By Dalia Colón -
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you’ll likely gain about a pound. Overweight and obese Americans gain more like 5 pounds over the holidays.
Eating right is especially tough when you’re visiting relatives. You prefer skim milk on your cereal, but Aunt Mabel stocks whole milk. You’ll hurt Grandma’s feelings by refusing a third slice of pie. And far be it from you to break up the annual cookie swap.
The rumored 5-to-7-pound holiday weight gain may be an exaggeration, but even a pound a year adds up over time. (Ambros / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
Then there’s exercise. Floridians headed up North who expect to maintain their outdoor fitness regimen are in for a rude awakening. Two words: Wind. Chill.
But, if you belong to a gym or can team up with a health-minded relative who can provide a guest pass while you’re away from home, there’s a chance your waistline can survive the season intact. We called around to some popular fitness chains to find out their policy on out-of-town guests.
Bally Total Fitness: Members’ access to others clubs depends on the membership type: one club, local or national access. Nonmembers can receive a seven-day guest pass via email.
Curves: Members, before you leave town, request a Travel Pass from your club. This allows you to use any Curves worldwide, although the length of the pass varies by club. For nonmembers, each club distributes guest passes as its own discretion.
Life Time Fitness: Platinum members can work out in any platinum club; same goes for gold and onyx members. Members also get a certain number of single-day guest passes annually, depending on membership level. So if you’re going as a guest, just bring a photo I.D. and make sure the member is with you. If you’re not a member of any Life Time Fitness, you can get a free trial pass good for seven consecutive days.
Lifestyle Family Fitness: Passport members have access to all 55 club locations in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Indiana. Basic members can pay $12 a day to access any LFF club. Nonmembers can print a free seven-day trial pass.
YMCA: Each Y is an independent nonprofit that sets its own membership and guest policies. Most are happy to accommodate out-of-town members for a few days, but call ahead to be sure.
This reporter can be reached at daliacolon@wusf.org.
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