Researchers’ top tips to stop kilos piling on at Christmas

Christmas is a joyous time full of special family experiences, piles of delicious food and perhaps a sneaky drink or two.

Each year millions of people around the world gorge themselves on Christmas feasts so much so they are often left in a ‘food coma’. But while the ham, trifle and wine may be incredibly mouth-watering, unfortunately they don’t help with the size of tummies, butts or thighs.

It’s probably not the best news to hear so close to the festive season but a study released in The BMJ revealed that on average, people gain a small amount of weight each year, roughly around the 0.4 gram-1 kilogram mark.

But fear not, there are ways to stop those extra kilos piling on and it really isn’t too difficult. According to researchers at the University of Birmingham and Loughborough University you could finish the holiday period at the same weight you started by following their simple tips.

The research team said weighing yourself regularly over Christmas and understanding how much exercise you need to do to burn off the calories you consumed are key. 

According to the study, these “low intensity” interventions could be an important contributor to obesity prevention efforts in the population.

To come to this conclusion scientists tested the effectiveness of a weight gain prevention focusing specifically on Christmas. 

They recruited 272 adults across a range of weight categories prior to Christmas in 2016 and 2017. Baseline assessments were conducted in November with follow up assessments in January.

The participants were randomly divided into two groups, with the intervention group encouraged to record and reflect on their weight at least twice a week.

Members in this group also received tips on managing their weight and a list of physical activity calorie equivalents of popular festive foods and drinks. For example, the calories in a mince pie require 21 minutes of running and a small glass of mulled wine requires 33 minutes of walking to expend. Their goal was to gain no more than 0.5 kg of their baseline weight.

On the other hand, the control group received a healthy living leaflet with no dietary advice

The results showed that on average, participants in the control group gained some weight over Christmas, but participants in the intervention group didn’t gain anything.

While the difference in weight was only 0.49kg, there was a significant increase in cognitive restraint (limiting food intake to control body weight) among the intervention group compared with the control group.

Do you think this is a good idea? Do you worry about gaining weight over the holiday period?