Merry Christmas Week!!!

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year! It's so full of hope and love and charity and service to others. It just warms my heart. 💕 Not to mention the mugs of hot chocolate to warm my hands too.

BUT it does come with some internal conflict - especially if you're trying to lose some weight during the season.

Let's Strike a Bargain Then

Many years, I have gone into the Christmas season with high hopes to lose some weight. I get my mind all geared up and ready to face all the temptations that come my way. Then, almost without fail, halfway through the month, my resolve would faulter and I was facing those temptations without an ounce of intent to turn anything down. Obviously, at the end of the season, I would be up a few pounds that I would then have to take back off before I could around get to losing those pounds I had hoped to lose in the first place.

Recently, I came to the conclusion that this cycle was not really helpful. Not only did I end up feeling like I failed at my goal to lose weight, but also that I just had a complete lack of self-control through the holidays, and it just wasn't even worth the effort I had put into it. This kind of negative self-talk is rarely helpful. And putting in all the effort without seeing any results is always disappointing.

So, I've come up with a different solution to make it through the holidays without throwing in the towel, but ALSO without going after my goals so hard that I miss much of what I love about this season and feeling like I totally deprived myself. There's got to be a happy medium, right? 😊

Four Steps to stay on track during Christmas

💫 First - set a realistic goal. Don't go for the big goal just because that's what people make you feel like you should do ALL the time. Pick a goal that feels right to you with all that is actually going on in your life right now.

For example, this Christmas season, I decided to try to just maintain my weight. So far, I've done pretty good. Just a bit of fluctuating, but not going up more than a pound or two, and then I've been able to come back down. I decided to go with maintaining right now because I know we will have a ton of cookies and fudge and all the yummy stuff I look forward to each year. Not gaining means I can't eat as many servings of it as I might like. But getting to have some of it helps me feel like I've enjoyed it and I have nothing to regret from it later.

💫 Second - Think of just one or two things you can focus on with your nutrition through the season, and especially during this big week.

For me, I try to make sure I get enough water, ~75 ounces for me, each day. It's easy to do as long as I keep a bottle with me and track how many times I'm filling it up during the day. I also try to make sure I have a salad or a large serving of other veggies at lunch. It keeps my veggie intake at a good amount when I do that.

💫 Third - Make sure to move on purpose for at least 20-30 minutes each day. This one can seem daunting, but I assure you it's really pretty simple. Whether you take a walk with your family or play some basketball or do a good quick workout at home or the gym. By the time you get started you're really almost done, so the hardest part may be just to get it started. But you can totally do it and still have the rest of the day for whatever fun you have planned.

By the way, if you would like to do some structured workouts but you're not quite sure where to begin, send me a message on the contact me page and I'll be in touch to chat with you about what I offer to help you get up and rolling on your fitness goals. (With the New Year around the corner, it's never too early to get started!)

You are more than welcome to use my goals or come up with some of your own. The biggest thing is it really needs to make sense to you so you can commit to it and feel good about how you spent your holidays.

💫 Fourth - Be sure to enjoy the extra time you have with family or friends.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this week if you're celebrating! Comment below and tell me. Are you traveling for the holidays? Or do you stay home and relax?