but it doesn't have to be bad for you.

Here's how.

Hey this is Annie Gaus guest hosting for D News.

One of the best things about the holiday season

is the excuse to sit around and eat tons of good food,

drink tons of nog, and just do nothing,

which is part of the reason why it's so common to pack

on a couple pounds during the holidays.

According to a 2000 study by the New England

Journal of Medicine, people can gain an average

of just over a pound over the fall and winter.

And not surprisingly, even short term periods

of overeating and inactivity can have negative effects

on your blood sugar and metabolism.

But don't worry, there is good news.

A new study shows that exercise can counteract

those negative effects, even if you

are gaining a little bit of weight.

Physiologists from the University of Bath

tested groups of young men, having

them consume more calories than normal,

the equivalent of quality overeating.

One was sedentary.

The other exercised on a treadmill for 45 minutes a day.

And in just over a week, the inactive group

saw a whole range of negative effects,

like a decrease in blood sugar control

and changing gene expression in fat cells

linked to poor metabolism.

But the exercising group showed normal blood sugar levels

and less undesirable gene activity.

But what's interesting is that they

matched the excess calories according

to your level of activity.

They had the active group consume even more.

So everyone was at a similar level of excess.

So the implication of the study is

that even if you're stuffing your face with ham and fruit

cake during the Christmas week, exercise doesn't just

burn off some of those calories.

It can also have a protective effect

against some of the bad things that can happen in your body.

So in summary, eat, drink, be merry,

don't forget to move sometimes, and more importantly

have fun over the holidays.

As always, you get in touch with the show

at Twitter and Facebook at D News.

And you can also find me on Twitter at AnnieGaus.

Thanks for watching, and see you next time.