Stop Holiday Overeating with 3 Quick & Different Ideas

Do you love the holiday season, with the parties, the baking, the busy excitement and joy? You might be saying yes…and no. If you are like me, the holidays are wonderful, fun time with my family (Christmas morning with 5 kids! Awesome!), but also a tough season. It’s exhausting. There is so much to do. And those healthy workouts and healthy food plans? Sooo tough to maintain! If you can relate, here is how to stop holiday overeating with 3 quick and different ideas.

As someone who is maintaining a 100 lb weight loss, let me give you two encouragements:

• Healthy habits get easier with practice. The holidays used to be a total land-mine for me. Even after I had lost weight, I pretty much went into a tailspin of overeating from the end of November through January. But each year has gotten a little better as I’ve learned what works for me. Try new strategies during this season and find what works well for you to build your own toolkit of healthy habits.
• Something Is Better Than Nothing. #SIBTN We love this saying in our Faithful Finish Lines online women’s accountability group! (Here is a great 2 minute video about this concept.) Please don’t think, “Oh, what’s one more,” or “There’s no point in working out for 10 minutes.” Every little healthy choice counts!

3 Ways to Stop Holiday Overeating

1. Sit down to eat the cookie dough. Okay, you guys are going to laugh at me on this one, but truth time. I love raw cookie dough. I used to eat so much I felt sick. Now, I tell myself I can have some, but I have to sit down to eat it. How much raw cookie dough do we consume standing at the kitchen counter, while baking, and pretending we aren’t really eating it? Say this plan out loud. Your kids will remind you when they catch you eating it standing up! Be aware of what you are doing. Make the unknown known.
2. Have a new party strategy. Check out this post for the full details of how to create a party strategy.  The concept is this: Do parties and get-togethers make you a little nervous? You aren’t the only one. Plan to find one person at the event who needs a friend. Who needs a listening ear or maybe just someone so they don’t feel so alone at this gathering? You be that person! I’ve been going into parties and get-togethers with this mind-set for several years now, and it’s been amazing. I’ve met some of the best people, I don’t feel as nervous, and most of the time I don’t even think about the food.
3. Add in 5 minutes of movement a day. Make a plan to create 5 minutes of additional fitness or movement activity into your day every day for the next week. I challenged our Faithful Finish Lines group to set an alarm on their smartphones for 5 minutes at noon every day this week. Try crunches, yoga poses, stretching at your desk, walking stairs, or a short walk outside. Try one of these 39 workouts for your 5 minutes. Done every day, that’s 35 minutes for the week, or a whole extra workout. Not only will you burn off some excess calories, you will do less overeating because a daily, consistent reminder in the middle of your day will improve your healthy mindset.

Try these simple techniques to stop holiday overeating. Sit down to eat that cookie dough, focus on giving to someone else at holiday parties, and add in 5 minutes of intentional movement. See how much better you feel in January!