Get prepared for NO holiday weight gain this year!
Ready to avoid holiday weight gain? Me Too! Didn’t work out so well for me last year so I am on a mission this 
season!
We are about to embark on a really fun time of year – depending on how you look at it , and let’s face it… It’s all in how you look at it. Today, I am going to teach you how to avoid holiday weight gain!
With all this fun happening the reality is that it is really hard to stick to a healthy eating and exercise plans during the holidays. Everywhere we turn there are tempting foods and drinks—from treats at office parties to our own traditional family favorites. Then, when you factor in traveling, dining out, and a busy schedule filled with shopping and get togethers that make it tough to squeeze in exercise, you can have a recipe for disaster as far as our scales are concerned… Oh yes, and speaking of recipes… There is that one girl at the office that has an amazing fudge recipe she whips out every year!
Eating on the go can easily add up to twice, if not three times the calories, fats and carbs that you might normally eat.
The good news is that you really can get through the holidays without gaining weight. It will take some effort, but you will thank yourself a thousand times when January 1st rolls around and you have no regrets!
Your Goal: Maintaining Weight
Now, normally I am all about making progress… Why would we put in the work to simply maintain? However, I do believe there is a time and a place to say ”Good is going to be good enough!” and the holidays are one of those times. In order to greet the New Year without tipping the scale, it is wise to try to maintain your weight during the next few weeks instead of trying to lose.
Remember: You want to enjoy the holidays, not be miserable from deprivation. This means that you will allow yourself occasional treats and splurges and keep the scale where it is rather than trying to actually decrease your weight. The key is in planning for those splurges and making sure that one splurge doesn’t roll into a month of splurges.
There are several ways to accomplish this.
Don’t Skip Your Workouts.
Skipping workouts can make holiday weight gain an issue. Even moderate intensity workouts can burn 300-400 calories per hour. You need this 
calorie-burn to keep up with the richer food that you will be eating. You will also be less likely to overeat if you have just sweated through a hard workout! I recommend switching to a few weeks that really focus on HIIT training during the holidays for a number of reasons:
- HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) training is perfect when time is limited…
2. You get a big metabolic blast in just a few short minutes – you can jump into a HIIT session just 15 minutes before you hop in the shower for the office party and rev your metabolism to use up those extra calories
3. HIIT training tends to lower your appetite so putting a short, fast and furious workout right before a “feast” could help you to eat fewer calories.
Keep A Food Diary
Write down everything you eat—. You may not need to do this every meal of every day when trying to maintain but using a free food journal app like My Fitness Pal or Fat Secret can really help you to keep an eye on things and right your course before you derail completely. It is a proven fact that keeping a food journal results in better weight control than not keeping one.
Eat Breakfast
People who eat breakfast consume fewer calories throughout the day than those who skip this important meal. Like your mama said “breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It sets the tone for healthy eating throughout the day and prevents you from too much snacking and overeating later on in the day. This is called compensatory eating – we compensate for the lack of nutrition earlier in the day
Monitor Your Hunger
Never show up at a party or buffet ravenous—you will most certainly overeat. Drink water and have a protein-filled snack (such as nuts or cheese) before arriving. This will help you to have more self-control around the temptations. To control holiday weight gain visit your mental hunger scale before you dive in. If 10 is completely stuffed and on the edge of pain and 1 is “my spine is rubbing against my belly button” (as my husband would say), you’ll want to pull up to the table at about a 5 and push away at about a 7. If after waiting a few minutes for your food to settle and the proper satiation hormones to get to your brain (yes, this really does happen) you are still actually hungry, feel free to have a little more.
Master The Buffets
It seems like when we get around a buffet full of decadent dishes we have never tried before, a spread of gorgeous desserts and a swirl of savory smells the rationally thinking part of our brain shuts off. Am I right? Or is it just me. Whenever I go to a buffet I mentally hit the “mindful” button and just remember that my crazy brain is going to take over. If you can make some conscious choices ahead of time or visualize what you might put on your plate BEFORE you arrive, you could save yourself a lot of grief… and a belly ache.
fill your plate with protein first, then veggies and finally the carbs. You’ll want to eat them in this order also! This way, the protein and the veggies will fill you up and get those quality nutrients i and there won’t be much room in your belly for the blood sugar spiking carbs
Dining Out Thoughtfully
When you know you are going to be on the road for a meal, planning to go out to dinner or meeting friends for lunch use these tips to help
- Check out the menu online ahead of time if possible. Make a conscious decision about what you are going to have so that you don’t get caught up in the chatter and order mindlessly
- Order first if possible to avoid being influenced with what other people at the table are ordering
- If there is a chip or bread basket, commit to how much you will eat of those things so that you don’t find yourself full on chips before your meal hits the table
- Have half of you meal boxed up before you even begin… Remember what Liz said? Take the rest for a snack later in the day or tomorrow’s lunch.
- Share. I you want something a little more decadent chances are you just want a taste of it. Split the “splurge” menu item with a friend or date and split a large salad between the two of you. This way you get a little of what you want had a little of what you need (that’s the salad 😉
Weigh Yourself Twice Each Week
Normally it is not a good idea to step on the scale too often, but during the holidays it’s a great way to 
stay on track with your goals. If you see the scale start to creep, you can immediately take steps to correct it, such as backing off your calories for a day or two, drinking more water and adding in a little more exercise. Keep in mind that our weight can easily fluctuate 3-5 pounds every day depending on water retention, when we visited the bathroom last, hormones and more but this tip may be one way to help you stay mindful… And, you’ll get extra steps walking to the scale 😉
I HIGHLY recommend the InBody Body Fat scale. I use one in my gym and it has been an absolute GAME CHANGER for my clients ( and myself). This scale will help you know what you’re made of. How much of you is fat and how much is muslce. It is so motivating to know if you are gaining muscle. Knowing this information will help you to lift heavier weights and eat your protien to keep that muscle growing!
The app that connects to the scale allows you to keep track of your testing history so you can see patterns.
Watch Your Portion Size
If you have an idea of how much food you are putting on your plate, you will be less likely to overdo it. Take a look at the chart to familiarize yourself with portion sizes as they compare to your hand. One thing I try to remember is a quote I heard years ago by the well poised actress Elizabeth Taylor. She was noted as having said this valuable tidbit: 
How much do you love this? Now, we may not need to go to this extreme but it is a really good tool to keep in your pocket, I even do say this to myself at my own dinner table when I see that I have overfilled my plate. I just scrap off half of what I put on my plate and put it in a container to have for lunch tomorrow. When I do this I am almost ALWAYS satisfied after eating the half that was left on my plate.
Portion conntrol containers like these can be a big help
Deal Quickly With Leftovers
If you have unhealthy leftovers in your home, you are likely to indulge. Don’t leave them sitting around. Freeze them, give them away. It’s not worth the temptation! Most of us know ourselves and how we will act around those leftovers in the next few days. If you are a drive by and take “just a little spoonful” several times a day kind of gal or the “I’ll just eat it all so I don’t have to think about it anymore” kind of guy… Give it away. There will be more someday.
Check In With Your Future Self
Every day, speak to yourself from the future—say, from January 1. Thank yourself for doing the tough work of self-discipline during these holiday weeks. You might say something like this:
“Thank you! I feel great! I’m no heavier than I was in November, I’ve stayed on track with my exercise, my energy is incredible and I’ve got the momentum to spend the rest of the winter getting in even better shape before spring gets here!”
Go Public
Sound scary? It’s supposed to! Let others know what your current weight is and check in with them each time you weigh yourself. That kind of intense accountability will give you will power when the cheesecake and fudge starts showing up at the office! Right now at my Sandpoint fitness studio we have a No Gain November chart posted next to the scale. Clients that want extra motivation will weigh in weekly and make a note on the chart. They don’t have to post their actual weight, just whether the scale went up, down or stayed the same. Remember my saying, “We manage what we measure”. While I am not typically a married – to -the- scale type of coach, I do believe there are times it can be a useful tool to keep us on track.
You CAN survive the holidays with no added weight gain. Remember these tips and keep a vision of what you want to feel like on January 1 in mind. It’s going to be a great holiday season!