With the holidays behind us, I know the thought of losing weight and remaining healthy can be intimidating. It’s much easier to forget about the notion of New Year’s resolutions until..well…the new year. There are calorie-laden holiday drinks like egg nog to imbibe. There are holiday favorites like pumpkin pie, apple crumble and chocolate chip cookies around every corner. With all this temptation, why not just throw your resolutions aside and eat like there’s no tomorrow?
I’m here to tell you that surviving the holiday season does not have to be as challenging as we make it out to be. You can easily lose weight this holiday season and have the occasional holiday treat and not feel like you are missing out.
I’m going to share with you 25 secrets and tips to help you stay healthy not only this holiday season but year round. Tips to ensure that you lose-weight, feel great and have the best holiday season yet. Don’t wait until 2014 to start those resolutions!!
- Drink half your body weight in water ounces daily. This helps your body to stay hydrated, detoxify, and reduce the desire to eat when your body is actually thirsty.
- Increase your fiber. Aim for 50 grams a day. Increase the fiber in your diet, in the form of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes to balance your blood sugar, increase bowel movements and fill-up on good foods.
- Know your trigger foods. And get them out of your house!
- Have a fruit and vegetable smoothie for breakfast loaded with healthy protein to keep you fuller longer.
- Eat every 4-6 hours and bring snacks with you. This will help to make sure you don’t stop for drive-through or are temped by sticky buns when you’re doing any shopping at the mall.
- Stop eating 2-3 hours before bed. Your body needs to detox at night, not digest your food.
- No cheating! Cheat meals lead to cheat days. A healthy lifestyle is just that. Look at your healthy decisions as a healthy lifestyle as opposed to a diet that can be broken.
- Stick to the 3-bite rule. If you want to be polite and try a calorie-laden food that a co-worker brought to work, eat 3 small polite bites and then throw the rest away.
- Fill up on the healthy stuff first. Load your plate with fruits, vegetables, high-quality protein, high-quality fats (like avocado, coconut and olive oil), beans and legumes. After you finish that, if you want to have dessert, have a couple of bites. This way you get to indulge but you’re full of good food first.
- Bring your own (food to the potluck). This was you can rest assured that something there will be suitable to eat. This is especially true if you have food allergies or choose not to eat gluten, dairy or sugar.
- Eat before you go (to a dinner party). This way if the food is super unhealthy, or the meal is very delayed, you don’t cave into temptation to eat the entire bread basket.
- Don’t become the lush of the party. Alcoholic drinks are loaded with calories for one. They also lead to snacking.
- Obey the 2:1 rule. Drink 2 glasses of water for every alcoholic drink.
- Meet the sleep quota (7 to 9 hours a night).
- Reward yourself with non-food rewards. Get a massage. Read a trashy novel. Take a bubble bath.
- Practice gratitude. Keep a gratitude journal. Write down 3 things every day you are grateful for.
- Schedule in bliss time. Put running, walking, baths, massages, facials, etc in your schedule. And then follow through!
- Work it out. Schedule in your workouts.
- Keep a food journal. Those that keep a food journal are much more likely to lose weight.
- Trust your friends. Allow a best-friend to call you out and hold you accountable for your food and drink choices when you go out.
- Make healthy shifts. Instead of cow’s milk, reach for almond milk. Instead of white potatoes, cook sweet potatoes. You get the idea.
- Focus on satiety. Eat slowly until you are 80 to 90% full. Then stop.
- Plan to indulge, but not to the point of sickness. When you go out, know that you will have a couple of foods you don’t normally eat. That’s okay. Don’t over do it and don’t be hard on yourself. Guilt is no good.
- Separate your emotions from food. When you’re upset at the relatives, don’t turn to the tub of Ben and Jerry’s. Go for a run in the woods. Walk the dog. Take a yoga class.
- Relax and enjoy yourself. It’s the holidays, remember?
