Success Through the Holidays
If you follow any fitness influencer, you’re sure to see the incoming stream of reels and posts talking about how to navigate the holiday’s in a healthy way. There’s a good reason for this - Holiday’s can be a tricky season for those of us who are trying to remain healthy while also enjoy our time with family and friends.
The question boils down to this - How do I make healthy decisions with sweet potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and pumpkin pie staring me in the face? Even more important, how do I make those healthy decisions when Aunt Betty is going off again on her latest conspiracy theory on how the lizard people living underground are gearing up to take over the world?
You look Aunt Betty in the face and tell her you could care less about the lizard people unless we’re talking about their Fran time.
Here’s a few things you can do to crush your goals during the holiday’s while still enjoying your time with your friends and family.
1) Know your goals. Don’t wait the morning of to decide how you’re going to tackle the day. Don’t wait until Black Friday to decide if you’re going to eat poorly the whole weekend or just Thanksgiving. If you’re going to enjoy Thanksgiving and eat what you want, then do it, and get dialed back in Friday. Don’t wait until Monday, because if you don’t go in with a plan, it’ll be all the more difficult to get dialed back in.
2) Keep moving. We’ve all been there; you’ve just downed a pound of turkey and you’re ready to nap the day away. Enjoy that afternoon nap, but maybe before make plans to go for a walk and enjoy the crisp fall weather while you can. Don’t allow yourself to become sedentary just because it’s a holiday. Use up that energy you just consumed!
3) Prioritize Protein. I’m probably a broken record on this point, but protein should be the star of the show when you eat this holiday season. Protein is going to help you stay full and avoid going crazy on the sweets.
4) Single Serving Sweets. I love pumpkin pie. LOVE it. That’s why I’ll enjoy a piece. I’ll even through some whipped cream on that pie. That said, one piece is where I’m at. I know myself and if I go any higher, I’ll find myself knee deep in half a pie.
5) Limit liquid calories. My rule of thumb is to avoid liquid calories almost across the board, but that’s difficult during the holiday season. Limit the quality. Enjoy a drink. Throw a little gravy on that turkey. Enjoy that peppermint mocha. That said, keep it light.
There are a lot of coaches and trainers who are going to tell you to turn off your mind and just enjoy what you want on the holiday’s. I have found in my life when I do that, my mind has a real difficult time turning back to healthy mode post holidays. I would suggest an alternative, which is this: be mindful, enjoy the holidays, keep crushing your goals.
Keep Burning Bright PTL Crew