Nutrition

7 healthy tips to stay on track for the Holidays

05 May 2016

7 healthy tips to stay on track for the Holidays



It is the holiday season. We have one holiday down with Thanksgiving, but we still have two more coming up with Christmas and New Year. With all of the parties that come with these remaining holidays, it can be a very dangerous time of year.
 
Here are 7 helpful tips to keep you on track with your goals this holiday season:
  1. Eat before you go to your party. If you are already full when you get there, you be less likely to want to hang around the food table and graze. If you show up starving, you will most like overeat and blow your daily calorie budget.

  2. Eliminate or at least minimize your alcohol consumption. I always tell people that they need to stop drinking alcohol during a weight loss goal. This is not always realistic during this party time of year, so if you can greatly reduce your alcohol consumption that will help. Give yourself some limits. Like only having two glasses of wine during a holiday party and not drinking the rest of the week.


  • Drink lots of water. Drinking more water is something that most people need to do anyway. But if you stay hydrated it will cause you to eat less and hopefully slow you down while you are on your alcohol binge. Therefore consuming fewer calories.

  • Don’t bake during the holidays. If you have a weight loss goal, why would you sabotage yourself with having baked goods around your house all of the time. If you need a holiday cookie fix, have one at a party you go to instead of pounding the baker’s dozen that was sitting on your kitchen counter.
  • Don’t stop exercising. It can be tough to fit this in over the holidays with all of the preparation and shopping. Do not feel that you need to work out an hour or more, even if that is what you normally do. Getting a quick 15 or 20 minutes of exercise can be beneficial to keeping you on your program.

  • Keep your scale out and use it. Studies show that people that regularly use their scale maintain their weight better than people that do not own a scale. Jump on the scale once a day or even once a week and do your best to keep that number the same every time you jump on.

  • DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE NEW YEAR!! This is not the time to just give up on all of the hard work you have done all year long. Results come from working on them 12 months out of the year. Not working hard for the first 10, then blowing it the last 2 months. The damage you do in November and December can take months to correct. There is no better time than now, so don’t put it off until January. Keep up the hard work and you will have a happy and healthy holiday season.