To 10 Ways to Keep the Weight Off During the Holidays

Posted by Tim on Nov 19th, 2011 in Motivation, Nutrition | 0 comments

We’re into the holiday season so don’t even pretend that this top 10 list isn’t 100% timely and worth re-reading.

So here goes:

#1. Don’t forget the REAL meaning of the holiday season. Seriously, this will keep more weight off and reduce more stress than anything else you can do. Stress less by being grateful and giving back to others. Chill out and enjoy the holidays. That’s why we have them.

#2. Start a healthy nutrition plan TODAY. The reason you NEED to start both #1 and #2 today is because there IS NO good reason to “wait until after the holidays.” Waiting until after the holidays is a recipe for getting fatter.

#3. Start keeping a food journal TODAY. Keeping track is the best way of staying on track. Just grab a notebook and keep some notes on what you put in your mouth.

#4. Plan out your meals for the week. Nothing beats a good plan. Plan out each and every meal for the week that you are going to eat and shop accordingly.

#5. Commit to staying on your meal plan by setting a grocery budget. Of course, if you’re hosting a party then go ahead and shop for that, but keep it separate from YOUR PERSONAL/family meal planning and budget.

#6. Do not count the holiday party that you’re going to as a meal. If you stay on a regular meal plan then you won’t show up to the party as hungry and as tempted to eat crazy amounts of goodies and sweets.

#7. Have a protein shake before you go to a holiday party. Holiday parties are notorious for having foods that are sweet and rich and loaded with fat and carbs, but low on protein (let’s not even talk about the booze). So get some protein in there. . . your belly, that is.

#8. Start a workout program TODAY. It doesn’t have to be much. 30-40 minutes a day 3 days a week. Heck, 20 minutes will do you good. Just do something and be consistent with it.

#9. Go public with your commitment to not gain any holiday weight. Don’t let this just be an exercise in your head. Make a plan HOW EXACTLY you are going to do it, find someone to help hold you accountable, and maybe even convince them to do it with you.

Here’s how you can bring up the conversation.

“You know, Susie, I’ve got a couple goals that I’ve been thinking about to help me keep the holiday weight off. I got the ideas off this FANTASTIC website, Fit True.com. You should check it out. But besides that, there’s one goal that I think I’m going to need your help with. Would you consider helping to hold me accountable with this?”

What are they going to say, “No?” It’s the holidays for goodness sake. They’re your friend for goodness sake. If they do say no then find someone who will say yes.

#10. Plan and encourage some holiday party activities. It centers the attention around activity rather than just food. There’s nothing quite like the back yard foot ball game right after T-day dinner. How about asking the party host if you can bring a board game or something like a football to the holiday party? In fact, scratch that. Don’t ask, just do it. It’s always better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Don’t feel like you’ve got to do all ten of these. Just pick one or two that you think you could do easily and a third one that stretches you a little bit. When you get your accountability partner talk about what you think will be easy and what will be hard for you.

Pass this on to people you think would like it. Go ahead and share it on Facebook or where ever.

Also, please have a

Happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.