Maintaining Your Health Through the Holidays
Posted on November 24, 2014
My husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving for family and friends this year. We are making all our favorite traditional side dishes from cranberry sauce and stuffing and ordering fresh baked mouth watering deserts including pies and bread pudding!!! Holidays are a time for gathering with family, friends and co-workers. Celebrations and parties fill our calendars … and extra calories fill our stomachs, while a decrease in activity levels increases our waistlines! Then comes the inevitable resolution to lose weight at the start of the New Year.
What if you could maintain your weight through the Holiday Season? This week I will be sharing tips on how to maintain your overall health and fitness through the Holiday Season and still enjoy it.
Consistency is your key to success.
It would be unrealistic to say you are not going to compromise your healthy eating plan and exercise routine through the holidays, but that doesn’t mean a two month food binge and total inactivity!
A little bit of effort will go a long way to help you maintain your healthy lifestyle! It is all about keeping your priorities at the forefront. It is not likely you will be eating a huge holiday feast every day from Thanksgiving through New Years! And there will still be time to fit in at least 20 minutes of physical activity/exercise each day. You may even choose to set a goal to go out and run the Turkey Trot Thanksgiving day road race, or while the turkey is in the oven, lace up the sneakers and head out for a brisk 20-30 minute walk. You can probably get a friend or family member to join you. My sister in law and I always walk – this gives us time out of the busy house to talk and helps us work up an appetite.
In order to stay on track over the holiday season, you need to complete a plan of action. Make sure your goals are behavior based. For example, instead of saying your goal is to exercise M-W-F for 10 minutes, really be specific: Walk for 10 minutes at morning break Mon, Wed, and Friday. It is important to keep your plan visible and with you every day.
Weekly Nutrition Goal: ________________________________________________________
Days of the week you will commit to sticking with the goal: M T W TH F S Sun
Example: I will cut out white bread and substitute with Light Wheat Bread for lunch Monday through Friday this week.
Weekly Physical Activity Goal: __________________________________________________
Days of the week you will commit to sticking with the goal: M T W TH F S Sun
Time of the day you will fit in a minimum of 10 – 20 minutes of physical activity
Example: I will walk for 10 minutes at lunch time on Mon, Wed, and Friday this week.
Next step is to rate your overall level of confidence that you can meet your weekly plan on a scale from 1-10. One being not at all confident 10 being absolutely confident.
Nutrition Goal [1———2———3———4———5———6———7———8———9———10]
Exercise Goal [1———2———3———4———5———6———7———8———9———10]
If you rated yourself at less than a 7, write down what the barriers are to your success:
Nutrition Barriers Physical Activity Barriers
___________________________________ _____________________________________
___________________________________ _____________________________________
___________________________________ _____________________________________
Now re-evaluate your goals to eliminate the barriers. For example, one barrier may be that you have meetings during your lunch break a few times during the upcoming week. An alternative to walking at lunch time on the days you have meetings is to walk during your break time instead. Or, if you have a stairwell, on those days commit to taking the stairs and parking in the furthest spot in the parking lot to increase your level of physical activity. If that doesn’t work, turn up the music and dance while you are making dinner!
You may want to enlist the support of a friend, co-worker, and/or family member to help you overcome your anticipated barriers. Maybe even recruit them to join you! Support is really important in sticking to your plan.
So kick off the holiday season a healthy way! Remember, it only takes a minute to live well.
Don’t forget to take my quick weekly quiz and claim your reward. Act now before they are all gone!
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