Surviving The Holidays: A Balanced Approach
Around this time of year, many of my clients are trying to figure our how to make it through the holidays without packing on a bunch of the classic, “holiday weight”. The truth is, its tough! There is however, an approach that I find works for almost anyone… Balance!
What I mean by balance, is that unless you are training for a bodybuilding show and need to be at 5% body fat in January or February, it’s ok to indulge a bit and enjoy the time with family and friends.
Lets face it, as the year comes to a close, there tends to be more parties, social events, family gatherings and so on, that all tend to revolve around food. Its easy to say, “well just stick to your proper nutrition and exercise, and you will be fine!”. Lets be honest though, we are all going to indulge and enjoy this time of year at least a little bit.
So what should you do to avoid putting on that dreaded holiday weight? Here are a few tips to follow…
Remind yourself that the holidays are only a few days of the year, and not October - December. Too often do I hear the holidays referred to as the entire 3 month span, which can make it far to easy to go off the rails with your nutrition and exercise, and lead to major weight gain.
Try and stay on your program for as much of the months as you can. Keeping a solid routine throughout the week can be the make or break when it comes to adhering to your program. If you have an event on Friday, make Monday - Thursday “business as usual” and stick to your program. This will also help alleviate feelings of guilt later which can make it even harder to stick to your program.
If you know that you will be going out to a special occasion dinner or event, try and plan that day accordingly by decreasing your calorie intake a bit earlier in the day, or by increasing the intensity of your workouts that day and the next. This will help put those extra calories to good use instead of just storing them as fat.
ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS! Binge eating and stuffing yourself is never good, but depriving yourself of all delicious food forever isn’t much better. The last thing you want to do is create a negative mindset with food where you can’t ever eat the foods you love. That is how yo-yo diets work and how most people end up giving up on their goals.
Balance really is key. Indulge but don’t binge eat. Give yourself the freedom to enjoy the treats that you love, but keep portion control in mind. Once the end of December comes, you don’t want to have to work off a bunch of weight that you had already worked off before the holidays. Keep focused on your goals and incorporate the holidays into your fitness routine, don’t incorporate your fitness routine into the holidays.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chris Novick
Owner, CPT, CCES, CFNS, CETS
