Beginning with the mini candies from Halloween all the way through the Strawberry and Champagne Cheesecake at New Years, is it possible to manage your weight during the holidays, or have you already accepted that you will pack on the Festive Fifteen?

People tend to overindulge in food and drink during the holidays. We make excuses for reasons to avoid our exercise routine or shift from our dietary plans. Unfortunately these excuses lead us on a destructive path to poor health. And if you think you will just turn things around at the start of the new year, then you are 97% wrong. Research has shown that only 3% of people actually fulfill their New Year’s resolutions.

With that being said, I do believe that you can enjoy all those holiday treats and dodge the Festive Fifteen with just a little bit of planning. Below are my 5 tips to hacking the holidays.

1. Weigh yourself at least twice per week. Applying this hack is often times enough to help you to stay on track without feeling like you are taking the fun out of the season.
2. Start your day with some fun-cercise. Research shows that exercise done first thing in the morning leads to healthier habits and more movement throughout the day.
3. Also, start your day with a large glass of water. 16-32 ounces of water first thing in the morning fills your belly and helps to decrease your appetite and those pesky fat storing breakfast carbs like muffins, biscuits, and breads.
4. Leave the leftovers. After the party, you are often handed a Tupperware container of food to take home with you. This food tends to be eaten within hours of receipt. Remember the old adage “out of sight, out of mind”. If the food is not staring you in the face you won’t eat it.
5. Fast often. Intermittent fasting, daily fasting, water fasting, 3-2-2 fasts, etc. all have tremendous benefits to maintaining and improving your health. For example, I like to fast the day before and the day after a festive day of family and food. The only caveat here is that you need to be metabolically flexible or you may just end up “starving yourself” only to overindulge on junk food when you do get ready to eat.

At Stanly Wellness Center, we are offering our Holiday Weight Loss Program. This program consists of cellular detox, Zerona body contouring, whole body vibration and weekly body composition testing. You can choose from the 1 month, 2 month or 3 month package. Book your package by Halloween and take advantage of a one-time 50% discount on any of the 3 packages. Just mention this ad when booking your package.At Stanly Wellness Center, we are eager and ready to help you and your families achieve your best health possible. If you are looking for help with your health or you know of someone who is suffering with poor health, call the office of Stanly Wellness Center at 980-355-7600 and schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation with Dr. Patrick Ess to see how he can help. Dr. Ess will not waste your time or money. He will let you know if he can help you, and if he can’t, who in the community can.

Our office specializes in nutrition, detoxification and neurological correction. You can also refer to our website at www.AskDrPatrick.com for more information. We accept most major health insurances including BCBS, Aetna, Humana, UHC, Medicaid and Medicare.