Let The Weight Gain Begin...NO WAY!

The New England Journal of Medicine and just about every other resource I have looked through debunks the well known myth that the average person gains 7-10 lbs. over the 8 weeks beginning in early November through the first week of January. They say you only gain approximately 1 pound.

Huh? I don’t know which 195 people they weighed and measured for this one but come on! They don’t know me.

Raise your hand if you, personally, have experienced this holiday phenomena!

My hand is held high at the moment. I usually gain a solid 5-6 lbs. And believe me, it’s hard earned because I exercise a TON! If I don’t burn at least 500 calories a day (5-6 days a week), I’m grouchy.

Here’s the problem, though, for me!

Those damn holiday pounds gained while still exercising my ass off are really, really hard to remove come January. My body is used to its extra girth by then. It’s winter and I need an extra fat layer for warmth, right? As for my favorite sweatpants...Why can’t I wear them EVERY SINGLE DAY (I wash them!)? I don’t really but I’d like to at that point.

My workout partner, Big Dave, and I discussed it this morning because we’ve talked about it for the last several holiday seasons; the fact that we gain too much weight then it’s a bitch to get off.  [As background, Dave is an ex-college football player (lineman are huge) and weighed 350+ lbs at 6’5” when I first met him probably 9-10 years ago). Now he is, obviously the same height, weighing in at about 225 lbs. but he works really hard from a nutrition and exercise standpoint and looks fantastic.]

So here’s the deal…my deal, our deal.

We are weighing ourselves on Monday, November 5^th. The goal is to weigh the same exact weight (good or bad) on January 7^th. That’s 9 weeks.

Knowing my mind far too well and considering the fact that my weight is rather low right now (at least I think it is but I don't weigh myself everyday), I’m going to eat my face off this weekend and come in heavy on Monday for the weigh in.

I don’t know, we’ll see. I find scales scary so the trick will be on me, no doubt.

The point is, wherever we are two days from now, we won’t weigh more than that on Monday, January 7^th.

I can still have fun, eat and drink wine, but I’ll have a little thingy in the back of my head reminding me about moderation. Moderation is a hard concept for me.

Anyone feel like doing it too? Come on! We'll look like this, won't we?