What Are YOUR Tips for Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain?
The holidays can be a busy and stressful time for many people, but I love this time of year, especially the family get-togethers and the delicious food!
As everyone knows however, it can be a season of pure indulgence.
So, what is the secret to survival?
Stay in the Moment
For me, the single most important tip I could give is to stay in the moment, as much as possible.This means, over the holiday season...
- Try to keep your health goals in the forefront of your mind.
- When temped to overeat for example, refocus on your goals.
- This will enable you to STOP before things get out of control.
In other words, don't get carried away with the season. Remember that Christmas day is just another day in the year. If you've been working really hard to get in shape, overdoing it during the holidays just isn't worth it.
Anyway, that's just my two cents! There's so much advice out there, it's sometimes difficult to find your focus. So, I thought it would be great to hear from you guys:
How do you plan to survive the holiday feasting, without needing to go on a diet in the New Year?
Perhaps you have tips on snacking, portion control, recipe modification, or something else - share your ideas with us in the comments section, we'd love to hear what works for you...
Also, if you haven't done so, check out Bethany's article on avoiding holiday weight gain.
19 Comments
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Created / Updated: December 23, 2009
SAVOUR! Savouring has been the single most amazing weight survival tactic I've found. I savour the Christmas fare and drink it in before I take anything. I savour the colours, the shapes the food makes on the plate. I savour the holiday atmosphere and feast my eyes on everyone around the table - the people I love. Then, I take a small quantity of everything that looks yummy and savour every mouthful. I make sure I get the maximum flavour from every mouthful and I eat at the speed of a snail just allowing myself to be in a no-rushed space.
ReplyHi Cari,
ReplyThat's a great tip. I think some people eat way too quickly to enjoy their food. I also try to savour mind, then my husband likes to make fun of how I eat certain foods!!! :-)
I've lost 95 lbs this year. Yesterday, I took a piece of chocolate that was offered. Yes. I took it and savored it. I let it roll around in my mouth and appreciated the smooth texture and rich flavor. I did not feel guilty for one second.
ReplyGet over the 'peer pressure'- in my family my brothers carry the feeling of being completely bloated afterwards like a badge of honor;)
Don't feel obligated to fit in and join the 'stuffing party'-
Other than that I whole heartedly agree with cari in the previous comment. Let's savor not only the moment but also the food.
Btw. I like the idea of asking for individual ideas so I pointed my blog post to here.
ReplyDietdonna,
I hadn't thought of it, but that's so true, some people do have the idea that if you don't stuff yourself it wasn't a good Christmas meal!
Thanks for pointing your readers over here BTW.
ReplyExercise hard core. Holiday time to me means extreme intense workouts sometimes doing two spin classes in a row and a run on my lunch break. Then I don't feel guilty about the eggnog or baileys in my coffee. Those shortbread cookies i ate at the office become the fuel for my insane spin classes. lol
ReplyTo me, I just go on thru the holidays like every day of the year. I keep up my exercise & healthy eating BUT I plan for anything coming at me. I decide what I do & do not want to eat. If I overdo, I just get right back to it the next day & if necessary, I may up the exercise. I just don't let the eating go on endlessly & mindlessly. I am mindful of what I am doing. If I want to enjoy, I do BUT I make sure it is something I really want vs. eating it just because it is there.
We are all different so you have to find what is going to work for you. But I think being mindful & not eating just because are 2 good ones.
ReplyHi Jody,
ReplyI totally agree with you, if you're going to have a treat, make the calories worthwhile!
I don't know why people make it so complicated just because a holiday is coming up. How about this for advice: don't pig out. It's always worked for me.
ReplyI've survived 8 Christmas seasons being thin and not "blowing it", so I know a few strategies that always seem to work for me. I always keep up on my workouts during this season...I usually go for an extra long run on Christmas Eve morning and I wake up early on Christmas and squeeze a quick run in before unwrapping gifts with my family. As far as the food goes, I eat a few goodies that I LOVE (my homemade toffee, a few select pieces of fudge) and eat mostly my regular diet otherwise...lots of fruits, veggies, etc.
I've noticed something interesting...when I was heavier, I always just ate whatever was around on Christmas Day. Stuff like stale cookies that we had baked the week before, my mom's friend's homemade divinity that tasted sort of like sweet plaster of Paris, crappy egg nog out of a carton, etc. When I started becoming more health-conscious, I became more selective in what I chose to eat. I found that I really did not miss all those high-fat but not-so-great tasting stuff that everyone else was eating. Plus, I didn't gain weight from the holidays while everyone else did.
ReplySpectra,
ReplyGreat tips! It's completely possible to get through the holidays without gaining weight, I wish more people realised that.
1. stop using the damn new years as a valid reason to "start" getting healthy.
2. Eat what you want but in smaller portions so psychologically you're still satisfied. Nothing is worse than missing out on cheesecake. A tiny slice is better than nothing.
3. Move everyday and get your fam involved (Twister, Snowball fight, Wii etc.) Instead of trying to cut/maintaining your caloric intake, let it increase slightly, but then also let your workouts increase slightly. The net result will be sexy awesomeness.
4. Last case scenario... learn to say no. You won't offend people, they'll get over it, and things will be back to normal.
ReplyI bought a really cute New Year's party dress. Its great motivation to maintain my eating habits (or at least up my exercise if I choose to indulge.) I want to look hot on New Year's Eve! :D
ReplyMy survival plan is to stay on my healthy eating plan the rest of December, and take Christmas Eve and Christmas off to eat what I want. I'ts just 2 days, simple math.
ReplyGreat advice. It is so easy to lose oneself for a week or two during the holidays. Nothing wrong with enjoying a good meal, but overdoing it for 7 days wills surely wreck any momentum one has.
ReplyI always eat whatever I wanted, but being a picky person when it comes to food, I like to pick and choose and if I want to indulge in a piece of cake or more cocktails, I just work out extra hard the next day. It's about balancing food, drinks and exercise..
ReplyI`ll have anything I want but nothing I don`t want, e.g. yes to all the good stuff and no to the crap (which I often used to eat just for the sake of it) No second helpings either and definitely no potatoes!
ReplyResolving to get healthy yet again? Don’t fail this year. Nutrition 101 is a free online video series with Registered Dietitian Joan O’Keefe. This working mother of four children knows a thing or two about hectic schedules – and she knows a lot about nutrition. Let O’Keefe show you how to make your health goals a reality. From disease prevention to simple ways to feed your family healthier meals, O’Keefe covers it all with humor and a very motivating approach.
ReplyDid you know that cravings, junk food pig-outs and more bad habits can be controlled just by eating a good breakfast? In the latest video in the Nutrition 101 series, Joan O’Keefe, RD explains why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Not just any breakfast will do, however. According to O’Keefe, a morning without protein sets you up for a day of spiking, crashing blood sugars and inflammatory attacks. She offers simple ways to include protein in the whole family’s morning.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wvlDAV37eo&feature=related
This is really my first holiday season on track. I'm getting married in February, so I'm HUGELY motivated to stay on track and look my best on my big day! So far I've had success by mostly just keeping up with my routine - exercise and eating my own homemade meals. When I do eat at a party, it's really important that I keep the "party eating" to just one serving of one meal and then it's immediately back to my program. I've fallen off track enough times to realize that my trigger is giving into temptation more than once. Once, I can get back on track but more than that, I go into "I've already blown it so I might as well keep eating junk" mode.
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