Five Tips To Keep The Extra Pounds Away During Football Season

We are deep in the throes of football season, which means a lot of things.

Stress, lack of sleep (thanks, London games), and less quality time with your family are just a few of the downsides to an otherwise glorious time of year.

But the biggest pitfall associated with the fall sports calendar is the added weight gain we often experience around this time.

Sure, the holidays might have something to do with it, but more often than not, the snacking and sedentary lifestyle associated with watching the big games all weekend are the key contributors to putting on those extra pounds, so much so that I've dubbed this slump in physique the Football 15.

Let me know what you are doing to stave off the Football 15 by emailing me at austin.perry@outkick.com.

We are all susceptible to it, no matter how regimented we are during the offseason.

I consider myself a pretty healthy guy, but even I have experienced my fair share of Football 15s over the years.

To help combat this, I have put together five easy tips to stave off the extra fat this fall.

1. Get A Step Tracker/Pedometer

The easiest and most efficient way to lose some extra weight is to just move around more, and the best way to know whether you are moving enough is to get a step tracker or pedometer.

You can download a free app on your phone to track your steps, or, if you have a smartwatch, most of them have a built-in pedometer that is incredibly accurate.

Set a goal for yourself and try to reach that goal, especially on days when you know you'll be sitting around watching some ball the entire afternoon or evening.

I like to get 10,000 steps a day, but even 6,000 is probably a good number to arrive at.

You'll be surprised how quickly those pounds start to melt away the more you move.

2. Buy A Walking Pad

How can you be expected to reach your step goal on a day like tomorrow with so many great college football games on?

I'm glad you asked!

Tell your wife the next time she's on Amazon maxing out the credit card to look for a cheap walking pad.

You can usually find one for somewhere between $50-100 that will get the job done.

Plop that bad boy in front of your TV and instead of watching Tennessee vs. Alabama from the couch, you can get to stepping and kill some calories while enjoying the greatest sport on Earth.

Hurray for multitasking!

3. Practice Portion Control

Snacking is an essential part of football viewing, but what if I told you that you're probably consuming your entire daily allotment of calories just by munching on chips and dip during the afternoon window?

It sounds crazy, but a handful of chips is about 100 calories.

If you visit the chip bowl a dozen times during a game and throw some french onion dip or salsa in the mix, that's a full meal, not to mention the drinks you'll likely down throughout the day.

Be conscious of what and how much you're eating, and you will watch that gut disappear by the time the playoffs roll around.

You can even make a game out of it. For example, you can only visit the chip bowl after a touchdown.

It sounds elementary, but it works!

4. Try Diet/Low-Fat Options Of Your Favorite Snacks

Okay, so maybe the portion control thing isn't working for you.

If that's the case, then make it so that more equals less by cutting the calories in half.

After all, weight loss is literally the simplest equation on Earth: calories in < calories out.

If you can limit those calories you're taking in while still essentially eating the same thing, why wouldn't you take that deal?

I'm a fiend for soda, so diet or zero-sugar options are life-savers on gameday.

Same with any low-calorie options of dips and low-sodium chips.

Losing weight isn't about starving yourself, it's more about being smart and figuring out the hacks.

5. Lift Heavier Weights In The Gym

This might seem counterproductive to some, but heavy, compound lifts like bench, squat, deadlift (just don't ask LeBron for form advice), overhead presses, and more will do wonders for your weight-loss journey.

The reason is simple: having more muscle mass on your frame allows you to burn more calories at rest.

This means the more muscle you have, the more calories you can eat without gaining weight.

The compound lifts I mentioned above are some of the best at packing a large amount of muscle over a short period of time.

So get into the gym during the week and start building some muscle (safely), so you can enjoy more junk food on the weekend.

Life is all about balance, so follow these five tips, and you should be able to have your football cake and eat it too.