Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or dietician, and everything written in this post is to be used for informational use only. If you were to take any actions from the content of this post, you are doing so at your risk, and I am not responsible for any negative outcomes.
Weight loss is a common New Year’s Resolution because during the holidays, people often eat more holiday treats than normal, which can lead to gaining weight. Holiday weight gain is common during this time of year, and you shouldn’t stress about it, but it is possible to get through the holiday season without gaining any weight or a very small amount that is easy to lose. It is never too late to start eating healthy, and you don’t have to wait until you have high cholesterol to start making healthier choices, because healthy eating isn’t just for January. As a disabled person, I have never struggled with gaining a lot of weight during the holidays because I can’t bake cookies by myself, and my disability forces me to practice moderation, but people who don’t have the same challenges, I do sometimes have a more difficult time saying no to a fourth cookie. How do you avoid gaining weight during the holidays? In this post, I am going to share a few tips on how to stay healthy during the holiday season and avoid gaining weight.
Continue to exercise throughout the holiday season– During the holiday season, people are busy getting everything ready for Christmas and do not have as much time to exercise. It is okay to skip your workout on days you have a lot going on, but you shouldn’t stop exercising during the holidays, because if anything, exercising is even more important during the holidays. People often stop exercising during the holiday season and wait until January, but you don’t need to wait until the New Year and shouldn’t stop exercising during the holidays. Exercise is one of the best ways to control your weight because if you stop exercising during the month of December, it’s going to be a lot harder to get back into it. Don’t throw fitness in the rear-view mirror during the month of December because you may be able to completely avoid gaining weight or not gain as much if you continue to exercise.
Eat as healthy as possible- During the holidays, people often consume more sugary treats than they would at any other time of the year, and sometimes healthy eating is not as much of a priority. There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to a Christmas cookie, but you shouldn’t use that as an excuse to not eat healthy because I highly doubt you are going to holiday parties every single day for the entire month of December. Eat healthy when you are not busy because the worst thing you can do for yourself is to attend a bunch of parties and not cook yourself healthy meals when you aren’t busy. I love a good chocolate chip cookie, but I don’t stop eating broccoli during holidays because I don’t feel good when everything I eat has minimal nutritional value. Eat healthy meals as much as possible because it will help you avoid gaining weight for the few days you aren’t eating healthy.
Don’t restrict yourself during the year- Healthy eating is important, and we should be eating in a way that feels good all year round because healthy eating is not just for January, but some people are a little obsessed with eating healthy 24/7. People often think that restriction is healthy because we live in a society surrounded by diet culture, that tries to convince us that our problem is a lack of willpower. If you restrict yourself during the year and put foods you love off-limits, the holidays are going to be more difficult for you because severe restriction often leads to binges and backfires. Severe restriction is not healthy, despite what some people want you to believe, because the more you restrict a certain food, the more you are going to want it. Before I healed my negative relationship with food, I struggled during the holidays because I was surrounded by food, I normally would put off limits, which made me feel even more triggered when it was available. If you restrict yourself during the year, that might be the reason you are overeating. Listen to your body and don’t severely restrict yourself and label foods as good and bad because that could be contributing to your food issues.
Cut back on holiday drinks– Holiday drinks are delicious, but they can contain a lot of calories that can lead to gaining weight if you have several day for a long period of time. If you only go to one or two parties during the entire holiday season, I wouldn’t stress about drinking too many holiday drinks, but if you plan on going to a lot of parties and are concerned about gaining weight, I would think about that choice before you go for a fourth eggnog. Holiday drinks can contain a lot of extra calories and are something you may want to monitor or cut back on if you are serious about maintaining a healthy weight.
Don’t go to holiday gatherings starving- If you are planning to go to a holiday party, I can’t stress enough how important it is to practice good nutrition leading up to that event. People sometimes will fast before going to a holiday party to save up calories but that can often backfire because when go somewhere starving you tend to eat more than you normally would. If you have an event early in the morning, it is okay to not eat prior to that event but if you don’t have to be somewhere until after dinner, I wouldn’t starve myself all day long because that will make you feel out of control with food and you will likely eat double the amount of calories. I never go to any kind of event completely ravenous because I know that when I don’t have balanced meals that I don’t make healthy choices and want to eat whatever I can get my hands on. You will still probably eat something at the event even if you ate prior to arriving and you don’t need to eat a lot before the event but if you’re anything like me you won’t eat as much when you aren’t starving. Fasting in my opinion is not a good thing to do before attending a social event because it can backfire and make you want to eat more.
Holiday weight gain is common, but it is not something you need to stress about because even if you gained ten to fifteen pounds, you can always get back on track in the New Year. Holidays are fun to celebrate, and it is possible to stay healthy during the holiday season by eating healthy and exercising, because weight gain does not happen overnight. If you gained weight over the holidays, it was probably not from that one holiday drink you had last week, and it was from consistently making poor choices over a long period of time. Stress management is also extremely important during the holidays because people tend to eat more when they are stressed. Don’t stop taking care of yourself during the holidays because it will be a whole lot harder to get your health back than it would be if you maintained it. How do you avoid gaining weight during the holiday season? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
Subscribe And Never Miss A Post
My Rockin Disabled Life 