Zero Weight Gain Challenge

The holiday season is coming up and with that the dreaded holiday pounds. Thanksgiving, Christmas and the cold winter months certainly invite high-sugar and fat-laden meals, as well as a sedentary lifestyle. That's why many of us notice by the beginning of the New Year that our pants feel tighter around the waist. A study by Tufts University found that on average adults gain 1 pound during the holiday season, and overweight adults gain five pounds or more during the 6-week holiday season. Now, all of this wouldn't be so bad if we actually lost the additional pounds during the rest of the year. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The New England Journal of Medicine found that the holiday weight gain is not reversed during the spring or summer months.

So, let's move on to the good news. Weight control IS possible during the holiday season. The Zero Weight Gain Holiday Challenge Newsletter can show you how. This successful new program was developed by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and will be offered by Richland County Extension this year. You can sign up now to receive bi-weekly newsletters in your e-mail inbox, starting the week before Thanksgiving until January. Newsletters will include recipes, and cover a variety of topics such as eating out, overeating prevention, exercising during the holidays and many more.

Signing up is easy and free! Just e-mail Family and Consumer Sciences Extension agent Ludmila at [email protected] with the subject "Zero Weight Gain Challenge". That's it. You don't have an e-mail account? No problem. Call Extension at 406-433-1206 to receive the newsletters in your mailbox. So let's commit this holiday season to the Zero Weight Gain Holiday Challenge.