With Halloween behind us, we have officially entered the holiday season. It's pumpkin spiced everything and candy and cookies galore. Now is the time to strategize. If you are one of the millions of people that end up regretting much of what you consume during the next two months come January 1st, you can set yourself up for success this year. How great would it feel if your New Year's resolution was, "just keep on truckin', I'm nailing it right now." It's actually possible, but you have to be smart about what you splurge on and what you abstain from during the holiday season.
It will take some degree of will power (hence the superhero) but if you plan ahead you can stay on track and even improve your health and fitness during this time of year. Here are some tips on how to set yourself up for success for the next two months.
Plan your meals- plan out what you will be cooking and eating for the week on Sunday every week.
If you eat out and you know it's going to be way too much food, ask the server to box 1/2 of it up before you eat. (I know this sounds weird but if you think about how much you serve yourself at home vs how much a restaurant serves you, then it makes sense).
Limit desserts. If you don't usually have dessert every evening, don't start now just because there are a million cookies in your house. You can freeze homemade cookies for a few months and they are still delicious.
Have a small salad or veggie snack before hitting a cocktail party full of cheese platters and caloric drinks.
Don't keep food around that will tempt you. Once you have eaten Thanksgiving dinner, don't keep eating the leftovers. It's ok to waste some food if it's going to save your sanity come January. Or, if throwing away leftovers makes you anxious, you can freeze individual servings of food for later. One heavily caloric meal won't derail you, but 3 or 4 will.
If you know you have a lot of parties to go too, try to cap your alcohol consumption to a "X drinks per week" amount- whatever that is for you. Then you can spread out your calories and if you overindulge one night you can enjoy some Pellegrino instead at the next party.
Don't skip your workouts- they are a priority! Put them in your calendar and respect the time you devote to yourself and your health.
If you have friends and family staying with you, encourage them to join you for walks, workouts, or whatever movement activities you have planned.
There are a million more tips and tricks I could write down but these are some of the main points that should keep you inline with your goals. It comes down to planning ahead and staying focused on the long game. Looking ahead each week and planning out your meals and movement sessions will be the best strategy to keep you on track to your goals or at the very least not regretting two months of poor choices come New Years Day.
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