It’s always hard to stay on track during the holidays. During the holiday season, there are parties to attend, happy hours and social gatherings, cookie baking parties and so much more that give constant temptations during the holidays. If you are like me, you may have a sweet tooth and can’t say no to all of the yummy treats around and you may love socializing so you are happy to attend parties where you usually partake in the drinks (alcohol included of course).
Also if you are like me, you may be trying to build and maintain healthy lifestyle habits. During the holiday season, I used to put my goals on hold. I would just eat whatever I wanted and there was always “tomorrow” to go to the gym. It’s the holidays, so it’s “OK” that I just ate 5 Christmas cookies. And also the famous, “I will get back on track in the new year” thoughts creep into my head.
Well, over the years of losing 90 lbs and keeping it off, I’ve come up with a game plan to get me through the holidays without gaining 10lbs (I’ve totally done that before). If you think about it, letting go during the holidays could be about 6-8 weeks worth of over-eating and not exercising. That’s a lot of time to gain weight and build unhealthy habits.
Here is what I do during the holidays to ensure that I stay on track:
- I consistently eat healthy during non-holiday parties and gatherings. During the holidays, parties tend to be on the weekends or a happy hour during the week that may have you eating or drinking more than you should. To ensure my weight stays in check, I stay consistent with healthy eating all other times of the week. This means I ensure I eat healthy and even calorie count to keep my food intake lower during non-holiday party times to balance those extra cookies and glasses of wine I know I am going to consume.
- I don’t go overboard when I’m at the party. At a holiday party or gathering, there are ALWAYS drinks and desserts and snacks that sit out for the entire party. I used to find myself hanging out right next to the food, which means I ate it non-stop which would leave me extremely full and gross feeling. I’ve learned that I need to do things like to just take a plate of appetizers and walk away. The same goes for desserts: I’ve over ate desserts to the point where I literally feel sick so I remind myself of that every time I go to grab that extra cookie, it’s not worth it! The joy it brings me is only for the 30 seconds it takes for me to eat it.
- I increase exercise. Everyone is running to get a gym membership in January but I am one of the weirdos that gets a gym membership in November/December time period. I know the holidays are busy so I literally schedule workouts to ensure that I can get them in. I just got my gym membership again so I will be heading to the gym now at least twice a week (as scheduled 🙂 ).
- I get on my mat. Attending yoga classes helps keep up my flexibility and strength during the holiday season. Yoga also calms my mind and leaves me grounded. This really helps me not to be so wound up, which helps to be more mindful about moments of life, like when I am met with food temptations or to be able to sit and enjoy the time with family and friends.
- I have fun and enjoy the season. The holidays can be about indulging a bit but they are more about spending time with family and friends.
Don’t let the holidays get you off track, but at the same time, we should be able to enjoy this time of year. So have a drink and eat a cookie at that party (try not to eat 5 🙂 ). Just be sure to eat healthy before and after it and schedule some time to hit up the gym.
