A Little Pre-Holiday Exercise Can Beat The Bulge

I don’t know about you but in Christmas and the surrounding Holiday parties I’d really love to think about nothing but food and fun and not have to pay the price later. You too? Would you be willing to make a littler effort on the front end to have the freedom? Then read on because scientists have found overeating will not affect blood sugar levels in people who exercise daily.

They claim that a short daily workout in the days running up to your Holiday will allow you to take off the day or several and still not gain an ounce.

How short you ask? The study of 26 participants half were asked to get on the treadmill for 45 minutes per day up to Christmas and the other half were told not to exercise. Then over the Holidays both groups were asked to eat everything they could lay hands on.

The non-exercisers ate 50% more than normal and the exercisers ate 75% more than normal. In a short 7 day period, the difference appeared to be that the non-exercisers blood sugar  dropped to an unhealthy level while the exerciser half’s bold sugars remained stable and they showed no side effects of the periods of over indulging.

The non-exercisers also showed a metabolism slowing effect from the overeating that was not evident in the exercisers.

The study was published in the Journal of Physiology.  So if you’d like to have a eat what you what, scot-free Christmas a walk a day should do it.