The good news is that you don’t need to gain weight or feel deprived during the holiday season to keep from gaining back all the weight you’ve lost! In fact, just the opposite may happen and you may lose weight during the holiday season…
The bad news is that Christmas doesn’t give you permission to go overboard and undo all the good you’ve done so far! Remember, it’s just food, and the pleasure is temporary.
Go into the season with a different way of thinking this year: The holiday season is probably the ultimate test you’ll face in terms of food and weight loss, so think about food differently and you’ll come out of the holiday season with a belt. looser and a smile on your face because you wouldn’t have lifted any weight…
The most helpful advice I can give you is to really commit to yourself before all the parties start to choose to eat only when you are hungry. Make the conscious decision this holiday season that no matter what, you won’t gorge yourself on food, but food is still food no matter the season, and choose to eat only when you’re hungry. If it helps, carry a doggy bag to eat over a longer period of time over a couple of days instead of stuffing yourself all at once. That will make you feel like you’re not depriving yourself, but you’ll still be exercising self-control.
Here are some other practical and useful tips to get through the Christmas season with victory:
- Watch your liquid calorie intake. Obviously, water doesn’t count, you can drink as much as you want. What you really need to watch out for are things like soft drinks and alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, and champagne, which are empty calories. Limit yourself to one or two during holiday dinner activities. Drink water between your drinks to space them out a bit.
- Snack before dinner. If you eat an apple or drink a full glass of water 20 to 30 minutes before you eat, you’ll eat less because your appetite won’t be as terrible. That said, never go to a meal feeling hungry, or you’ll end up with a food hangover for sure.. Those tend to be filled with feelings of regret and great swelling, just not worth those few minutes of temporary pleasure…
- Eat a plate of salad before main meals. This helps prepare the body for the abuse to come, and you’ll find it has two benefits: raw foods help digest your food faster, which means quicker elimination, and it serves to fill you up a bit before “bad” foods . come crash down
- It’s perfectly fine to indulge, a little. You can still try everything you enjoy, just watch your portions. Split your huge slice of cake with a family member and take small samples of everything else you want to try.
- Move after eating. Try to take a short walk after eating instead of plopping your stuffed butt on the nearest couch. It will help you burn some extra calories.
- exerciseextra hard (and during the holidays, you’ll have extra time so you can’t use the lack of time as an excuse…sorry!) In the weeks you know you’ll have holiday gatherings, put a little extra effort (and minutes) into your workouts. If you eat more than you planned, compare it by taking the extra time to burn off the extra calories you ate.
- It’s okay to say “No.” Don’t be afraid to tell people “no thanks.” It’s YOUR body, and it’s YOU who has to get rid of the excess through hard work.
- Be conscious. Before you start eating, look at the food on your plate and tell yourself that it is a lot of food and it will fill you up. Of course, don’t overcrowd your plate at first so you have an excuse to overeat! Rather serve a small portion, pause when you’re done, and if you’re still hungry, just come back for more.
- Copy a thin person. If you haven’t learned how to identify real hunger yet, copy someone who is skinny. See how much they eat and just copy them!
- Eat slowly. By eating slowly, you’ll have a chance to feel full, rather than stuffing yourself fast and then feeling like you’re going to throw up afterwards because you’re so full.
More importantly, if you’re tempted to overeat, remember that it’s just food and the pleasure is only temporary.