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How to Get Through the Holiday Season Without Gaining Weight

Although I enjoy spending time with family and friends during the holidays, I must confess that the holidays always make me a bit nervous and stressed.  Of course, there is always the financial concern of wanting to give good gifts within a disciplined budget, but there is the additional stress of striving to keep some semblance of my fitness routine throughout the season.  As we all know, the holidays are usually filled with a lot of extra “running around” in addition to the already hurried pace that most of us live.  How do we find the time to plan and prepare healthy meals and exercise with all of these extra tasks to do?  How do we avoid overeating at holiday meals when there are always so many scrumptious foods to sample?  Although I definitely don’t consider myself to have perfected the art of getting through the holidays without some serious binges, I would like to share some tips with you to help you stick to your goals through the upcoming months. 

 

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! 

  • Plan your November and December schedules way in advance, and go ahead & write in the times and days you will exercise.  Treat these exercise sessions as any other appointment.  You need to respect yourself enough to keep the appointment you made with yourself. 
  • Plan to go for a walk after holiday meals.
  • Plan to make up your extra calorie consumption through extra activity.
  • Plan your non-holiday meals wisely.  Take advantage of convenience foods like pre-bagged salads; already cut-up veggies; packaged tuna; and individual-size yogurts. 
  • Plan to maintain your weight during the holidays.  It’s very hard to lose it during these months, but if you can maintain your current weight, you should give yourself a pat on the back!

 

AVOID PITFALLS!

  • Don’t skip meals to make room for the “big meal”.  It doesn’t work that way.  Just eat small portions of healthy foods every 3 hours during the day before your Thanksgiving dinner, and then watch your portion sizes when you splurge on the “good stuff”. 
  • Don’t overeat!
  • Don’t eat too many starches and simple sugars (i.e. don’t overdo it on the pecan pie!)
  • Eat plenty of protein (i.e. enjoy that turkey!)
  • Don’t give up eating healthy now & then tell yourself that you’ll lose it in January.  Believe me…you’ll be disgusted with yourself in January if you do this. 
  • Don’t wear loose clothes to Thanksgiving Dinner!  If you wear normal fitting clothes, then your stomach will tell you when you’re finished so that you won’t overeat.