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Welcome back! In this article, we’re going to talk about a subject that you know many of us need help with. It’s not only surviving the holidays, but keeping on our weight loss goal during the holidays. Did you know that most Americans will gain between 5 to 10lbs during the holidays? And, you know, let’s say we keep that eating going throughout the year. That’s only going to accumulate. I’m here to help you out with a few tips to help you survive the holiday. But stay on that goal as well when it comes to the holidays.
I love food. I love calories. I love flavor. I love spending time with my family. But I do notice if I’m not aware of what I’m eating, how much I’m eating, all of that tallies up and I tend to gain a few pounds. So to start off our tips here, we’re going to start with number one. One thing I like to do during the holidays is not necessarily focus on food, food, food, but focus on family, focus on activities, make the holidays more about the ones that you love and not so much about the food. Yes, you might have people come over, you might be entertaining and hosting, but it doesn’t have to be all about that stress. We can actually focus more on the love that we’re going to feel, the family that’s coming over and just spending that quality time with the ones that we love, especially if we don’t get to see them often. So the one thing we want to incorporate with this is more love, more family, less focused on the food, the calories, the menu. We’re still going to put some work into that, but it’s not going to be everything we’re going to focus on this next one. Rolls right into that. As we focus on family and love, we’re also going to focus on experiences. So instead of sitting around, maybe watching a movie, eating a snack, getting another plate of food, so try to plan some more activities with those that you love. Remember, get out of the house less focus on the food, more activities and experiences.
Here’s one of my tips and tricks that I do every single year, and it’s helped me out tremendously. It’s called scaling back. Here’s the method to my madness. What I try to do about a month or two before the holidays is I’ll work on losing 5lbs. So what I’ll do for this is I’ll slowly cut back on my calories. So I’m not in a very big deficit, but I’ll slowly cut back to where I don’t really notice that I’m eating less. Maybe I’ll drink a little less alcohol, eat a little less calories. But the whole premise behind this is, as I’m preparing for the holiday holidays, I’m losing weight. So when those holidays do come around, Thanksgiving, Christmas, I’ve lost 5lbs. So if I do want to indulge a little bit more, my waistline doesn’t notice it. I don’t feel it. What usually ends up happening is I’ll lose four, 5lbs by the end of the holidays when those are out and away. I may have gained 3, maybe 4lbs, but I’m still under my Original Weight, which is amazing and I’m not stressing out about, Oh, no, my pants don’t fit. My clothes feel tighter. Now, if I just take a little bit of preparation time and prepare 1 to 2 months before Thanksgiving, before Christmas time, when that comes around, those few extra calories that I put on don’t make a big deal. I don’t necessarily notice them.
Another trick that’s been super helpful is our plate size. When we typically eat dinner, breakfast, when we eat a meal, we’re using these bigger plates so we’re more prone to fill more food on our plates. But what happens when we use a smaller plate? Well, we’re not going to put too much food on there because too much doesn’t allow to be put on that plate. I also like to take it a step beyond that. I like to preplan. So if I’m going to use a smaller plate, I also want to tell myself, okay, just when it comes to eating, I’m only going to refill maybe two or three times. So once I’ve put that plan into action, I’m more prone to stick to it. So we stick to the smaller plate. We have that good food, we enjoy it, but we don’t overindulge and we don’t go overboard because in the back of our minds we saw we have also made a plan. We’re only going to refill 1 to 2 extra times or three, whatever you decide within your mind and yourself. Another area that I notice people may fall into temptation or need a little more help with is what we’re drinking during the holidays.
When we’re drinking things, yes, water is always going to be the best. But, you know, we might indulge with a little bit of what we like to call mommy juice or alcohol. So one thing that I like to do, again, my rule is a two drink maximum, and that’s just personal for myself. I do feel that when I don’t go beyond that, my calories stay lower. I’m not prone to eating more food. And I just I stay on my goal. Most importantly, I don’t overconsume calories by drinking too many. Here’s one where a lot of people run into trouble. We’ve had Thanksgiving meal. Everything was good. The food was amazing. You stuck to your smaller plates. You had a two drink maximum. You were drinking water in between, drinking your alcoholic beverage. Good job.
But now what do we do with all of that food? Typically one day of excess eating, one day of fun isn’t going to throw everything overboard. What usually does is what we do in the days that follow that. So if we continue with those extra servings, that extra little snack, that little cheat meal a few days after Thanksgiving, those calories will add up.
Here’s something you’re going to do. You’re going to stock up on Tupperware. Yes, go to the dollar tree. Go anywhere where you can find good Tupperware. What you’ll do is now after dinner, you’re going to prepackaged that for your family and friends and get it out of the house, give it to them to take home. They’re going to be super appreciative because many of them won’t have to cook for the next meal. They might have lunch pre-packed for them, but you won’t have those extra calories just sitting there and tempting you day after day after the holidays. Remember that one day isn’t going to throw everything away, but if we continue on that habit, that habit is going to go into days, weeks and months and imagine that caloric intake that we’re going to take, all that that sums up. So give those out. Your friends and family will be super grateful for that. All right. So we’re on a roll here. We’ve got some good tips. We’re implementing good things that are going help us with weight loss this year. But the last thing that I want to remind you all is move a little more every day. Keep in mind, yes, during the holidays, you may have one meet up here. There you’ve got a Thanksgiving get together, a Christmas party.
Remember that we may add up calories within those occasions. So we may want to move a little bit more to make up for those additional extra calories that we’re getting in. So some easy, simple things you can do, make it to the gym an extra one day a week, go for a 10 to 15 minute walk with the kids, the dogs. Do a little yoga session, a little dance session in your living room. But the whole deal is to make sure that you move a little bit more as we’re consuming more calories. So we have a little more of that balance that we’re looking for. Okay. I’m going to take care of you ladies. I do have one more tip for you.
This one is going to be so crucial. Don’t stress. Okay? Yes, Thanksgiving’s coming. Christmas is here. You’re running around your planning, your buying, your wrapping. Stress is going to be one of the big things that’s going to make it harder for you to lose weight. Here’s why. When we stress, some of us may drink a little bit more because we’re stressed. So we’re now drinking extra calories from alcohol. Some of us eat a little more calories when we’re stressed, we stress eat. So now, again, those are accumulating. But not only that. Did you know that when you are stressed, a hormone called cortisol elevates. So when this hormone goes up, we accumulate belly fat. We store more fat in the midsection. That can also cause your body to burn muscle. So I know you’ve heard me say it. You’ve heard other people say it. Stress is not good for us because it actually does accumulate weight gain. It is not the best for our weight loss goal. So remember, everything will be taken care of. You’re going to knock all those things off your list. It’ll get done. But don’t stress and enjoy the holiday season, because the holiday season is more about family, love, friends, experiences. It’s not so much about the gifts, the food. Yes, those are a part of it. But we want to change our mindset to have that healthier balance. I hope that you all have a great holiday season. I hope that these tips have helped you.
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