Solid, simple tactics with real food and simple movement of your body – and your mind – to put you in the health & weight winner’s circle come January. Part 1 of 10.
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I don’t know where you stand in the competition, but I used to be the queen of the Christmas cookie dough bowl and had the pounds to prove it.
You know what I mean. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Over the next 2 weeks, I’m dipping into my arsenal of holiday food & fitness survival tips to share with you my Top 10.
These are all strategies that I practice myself. Put them into practice for yourself and you too can emerge in the new year without the added fluff and regrets of a holiday season of out-of-control eating.
You know you can count on me for the wisdom of experience and no fitness bs, snake oil, or hunger.
No ‘get away with it’ mentality here. Get over thinking you can cheat your body. Mother Nature can’t be fooled.
Can you have some treats and old favorites on occasion and not devastate your progress?
Of course. That’s what Tip #1 is all about.
Holiday food & fitness Survival Tip #1: Be Choosy
Tip #1: Choose your celebration.
Choose your event or feast. Find one event coming up through the holidays at which you would really like to celebrate and enjoy all of your favorites. It could be a specific holiday, the eve of the holiday, pick a special occasion.
Rather than starting at the beginning of the season and just hanging on, taking a “little bit of this” and a “little bit of that” all the way through – which can get you into a lot of trouble -pick that one holiday celebration and enjoy your favorites. You can’t gain 10 lbs on one meal, I promise.
‘Moderation’ is overrated and can be a health and body-shaping killer. Those nibbles through the day seem innocuous but add up fast. See How I Gained 2 lbs in 2 Weeks.
Plus, when you sample the high fat, high sugar, processed fare on a regular basis it messes with your taste buds big time and makes your brown rice taste like dirt. You know what I mean.
Stay tuned for Holiday Food & Fitness Survival Tip #2 tomorrow!
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Stay In The Healthy, Fit, Happy & In Harmony Loop!
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Thanks for sharing Lani. As long as I have worked with you it’s still very helpful to see these tips – especially at this time. Thanks again.
Woohoo! Thanks Nancy. You know, so much of the time reminders and tips are “oh, I knew that!” but it’s bringing them into focus – and into play – that makes the difference.
“Makes your brown rice taste like dirt” – boy, isn’t that the truth! Processed foods with fat and sugar are the root of my food obsessions – I rarely binge on healthy, unprocessed, sugar-free whole foods.
How can I get back on track, though? I’ve gone waaaay off the rails, and though I want to get back on track, I keep self-sabotaging. I don’t know what to do! :
Molly, I’m so glad you posted today because doing so is the first outer sign of a turnaround. It means you’ve already got the urge, you’ve just gotta water it.
Here’s what I do when stuck in a bad food muck.
1) Give yourself a challenging physical workout. This is the fastest ticket to initiate good body practices resurrection.
2) Purge the house, car, work space of anything that is NOT on your food plan. This is assuming you know how descriminate what is going to support your health goals and what isn’t. I assume you do. For me sometimes that even means dried fruit, as innocuous as it sounds – but I can go overboard on these babies, sometimes more than others.
3) Reconnect with why you are doing #1 and #2. List all the reasons you want to be healthy, trim, and full of vitality. No reason is too silly or too small. Make the most robust list possible. Everything from feeling confident in your jeans to awakening in the morning and feeling the joy of good digestion, muscles well worked, that good feeling through your core – connect with all the little stuff that really is your LIFE every day.
Remember that getting through one day with this higher ideal is huge toward gaining forward momentum.
Report back in.
Lani, I am in total agreement with the tip about reserving one occasion to give yourself permission to celebrate! Even though I choose to eat well for many good reasons, I am also human. My usual philosophy is to make the best of all the best foods, so at my house that’s all there is and I’m content. Outside my home, when faced with so many already prepared former temptations however, it’s a whole different story! Even when I can resist, I sometimes end up feeling sorry for myself. Silly I know, but true! I have found though, just as you said, if I choose an occasion and give myself permission to splurge a little, it’s a choice instead of all those negative little “fails” that tend to defeat my confidence and add up in lots of negative ways!
I decided a long time ago, since I rarely go out to eat, (maybe 4x a year) that when I did, I would allow myself something I wouldn’t have at home, for all the above reasons, and because regardless of how specific I was, after all that, they could never seem to get it right anyway! I never go crazy, but I do find my body is not happy after eating the way I used to, so I just make more sensible choices automatically! It worked out just fine!
Sometimes I think that we stop at diet and exercise and forget that we have to nurture our spirit too…finding our inner balance and peace is a big part of the journey! Blessings to all!
Charzie, I love your post and we sound like a good match. You had me laughing out loud when you say “they could never get it right anyway!” So true! And we never feel as good after as we do with our own cooking at home, but I agree that most of the time it is well worth the venture. Picking that special occaion is nice on so many fronts – it also allows you the anticipation factor, which is half the pleasure!
Did you find this article through the links on today’s blog for S.O.S. for holidays in your newsletter?
I so appreciate that you took the time to comment. Have a wonderful holiday season – I’m sure you will!
Lani