Are you looking for ways to avoid holiday weight gain while still enjoying the treats of the season? Read on for 3 simple yet effective ways to make sure you stay on track with your healthy eating and weight loss goals through the end of this year.
If you are like me, the holidays are wonderful, fun time with family (Christmas with 5 kids! Awesome!), but also a challenging season. The days are exhausting with so much to do.
Workouts and healthy food plans fall by the wayside. Plus there are Christmas parties, holiday baking, church events and more.
This year with the quarantine, the holidays might look different but there will still be food temptations. How will you get through the season without gaining weight?
Here are 3 easy yet highly effective ways to avoid adding pounds during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holidays.
Encouragement to End Holiday Overeating
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 of weight gain 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. In our Faithful Finish Lines 2.0 membership, we often talk about focusing on one small change at a time. 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 Holiday Eating Tips to Prevent Weight Gain
Yes, the holidays are a time of food temptations, but that doesn’t mean you have to gain weight. Many Americans gain 3-5 pounds during the holiday season. Make sure you keep your weight the same, or even lose a pound or two, with these strategies.
- Sit down to eat the cookie dough (or the cookies, or the candy). Go ahead and 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 or other cooking bites do you consume standing at the kitchen counter, while baking, and basically pretending you aren’t really eating it? The reason why keeping a food log (or tracking what you eat on an app like My Fitness Pal or WW) works for weight loss is because it makes you aware of your choices.
- 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.
- 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. Set an alarm on your 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. 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.
These easy techniques will help you stop holiday overeating and avoid gaining weight this year. 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.
How do you avoid holiday weight gain? Share about it in the comments below.
The Holy Mess 3 Day Diet Plan
Do you want a quick, easy way to shed a few pounds before the holiday season begins? Check out The Holy Mess 3 Day Weight Loss Diet.
Can 3 days really make that much difference? YES! We led a group of 130 women (most over the age of 50 years old) through this program and they lose 2-10 pounds in just 3 days, all while eating delicious foods they loved.
Get the free 3 day diet weight loss meal plan and grocery list here.
Christmas Blessings Give Away 2020
The year of 2020 has been quite a year. It’s definitely been one for the books and one we will likely never forget.
We have made it to the holiday season – a time for gratitude, togetherness, and celebration. To celebrate the holiday season and the year 2020 coming to an end, I’ve teamed up with some of my favorite bloggers for an annual Christmas Blessings Giveaway with the hopes of making this holiday season even more memorable (in a good way) for TWO families by giving away $500 in Paypal cash to each family.
We pray this will make a big difference in their lives of two families this Christmas season, whether it’s to fulfill their kids’ Christmas wishes, pay off some bills, or to help build some savings, our prayer is that it helps to lessen any financial burden or fills a specific need.
There are lots of entry options in the Rafflecopter form below – the more you enter, the better your chance of winning. (I know it can seem a bit time consuming to go through all the entries, but isn’t a chance at $500 worth it? Plus, all of these amazing bloggers donated their own money toward the cash prizes.)
The giveaway will run from Monday, November 16th through Wednesday, November 25th (ends at 11:59pm EST). Winner will be notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends and will have 48 hours to respond to claim the prize or another winner will be drawn. You must have a Paypal account to win. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers. Please be sure to read the Rafflecopter terms and conditions upon entering.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Pin this Healthy Eating Post for Later
I love reading your blog!
Truth! I found this quite helpful. Since I often eat while cooking I keep carrots or something healthy to much on near. It has really helped my dieting efforts.
Thank you so much for the helpful tips and for the awesome giveaway! It will be such a blessing to whomever wins!
This will come in handy this year thanks for sharing these helpful tips regarding holiday weight gain.
I like the idea of setting a clock and doing just 5 mins a day of exercise. It does equal an extra workout! I can even do 10-15 mins a day to add more!
Such great ideas. it is definitely going to be a lot harder to not over eat this holiday season. Thanks for the suggestions!!
I guess not over-eating this holiday season will be a little easier since we won’t be going to parties or events! I don’t sit at all while doing cookies so that tip will work great for me. I don’t even like sugar cookie dough but always find myself snitching it anyway 🙁 (gingerbread cookies though…that’s another story!)
I saw this on Pinterest and had to read it! lol. I like the idea for #3. I know I’ve been having a hard time with eating as I bake, but I will try and add some more movement and exercise to my day. I’ve been making two desserts to take places, one that is healthier so that I won’t feel so bad eating it. That way I’ll know that there will be something I am allowed. So glad I came across your blog!