Try lifting the pumpkin before you eat all that pie

Overdosing on the holidays can spook your waistline long after the festive ghosts and gobblers go away

Halloween is right around the corner, and most of America's fitness focus will start going down the pipe along with all the trick-or-treat candy.

See It Done Watch a CrossFit pro perform the exercise at www.crossfit.com/cf-info/exercise.html. Scroll down and look for "Turkish Get-Up." To contact Bryant Powers go to crossfitoahu.com

It's already a disturbing fact that two-thirds of our country is overweight or obese. Another scary fact is that the average person will gain five to 10 pounds over the holiday season. Then, after they pack that payload, they attempt the nation's No. 1 New Year's resolution: weight loss!

Attempts will be mostly futile, of course. By now the routine is familiar. New Year's Day brings on a clean slate, fresh start, high hopes for latest diet or gimmicky infomercial product. The diet or product seems to work, and immediate weight loss is achieved. Most of it is water weight, however, and soon enough the infamous plateau arrives. The dieter endures this plateau for two, maybe three weeks max. Then all hell breaks loose, it's binge city and you know what happens next, all the weight comes back ... with friends.

The first important point is that fitness must be a lifestyle, not something that phases in and out like fashion or hairstyle. It's like brushing your teeth or bathing: You do it out of habit every day. Second, your fitness should be fired up during the holidays to get you through those pumpkin pies and Christmas cookies.

Now, I understand the your motivation level might be low at this time of year. So, in order to spice things up a little, Bryant Powers, co-owner of CrossFit Oahu, cooked up a little challenge called "Turkish Get-Up."

Powers will usually do a few sets of five with two 16-kilo (approximately 70 pounds) Kettlebelles in one hand. But since Halloween is nearly here, he agreed to demonstrate the exercise with a pumpkin -- not only to get your attention, but also to eliminate the excuse of not having a Kettlebell.

You can do this exercise with almost any object in hand. Start off light, of course, and get the movement down first; use a 5-pound dumbbell, bottle of water or try the pumpkin.

This movement is actually extremely functional; it trains the entire body to handle heavy loads at awkward angles. When performed properly, a well-trained athlete can hold more than his own body weight overhead. You don't have to go that heavy now, just know the potential is there.

Going from the lying position to a standing position might seem like something you do every day getting out of bed. But once you try it with a reasonable amount of resistance, you'll see that it will adequately reveal your muscular weaknesses, imbalances and lack of coordination. Practice enough and you'll improve your core stability, increase shoulder strength and solidify the bracing power of your lower back and glutes. Use this movement frequently as it will test the effectiveness of your overall program.