# How to Work Out and Avoid Weight Gain During the Holidays ## Holiday weight gain: 5 tips to stay fit The Gymaholic Team wishes you happy holidays. Stay strong and stay safe. It's that time of the year when you gather with friends and family to consume very tasty meals. Like many of us, you will get thrown off your workout routine and you will most likely eat more than you need to. Nevertheless, you can still stay fit during the holidays without overthinking it. Here are 5 simple tips that will help you train and avoid weight gain during the holidays. ![People eating a holiday dinner](//cdn.gymaholic.co/articles/137-work-out-and-avoid-weight-gain-during-holidays/work-out-and-avoid-weight-gain-during-holidays.jpg "People eating a holiday dinner") ### 1. Eat more often During the holidays you will find yourself surrounded with good food, but also with many unhealthy snacks. It's important to treat yourself with moderation. Therefore, you should try to consume healthy snacks between your main meals. Eating whole food, high-fiber snacks will provide you the right nutrients to make you feel full, decrease junk food cravings and prevent you from overeating. Here's a list of healthy snacks: - Nuts & seeds - Vegetables - Greek yogurt - Peanut butter - ... ### 2. Move more You can find yourself feeling a little more lazy during the holidays. You know, heavy meals, afternoon naps, holiday movies... In consequence, you should build the habit to move more. You can try outdoor and indoor activities with your friends and family. For example, you could walk instead of driving, take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc. They will help you digest better and have better over your weight management. ### 3. Get more sleep Getting plenty of sleep is beneficial for your mind and body, but we're not talking about food coma, though. Research has shown that sleep deprivation can create to an imbalance of your healthy and unhealthy bacteria in your gut microbiome, which leads to poor food choices and overeating. ### 4. Do quick Home HIIT workouts Training during the holidays is difficult. Gyms are closed and you usually don't have much time to train. However, a workout doesn't have to last more than 30 minutes to be effective. You can burn 200+ calories in less than 20 minutes by doing a HIIT Workout (High Intensity Interval Training). {className:Workout,id:385041} ### 5. Slow down, drink more water and eat mindfully We tend to take eating for granted. Eating while watching tv, already thinking about what we're going to eat next. Needless to say that we're eating too fast and don't chew enough. On average you're supposed to chew 32 times to properly digest most foods. Studies show that taking your time to eat and drinking water will make you feel fuller and will increase your ability to absorb nutrients. ### In summary - Eating snacks between your meals can help you avoid junk food cravings - Trying activities with your friends and family can aid weight control - Sleeping more can prevent gut microbiome imbalance and overeating - At home HIIT workouts are effective to help you burn a lot of calories during the holidays - Chew your food slowly and drink more water to feel fuller and avoid weight gain