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We are quickly approaching Thanksgiving, the first holiday of the winter season. For me, Thanksgiving is just the beginning of the challenging winter season. Food is plentiful, business contacts send treats to the office and you begin shopping in your free time and stopping to get food along the way. The shopping season can easily put your workouts and good eating habits on the back burner. Add all of these together and you can quickly gain an extra 10-15 pounds during the winter months.
First of all, enjoy the season, life is too short, and if you happen to gain some extra pounds it’s not the end of the world. Now that reality has been faced let’s talk about what we can do to avoid that 10 extra pounds come January. During this crazy time of hustle and bustle, your focus should switch to maintenance. That means you are simply trying to maintain your current weight and body composition. You don’t want to gain but losing isn’t a goal either. Really, you just want to survive. So take a moment to consider these tips.
When you have a day of shopping pack some beef jerky or other healthy snack to derail any #hangry symptoms until you can find a healthy food option. This is also where tracking comes in handy for me. I track all my food I’ve already consumed and what my plan for dinner is as well. So when I’m out I can plug in any food options to MyFitnessPal and see if it that will meet or exceed my goals. If I’ll exceed them with that food option it usually makes me no longer want it and I move on to a healthier option or tweak my dinner plans a bit.
If you have a food event or an event with drinking make sure you pre-event meals are lean protein. These types of events typically have carb-heavy options so save those for later.
Still eat all the foods you want to, just limit the portion sizes. I do this all the time! We have big catered dinners at church and I love food. So I will only take a dollop of macaroni and cheese and another of dressing, etc. My plate is still filled and I still enjoy all the foods but the servings are much, much smaller. I’m also notorious for splitting a cookie with my kids or a roll.
Don’t rely on mythical time. We all do it, I’ll work out after I go to the store or after lunch. If you know you have a busy day ahead of you, it’s best to get that workout out of the way before you get busy or you’re less likely to get back around to it.
Don’t put off everything until Jan 1st. How many times have you told yourself you start after New Year’s???? The problem with this strategy is you’ve already gained the extra pounds and now you have to work just to get back to where you were. Plus the gym is jammed packed and now you have to fight the crowds. If you’re just starting back you’ll quickly tire of these crowds and likely quit.
What other strategies do you have for beating unwanted holiday gains? Let me know in the comments below!
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