When it comes to toning up that six pack, most people aren’t getting the timing right.

While you might expect summer to be the fittest time for most people, according to a study by Cornell University, you’ll reach your lowest weight of the year sometime this week or next. This, of course, will be immediately followed by a significant increase in weight.

The lead-up to Christmas and New Year’s will see the most dramatic gains for most people.

The following graph representing weight gains and losses of adults in the United States, Germany, and Japan illustrates this quite clearly:

Unsurprisingly, Thanksgiving also accounts for a considerable widening of waistlines. In fact, the 10 days leading up to any major holiday are the most damaging to one’s shape. You know, that never-ending sequence of receptions, dinner parties, office celebrations and multiple family gatherings that become more obligatory than enjoyable.

Oh, and the extra pounds will stick around too.

“Anything that happens in these next 10 weeks, on average, takes about five months to come off,” said Professor Brian Wansink of Cornell’s business school.

Wansink also offered a useful bit of advice for those who think they can simply undo the damage with a resolution or two to kick off 2017: “Instead of trying to come up with a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, it’s a whole lot better to maybe have an October 1 resolution to gain less in the first place.”

Fourth Quarter Resolutions – probably significantly easier to keep than whatever you scribble on a napkin January 1.

[ninja_form id=104]

[ad_bb1]