Beat the Holiday Bulge Smartly

Holiday dinners and parties can be indulging with all the attractive tables and scrumptious meals which are packed with calories and high satiety values.  It would be highly impractical to stare at the food and not devour those tempting desserts. Trust me, starving yourself can make you eat more and the plan to not eat and wearing tighter clothes doesn’t help at all. Instead of those old tricks you will have to adopt a few practical and healthy ways to deal with the holiday bulge.

 You will be able to eat what you want and enjoy those parties without sacrificing your weight loss goals in four simple ways.   

§  Plan & Eat Healthy not Emotionally

When you know you have a holiday party in the evening, don’t skip meals or starve yourself instead eat healthy filling meals and snacks for breakfast and lunch so that you don’t feel really hungry in the evening. It is quite common for people to starve and arriving hungry at the party because they think they are creating room for the food but that will actually ruin your holiday weight goals.                      

If you prepare well maintaining your portions won’t be much of a problem at the table. But who can stop your heartily desires to just swallow it through your palette? Well, that’s a question of your emotional eating part and the most common reason they say is “Whatever, holidays won’t last forever”, or “I won’t get to have these picture perfect meals.” So the real simple fact is that you will get to eat these meals again. Food is not going to run away. It’s just going to get over and cooked again.  The trick is to taste everything you see in small portions and saving your favorite dish to the last that way you naturally eat it less as you feel that hungry. Same goes for the desserts, small portions and saving the favorite for the last.

Do not, I repeat again, do not eat for comfort of emotional stress. This is quite common in women to eat more during the holidays due to an emotional stress with friends of family or multiple holiday challenges. Instead, try to spend time relaxing, working out, practicing yoga, shopping with a friend and have spice filled bubble baths which are the non-food sources of holiday comforts.  

§  Be Active in a Tactful way not Forceful

                  Everyone wants to have a beautiful body for the summer time and having strong weight loss goals is important. Holiday season can motivate people to start a workout schedule but those will easily be broken with the food temptations options available. Emotional eating should be tackled first before focusing on one goal. For those who already have strong set weight loss goals, do not work out forcefully. What it means is that you don’t have to work out daily for the same time periods. You can lengthen or shorten your work out periods depending on the calorie intake. If you have a normal daily workout schedule for 30 minutes aerobics and 10 minutes yoga then you add 10 minutes in your aerobic activity if your calorie intake is going to increase, i.e. if you have a holiday party. Similarly, if you are tired the next day after partying and a tough schedule then you can reduce 10  minutes from you aerobics and add a few in your yoga session for added relaxation. Other simple ways include going out with your girl friends for shopping or any activity that involves more walking and increased calorie burning. Do not try to force yourself to work out more as it will instill feelings of guilt of not working out then you will be less motivated to work out the next day. Plan, be mature and think creatively, it’s not that hard if you set your priorities straight.

§  Practice Gratitude and Enjoy the Holidays

                Well, it’s not okay if you just think about holidays in the sense of food and weight loss. Relax.  Don’t be obsessed with the whole weight loss thing and end up compromising on the table when you actually need to practice is gratitude.  Some people find it easy to avoid the food temptations as they are equally involved in the gratitude process. Appreciating simple facts of life such as being alive, having wonderful friends, a loving family, a great dress to wear and wonderful food to eat help people to satisfy half the spirit of the holiday season. Spend some time finding unique gifts for the people you care to show your gratitude. You don’t have to spend a fortune, try with small meaningful gifts.  Grateful people are most successful in fulfilling their daily goals.

§  Sleep Tight because You Deserve it

              You think you can sacrifice on your sleep while you are busy fulfilling all the forms of the holiday season ethics. The fact is, that never works and will leave you feeling frustrated and feelings of fatigue ruining the whole appeal of the holidays and celebrations.  Sleeping helps your body recover from all the stress and maintaining healthy sleep habits can help you avoid lethargy, mood swings and excessive hunger. Sleeping too little is directly correlated to how much you eat and exercise, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Strictly monitor your timings for caffeine intake and step into the bedroom for straight seven to nine hours of sleep. Overeating can ruin your sleep patterns so eat one portion less for those late night party meals and if you feel hungry at night, try to fall asleep and remind yourself that you can eat in the morning. Don’t try to fascinate about food.

 Have a cup of chamomile and just sleep no questions. 

Thanksgiving wishes to all my readers!

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!