Oh, the holidays. People either love them or hate them. Whether it is enthusiastically or begrudgingly, people are BUSY this time of year! Between the charity events, shopping for gifts, company holiday parties, and get-togethers with friends and family, this is probably the most challenging time of year to stay on track with your health and fitness goals. Even if you have already achieved your goal weight, the LAST thing you want to do is to pack on an extra ten pounds that you will have to lose AGAIN in the new year! Here are my ten tips for staying on track this holiday season:
1. Follow the 80/20 rule. I am not a saint. You probably aren’t, either. I think it is defeating and nearly impossible to ask someone to eat 100% clean 100% of the time. We are only human! However, I think it is much more realistic for people, myself included, to eat very well 80% of the time, and to allow the other 20% to be indulgences. Now, in a perfect world, you are already at your goal weight, and you are using this idea to MAINTAIN your weight. But maybe you aren’t at your ideal weight; what does that mean? Follow the 80/20 rule anyway. At the very least, you will maintain your current weight through the holidays, and you won’t have an EXTRA 10 lbs to lose come January. The BEST case scenario is that you even lose a few pounds!
But what does the 80/20 rule look like in practice? Sure, it’s easy enough to SAY that, but how do you know you aren’t really doing 70/30, or 60/40? There are really two ways you can figure it, and that depends upon whether you track your calories or you make a meal plan.
If you count your calories, you can figure that 20 percent of your DAILY or WEEKLY calories can be used for indulgences - candy, cookies, alcohol, bacon-wrapped smokies, cheese dip, etc. So if your daily calorie intake for weight loss is 1500 calories per day, you can figure that 300 calories can be used for indulgences. The other 1200 calories should be PIOUS. If you are figuring weekly, you can have a total of 2100 indulgence calories per week (based on 1500 calories per day X 7 = 10,500 calories per week X 20%). Maybe you eat all of those indulgence calories in one day, and you are, in fact a SAINT the rest of the week.
If you are meal planning, this is a little different. You can either choose one day as an indulgence DAY (again, I don’t usually recommend a whole cheat DAY for weight loss; I usually recommend a cheat MEAL once per week; but c’mon people, let’s be real: it’s the holidays!), or you can have 6-8 small indulgences throughout the week. Remember that if you are making a clean eating meal plan, you are eating 5-6 small meals per day, usually about 300 calories each. Make sure you indulgences are calorically equivalent to a normal healthy meal you would eat.
2. Get your workouts in. I know this can be difficult this time of year because we are all just so
BUSY. It’s not called the holiday “hustle and bustle” for nothing! But you have to offset the extra indulgences of the season, #1, and #2, the holidays are STRESSFUL! Exercise EATS stress. Make work outs a priority because you need them.
Schedule your workouts for a time when you are least likely to be interrupted; for some people, that’s five AM. For me, it’s after work, but before my husband gets home.
Also, if you think you are going to be running around like a madwoman on the weekends, with parties, gift-buying, and preparation for all the events, make sure you get your workouts in through the week. On Sunday, set a goal for how many workouts you are going to get in that week. Schedule them; put them in the calendar on your phone. Then act like they are appointments with your BOSS. You can’t miss them, reschedule them, or move them around. Everything else in your schedule will have to be worked out around your workouts!
4. Drink your Shakeology. The whole point of Shakeology is not to lose weight; it is to supply your body with the nutrients it needs to operate at its highest level of performance. When your body gets the nutrients it needs, cravings are eliminated. I cannot emphasize enough how important this is when you are faced with chocolate fudge cheesecake and White Castle dip, especially after a stressful day of forcing teenagers who DESPERATELY need a snow day to sit down long enough to take a test. Shakeology can help you choose crudites and cheese cubes instead. For me, it gives me the energy I need to race around like a maniac, battle mall parking lots, make a fruit tray for the party, and still write a blog post ;)
7. Take it to work. You know what I love? Oatmeal raisin cookies. And you know what else? I make some pretty incredible ones. Sometimes, just nothing else will do. So I go ahead and I make a batch. I eat two of them right out of the oven. Then, I pack up the rest and take them to work. Or I give them to my friend Robin who loves them as much as I do (he won’t share, so don’t ask. He eats ALL of them). I can’t eat them if they aren’t in the house. I get what I really want without destroying all of my hard work.
8. Send the leftovers home with your guests. If you are the one hosting, you will likely have a variety of foods for your guests that don’t usually fit into your eating plan. That’s fine; you are supposed to be a good hostess! But think of the danger of what happens AFTER everyone goes home: you still have half a dozen black forest cupcakes sitting in your fridge. Guess what you can’t stop thinking about?
10. Know what you’ll order before hand. The holidays also lend themselves to many meals out. Find out where you are going ahead of time. Look up the menu online, and, much like with fast-food, come up with a plan BEFORE you are famished. At restaurants, ask politely for no oil, butter, or croutons; sauce and dressing on the side; and for veggies to be steamed and not sauteed. Most restaurants are used to this, and while the server might go back into the kitchen and roll her eyes, if you leave her a 20% tip, she’ll get over it (I can say this because I WAS that server, for a lot of years). Not EVERY meal out should be an indulgence meal.
5. Swap a carb for an alcoholic beverage. If you KNOW you are going to be having an adult beverage or two at a gathering, be proactive during the day. Swap out a carbohydrate, especially a starchy one like a potato, rice, or bread, in favor of the vodka soda you will have later. Make a short-term sacrifice so that you can have long-term results.
- Pick the ONE thing. You know what I mean. The ONE thing, out of all the food on the table at the party, that you want more than all the rest. Maybe it’s a piece of pie, or some decadent baked brie. Figure out what that ONE THING is, and have that. Fill in the rest of your meal with veggies, fruit, and lean protein. Then sit down, close your eyes, and savor that indulgence
Enjoy your party, have your indulgence, but plan ahead. Buy some cute (and disposable) to-go containers before hand, and as guests start leaving, insist that they pack up some doggy bags.
- Have a fast-food strategy. Okay, I am not a proponent of fast food, but I’m also a realist. This is a crazy-hectic time of year! Sometimes, despite our best attempts to plan, we are stuck in situations that leave us cruising through a drive-thru. Instead of denying the possibility of this happening, be proactive. Think about the three fast-food joints closest to both your house and your job. Scope out their menus online, and choose the healthiest options for around 300 calories. Do this after you have already eaten, so you are not driven by hunger. Then, store your menu choices in the notes section of your smart phone. That way, the next time you find yourself being asked “Do you want fries with that?”, you have prepared yourself to refuse.
You don’t have to give up on your goals just because the holidays have come around. You are not destined to have to make losing weight your New Year’s resolution AGAIN. With a little forethought and planning, you could even be down a few pounds!
Do you have any questions about how to survive the holidays unscathed? Find me on Facebook and shoot me a message; I’m happy to help.
Happy Holidays!
BE FIERCE. Stick to your goals.
