The holidays are often a time for large gatherings and hefty food servings. From Thanksgiving meals to Christmas dinners, the amount of food you consume could easily lead to you adding more weight than you originally intended. One way to stay on top of your weight while still enjoying the festive period’s delicious offerings is to watch the number of calories you consume.
Recommended Calorie Intake
The guidelines on an individual’s estimated calorie intake vary based on gender, physical activity level, and age. However, in most cases, a woman aged between 26 and 50 years who engages in a moderate level of physical activity should consume an estimated 2,000 calories daily. For a man of the same age and similar physical activity level, the recommended calorie intake is 2,600.
Watching Your Calories Is the Foundation of Every Diet
Every diet involves lowering your calorie intake to create a calorie deficit. For instance, with carb-cutting diets, the foods you eliminate from your diet, such as baked goods and white rice, contain calories without much nutrition.
Eating high-carb food will leave you hungry shortly after and is one reason you eventually end up consuming more calories than recommended. The more calories you consume, the more weight you gain.
Avoid Gaining Weight by Watching Your Calories
You can make your meals healthier by paying attention to calorie content. For starters, you can do away with the sausage from turkey stuffing and opt for alternatives such as squash, mushrooms, or apples. Such options significantly cut down on the calories the meal contains.
You can also skip the cheese platters and baked brie appetizers, going with fresh seafood like shrimp cocktail, which would allow for more calorie intake later on.
While prevention is the best approach, exercise is an excellent way to burn off any excess calories. Various tools and applications can help you determine the amount of activity you will need to burn off a certain amount of calories.
For instance, for someone who weighs 185 pounds to burn off 1,000 calories, they would need to jog nonstop at a speed of 12 mph for 90 minutes, or almost 7.5 miles. If they were walking, they would have to do so for more than three and a half hours.
You can also try exercising before the meal to jump-start your body’s metabolism. There are some people, however, who use their pre-Thanksgiving exercise as an excuse for overindulging. In most cases, the problem is that people tend to overestimate the number of calories they have burned, meaning they can still gain weight.
Your Personalized Diet Plan With MediPlan Diet Services LLC
Staying on top of your calorie intake during the holidays can be a daunting task. With our personalized health plan, however, you won’t need to worry. Employ the guidance of a medical professional to help you develop a complete and healthy weight loss program.
Our weight loss program includes monthly consultations, professional monitoring of your progress, an exclusive line of dietary supplements and vitamins, and continuous support from our friendly staff.
Dial (901) 362-72546 or click the “Schedule an Appointment” button and let MediPlan Diet Services LLC create the perfect weight loss plan that will help achieve a healthier you.