On the 1st Day of Christmas? It's One Day Long!

Hello Hello Fitters!
   We started our Weight Loss Through the Holidays this evening, and with that came some holiday strategy. I spoke individually with each of our participants to give them personalized tips and tricks on how to make it through the holidays without the horrendously recurrent weight gain we see during this season.

Actually, you each have ONE day....greedy month-mongers.

   With these nutrition strategies at the forefront of my mind, one concept that kept recirculating in my mind is this idea that people have developed over the years of holidays no longer being a DAY of thanks or celebration, but a conglomeration of parties and overindulgence, with the middle of November looked at as "Pre-Thanksgiving" and the end of November as "Pre-Christmas" and the middle of December as "Christmas Eve Week" and the end of December as "New Year Gear Up Week". We need to remind ourselves, Thanksgiving Day is just that, a day! If we choose to celebrate it, that is perfect, but celebrate it in one DAY.


   And as you celebrate this days, remember that the celebration does not need to center around food. Food is brought to these to give our mouths something to do between the awkward silence of avoiding our Uncle Donny (or filling Uncle Donny's mouth so he has less ability to say offensive things). Are we celebrating the food we feast on? Not usually, in fact we splurge on so much of it, we tend not to savor what we consume anyways. We are there to celebrate family, friends, the idea that we are not alone in the world, but that there are those around that we are lucky enough to call family, and that will share in our endeavors, our stories, our lives together.

   And I know your thought. "Well that's fine and dandy, but there's still food there. And it is still unhealthy, and it's still tempting as hell." So here is a list of things to do to be satisfied without being overly satiated.

1) Remember what you are celebrating, and focus on that. Family, friends, stories, well-wishing, laughter, love, memories, planning for the future.

2) Bring your own food, and make it healthy. Don't even tell them what's in it. Let them eat it. It will taste good, and they can have more. Or they will hate it, and you can have all of it. You don't have to justify your healthy eating habits, food preparation skills, etc.

3) Don't be projected upon by guilt-ridden people who made bad decisions. That's the harsh way of putting it. Basically, people know when they've made poor food choices. But instead of accepting it and moving on, they want you to partake so they don't feel so bad about their decisions. So they say things like "You aren't going to have any more?" or "What, are you on a diet?" It's your family, so respond appropriately. Anything from "I'm stuffed, thanks anyways" to "Shut your mouth when you're talking to me!" will work (I would perhaps avoid saying the latter to your grandmother :) ).

4) Eat before you go. What's stopping you from making good decisions at your own home before you leave for the party? You aren't saving that much money by going to get "free food" there, since you are probably making a dish anyways. You will know before you even get there if they will have healthy choices (you know your family better than anyone). So fill up on lean meats and salads before you go.

5) Don't hover near the food. Find a place across the room, house,  or state, and plant yourself there. When you hover, you graze, when you graze, you stuff, when you stuff, you regret.

6) Drink water. "Com'on Lucas, shut up about water!" Sorry can't do it. The body can sometimes mistake thirst for hunger. Drink a glass of water, and give yourself 5 minutes for your body to figure out if it is still actually hungry.

7) Get a taste of desert, but not a serving. Yes, there are going to be deserts. Yes, they are going to be delicious. Yes, you can have some! But you don't necessarily need a whole serving. Get a spoonful of three different deserts. This will give you a taste of a bunch of different ones, and will be a heck of a lot less calories than a whole slice of one type of pie. Savor the taste, enjoy the flavors, and then move on with your life!

8) Set the fork down. Between each bite, set your utensil down, and speak to someone, watch the kids play, watch a play of the game on T.V, etc. Then pick it back up after a moment. Your stomach takes about 10-15 minutes to recognize that it is full. Give it some time to figure it out, don't rush through the meal trying to beat the stuffed feeling.

So get out there, celebrate life and the DAY given to the celebration, and never regret the past. Move forward, and make good, healthy decisions. And remember that your next bite can lead you to regret, or it can help you

Stay Fit.