people believe that if they save themselves for the holiday meal that they will be in the clear. Actually this can lead to eating more when it comes time for the main course. Instead, eat small-portioned snacks before the meal in order to stop yourself from overeating and starvation.
  2. Take Yourself Away from the Snack Table—When conversation is surrounded by the snack table this can be a trouble area for many. Separate yourself  from the table and you will be less likely to keep getting handfuls of food. Instead grab a plate with a few nuts, crackers, and fruit and throw it away when finished. It will make you less likely to go get more.
  3. Stick with Healthy Options—Some examples of good food during the holiday season includes: nuts, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and green beans. Turkey is a great choice for protein; so don’t be afraid to indulge in the main course.
  4. Keep up with your Fitness Program—More than likely if you keep with your same fitness pattern and don’t slack off during the holiday season, you will not gain weight, you will just maintain it.

 
Staying healthy is a good thing, but not the most important thing about the holidays; it is a time for family and friends. Take everything into moderation and enjoy yourself during this time. 

Holiday picture found here

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Peter Frankman is an underclassman at the University of Iowa from Burbank, California. He has a few addictions in his life: writing, reading, heavy metal, Adult Swim, and any movie with zombies. He joined The University of Iowa's Her Campus team as the writer of the "From a Guy's Perspective" articles in January 2011 and hasn't looked back since (except to make sure he doesn't write the same article twice). Peter's a major in both Journalism and Creative Writing and hopes to become a writer in some way, shape or form after he graduates. That or the President of the United States, he hasn't really focused too much to say anything decisive yet... or maybe he has, we're not quite sure. If he had to choose a night of guilty pleasures it would include the Beastie Boys, Monster Import: Light, Zebra Cakes, and a marathon of subpar movies that he thinks are amazing (Blade, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Fast and the Furious, etc).