Welcome to the Get Fit Guys quick and dirty tips to slim down and shape up. My name is Ben Greenfield, and I'm the Get Fit Guy. I've got a question for you. Did you stuff yourself full on Thanksgiving? Are you now in panic mode about how your waistline is going to handle all those holiday parties, not to mention

your Christmas feast. Maybe your weight survive Thanksgiving unharmed, but it threatens to explode

as the holiday season progresses. So let's start with holiday weight gain reason number one,

and that is that your schedule changes. Once the holidays arrive, your tidy type A, strictly scheduled world

can begin to unravel. Suddenly you have three and four day weekends during which there's ample

opportunity to sleep in and be lazy, not to mention the holiday parties with heavy eating and

drinking on nights that you'd normally behave and go to bed early, gyms that close or have new

strange hours, and travel that takes you to a new location where exercise can seem like a stressful

or confusing chore. So how can you handle these scheduling snafus to avoid holiday weight gain?

There's one simple way. Plan ahead. For example, you can check with your

gym in advance to find out what the holiday hours are, and on days when it may be closed or

unavailable to you, plan on outdoor walks or runs or home bodyweight exercise sessions,

and you can find such sessions over at getfit guy.quickanddirtirty tips.com. On long weekends, set exercise goals that get you

moving and boosting your metabolism early before you're tempted to be lazy for the rest of the day,

such as squeezing in 20 minutes of exercise before 9 a.m. If you're traveling, use Google Maps to

search for gyms nearby where you are staying or pack elastic bands and

running shoes and be sure to check out the article how to stay fit while traveling over at

get fit guy.quickand dirty tips.com. That article gives you easy, no excuses, workouts that you can do

on the go. Holiday weight gain reason number two is that you are stressed. During the

holidays at the same time that your schedule changes, you also suddenly have added pressure from

shopping needs, family obligations, and changes to your daily routine. As a result of this added

stress, your blood pressure and heart rate can go up, your motivation to exercise can go down, and your

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