Navigating The Holidays Without Going Off The Rails On Your Diet

This can be such a joyous time of year but when you’re trying to reach or maintain weight loss goals it can also be super challenging and stressful.

The time and energy spent arguing in your own head alone can be stress-inducing. Should I eat this?  Should I not eat that? What if there's nothing I can eat there?  Will I be able to resist Aunt Ginny's spice cake?

All that can be exhausting just in itself.

But it really doesn’t have to be that way you can still enjoy the holidays without having all the wheels fall off.

It just takes slowing down a bit (another challenge this time of year?), a little mindfulness and thinking ahead.  But you can still have your favorite treats without feeling like you have to dig yourself out of a hole come January 1st.

I used to be the type that just basically gave up for that whole time between Thanksgiving and New Years.  There was always so much temptation, so much stress and busy-ness, and yes probably a little FOMO.

But that also usually came with guilt, weight gain, fighting sugar cravings and feeling crappy…

It also typically meant starting the New Year with regret.  Trying to get the extra weight off, trying to tame the sugar dragon, and trying to re-find my motivation when I felt like crap.

Getting back on track never seems to be as easy as we think it will be when we decide to throw caution to the wind come November - thinking we’ll just start again in January…

But what if things don’t have to be so black or white?  What if we can operate in the grey?

That place where we’re not striving for perfection or even weight loss - but rather just going for maintenance.

I want to offer some tips that have worked well for me and the women I work with, to help you be able to enjoy this time without having to start from scratch in the new year.

Plan!  Take a look at your calendar.  What events are coming up for you?  What type of food will be involved?  Make a plan for how you will handle each situation.  Is that work dinner something where you can stay mostly on plan?  Maybe you know your friend Becky will have that amazing tiramisu at her party.  Choose the “worth it” indulgences  - you can still have treats without completely going off the rails.  Have the treats that are worth it and leave the stale grocery store cookies that someone picked up last minute on the way to the party.

On that note, don’t just eat stuff ‘cuz it's there.  It's really easy to do that - especially if you’re like me and are more comfortable in those situations if you’re ”doing” something - which in my case was usually stuffing my face or drinking - while socializing.

On that note… again ;)…Just because you have a treat doesn’t mean you have ruined anything and it doesn’t mean you should give up for the rest of the month.  I know this is the season of food, parties, celebrations and temptations but how many events are you going to?  Even if it's a lot - like say 10 parties in the month that's only 10 meals, 10 instances where you might go off plan…but that doesn’t mean that just because you have a dessert at Thanksgiving that you have to give up and go hog wild for the rest of the year.  There are many many other meals, other opportunities throughout that month for you to eat well in between

Don’t go hungry!  How many times have you had plans to go to a party so you tried to eat very little during the day to “save up your calories”?  That is usually always a recipe for disaster!

You go in hungry, and because of that you have less control and EVERYTHING looks good - even those things you could usually pass by.

Instead, eat well, the more satiated you feel, the easier it will be to be choosy in what you want instead of diving face first onto the dessert table.  It’ll be easier to make those worth-it choices.

Keep up your self care during this time.  I know it's a crazy busy time and there are just so many hours in a day but you will feel much better if you are keeping up with your usual self-care routines and it’ll be easier to handle the added stress and activity.

Get your ZZZs…I know, I know a lot of times that's easier said than done even when it's not the Holidays.  But if you are well rested you’ll be more clear-headed and less likely to make those impulse decisions.

Remember it's about making your weight loss sustainable for the long term - and that means being able to navigate these times - There will be Holidays, parties and events every year, so it's good practice learning how to handle them successfully - the more you do it, the easier it will get and it’ll actually start to feel really empowering.

Being able to enjoy yourself without feeling like you’re starting at point A again is possible.  And you'll feel better mentally and physically too - you don’t have to spend the Holidays feeling tired, fatigued, out-of-control, guilty or crappy.

I hope this helps! If you want some additional support or ideas please join us in our new Facebook community here.