It’s the holiday season…and the final stretch of the year! If you’ve set a weight loss goal for the year, it’s your last opportunity to complete and accomplish it.
Now is the time to double down and make it happen! Definitely not the time to give up and indulge in holiday treats, telling yourself you’ll start again next year. DO NOT DO THAT!!
Studies show us that the average American gains between 7-10 pounds during the holiday season. It’s no wonder the gyms are so insanely packed on January 1st!
You can choose, right now, to not be that person who gains weight this year during the holidays.
In fact, why not be someone who LOSES weight during the holidays?
I think there’s no better time to actively lose weight than right now…in the midst of parties, celebrations, food everywhere.
It is the very best time to practice commitment, to learn how to feel urges and cravings without reacting to them, and how to set a plan and stick to it no matter what.
It’s the best time to develop a healthy relationship with food! Don’t wait to get started when it’s easy…do it when it’s hard!! If you want to be someone who loses weight and keeps it off for good, you’re going to have to learn how to get through the holidays without overindulging.
So there’s no better time to start than RIGHT NOW!
Let’s do this!!
Here are my top 6 tips for losing weight during the holidays…
1. Have a plan
Decisions ahead of time are how you stop relying on willpower to get through. When you make decisions ahead of time, you’re using the part of the brain that has your highest interest and goals in mind. When you make decisions in the moment, you rely on your primitive brain to make them, which is the “toddler” part of the brain. The part that wants comfort, efficiency, ease…and gives into all urges. It will be a lot harder to follow through with a healthy eating plan without…a PLAN! So I created a Healthy Holiday Action Plan for you, so that you can fill it out before every holiday event and succeed at following through with your commitments!
2. Plan your “joy eats” into your events.
If you’re not familiar with what joy eats are, here’s my definition: A joy eat is choosing a food that you love (not necessarily a food with nutritional value), maybe it’s something like pie, pizza, or your grandma’s stuffing. It’s basically something you decide to eat, simply for the pleasure of eating it. You want to plan what this food is and how much of it you will eat at least 24 hours in advance. I also recommend planning how often you will allow a joy eat. I encourage my clients to do it anywhere between once a week to once a month, depending on what feels best to them. Having a planned joy eat at your holiday events is a great way to enjoy some of your holiday favorites without overindulging. I actually find that I enjoy my treat more when it’s planned in advance, because I look forward to it and am more present while eating it!
3. Create joy and celebration that does not involve food and drinks.
This is such an important one! You can still totally enjoy the holidays without overindulging in food and drinks. You may just have to learn how to! I know I did. I decided to consciously create the feeling of joy around the holidays. If you’ve been following me, you know where our feelings come from…our thoughts. So if you want to create joy, all you have to do is think thoughts that evoke that feeling for you. What thought makes you feel joyful? For me it’s getting excited about the holiday traditions I’ve created. I love getting creative with my Christmas tree each year and choosing a theme for it. I love lighting holiday scented candles around the house. I love making holiday goodie bags each year and leaving a box of them in my car to hand out to the homeless. It’s the little things, and the small joyful rituals that can make the holidays great! It doesn’t have to involve sugar, flour, or alcohol to be amazing!
4. Use this time of year as an opportunity to practice letting urges pass.
There’s really no better time to get good at feeling urges and cravings without reacting to them. For most of you, there’s probably an abundance of sugary goodness surrounding you this time of year. If you can get good at saying no to it now, you’re golden! The only way to stop overeating is to get good at feeling discomfort without reacting. Urges and cravings are just sensations in the body. What if you just allowed those sensations to be there, felt them, but didn’t make them mean anything? The more you do this, the less they’ll come. I have my clients write down 100 urges they have that they don’t react to, and it’s a transformative process. This is the PERFECT time of year to do this activity. You can rewire your brain to stop having such strong urges by allowing them to come up, without reacting.
5. Bring a healthy dish with you to share at parties.
I always bring a really big, healthy, delicious salad. This way, I’ve always got fuel food to eat. And the funny thing is, other people always thank me and tell me how good it is too. I think most people appreciate having good healthy options. So think of your favorite healthy dish. If you don’t have a go-to, Pinterest is the best place to find easy recipes! Give it a shot!
6. Practice saying “no thank you.”
If you have food pushers around, you don’t have to explain to them why you don’t want something or why you’re not having it, unless you want to. There is absolutely no upside to feeling guilty about declining food, it doesn’t help you or anyone else. There is also no reason to feel guilty about making self-honoring choices. And the last thing I’ll say on this topic is, you are not responsible for anyone else’s reaction to you saying “no”. Their response is coming from their thoughts, not from your decision.
These are just a few of my top tips for losing weight during the holidays! If you want to learn more about this topic, join me LIVE on Instagram and Facebook every Wednesday at 4:00 PM PST for the rest of the year! I’m doing a series, How to Lose Weight During the Holidays, and I’ll be diving into each of these tips more deeply!
In the meantime, take advantage of your free Healthy Holiday Action Plan and have a happy, healthy holiday season!
Lots of love,
Jamie
