All that summer walking, biking and getting outside has paid off. According to researchers, this is the skinniest you will be, on average, all year.
“Here in North America, the skinniest you’re ever going to be during the year is right now in October,” Brian Wansink, Cornell University Food and Brand Lab director told Global News.
After this week, your weight will start to rise, according to researchers. What’s to blame? Holiday eating.
It starts with Thanksgiving then Halloween, followed by the busy Christmas holiday season.
All of it means big meals, big parties and big weight gain.
“The problem is the weight that’s gained in October, November and December takes the typical person five months to lose after the first of the year,” Wansink said.
Wansink and his team from Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab tracked thousands of people by using remote scales to monitor weight-gain patterns. The research compared three countries: Japan, the United States and Germany. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
What researchers found were similar weight-gain and loss patterns.
People started to gain weight around Thanksgiving, it continued and peaked around Christmas and New Year’s. There was a weight drop in January and then it was back up again in the spring around Easter.
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They also found the days around the holidays were part of the problem.
“In the 10 days ramping up to those holidays … That’s when we found most of the weight gain occurred …. in the days preceding holidays the pre-celebratory days,” Wansink told Global News.
Amanda Nash, a registered dietitian with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, says sticking to your healthy routine – eat a healthy breakfast, exercise and while at a holiday party skip the snacks and wait for the actual meal – will help.
“Look at small areas throughout your lifestyle that you can make changes,” Nash said.
“For this Thanksgiving season, start the tradition of going for a family walk before or after your meal, get more physical activity in, maybe choosing one or two new vegetables that you’ve never tried before. They can all help you manage the holiday season.”