Holiday Drinks equal Holiday Weight Gain

Virtually everyone has heard the warnings concerning holiday weight gain. On average, people add about a pound to their weight over the holidays. With all of the holiday feasting, eating and sweets, the fact that it's only a pound might seem like good news. In fact it's actually hard to believe only a pound is added. Furthermore, at least in the northern hemisphere, the holiday season is also a time of cold weather making running, walking or even getting to the gym a lot harder. The bad news is that this pound that we gain generally isn't lost after the holidays. It becomes part of us. That's why the peers you see at your 25-year reunion look a lot heavier than they did at the 10-year reunion (probably by about 15 pounds).

So, how easy is it to gain a pound? Well, ignoring the vast differences in individual body types and metabolisms, a rule of thumb is that a pound equates to about 3,000 calories. This might seem like a lot but when put in the context of the following holiday drinks (complements of the Boomer Chronicles) and you see how easy it is to get to 3,000--or more.

o Eggnog: about 450 calories and 22 grams of fat per serving
o Hot buttered rum: about 200 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving
o Hot cocoa: up to 300 calories and 8.5 grams of fat per serving, excluding whipped cream or marshmallows
o Chai latte, a one-cup serving, about 110 calories and 3 grams of fat

Once you've consumed 3,000 calories how hard is it to burn them off? According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE):

"To burn off a 3,000 calorie Thanksgiving Day meal, a 160 lb. person would have to run at a moderate pace for four hours, swim for five hours or walk for 30 miles."

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