Holiday Stress and Weight Gain Survival Guide
Let’s face it, the holidays are a great time for your taste buds, but it’s not really prime time for your waistline is it?
What if I could show you how to enjoy the holidays and festivities WITHOUT sabotaging your health goals?
The holidays are a happy time of the year because we get to spend more time with family, sharing home-cooked meals and uplifting social functions with friends and co-workers. At the same time we are faced with added pressure from shorter work weeks, co-workers taking time off and holiday parties leaving us with less time to get to the gym or stick to our healthy routines.
Avoid succumbing to stress eating and ‘food emergencies’, finding yourself starving somewhere with limited healthy food options!
18 super simple tips to get you through the holidays:
Don’t over-commit:
As much as we would love to attend every holiday social event it can prove to be overwhelming to still be able to maintain your routine. Don’t over extend yourself with committing to every invitation. No one expects you to say yes to everything, so do not expect that of yourself either.
Schedule downtime and self-care:
Don’t let the fast and festive pace of the holidays overwhelm you. Commit to taking time for yourself everyday to sit in quiet, take a walk, meditate, listen to your favorite holiday music, read a book or take a nap (yes, take a nap!) and make sure to get adequate sleep. There is a reason so many people feel ‘burned-out- after the holidays because they are shortchanging themselves in a time where they need the most self-care and healthy habits.
Maintain your routine as much as possible:
Nothing gets us out of our grooves as much as holidays stress. There is less time for self-care, more to do in less time, holiday treats and parties everywhere. Getting off track can be easy, therefore making sure you stick to your routine is imperative.
Stay active:
Too often during the holidays, the first thing we let go of is our exercise routine (along with the rest of our self-care regimen). Yes, it’s challenging to find the time to exercise regularly this time of year. Is it possible? Absolutely it is!!!
Exercise helps to level out all those calories we take in during December
AND is a great way to relieve some of that holiday stress.
Exercise doesn’t have to be difficult and time-consuming. If you don’t have time to hit the gym, try splitting your workouts up this way to make them more manageable. You can also workout at home and go for walks in the morning before work and in the evenings after a meal.
Keep an eye on your alcohol intake:
There is nothing wrong with enjoying yourself responsibly and in moderation, however, if you are watching your weight or are concerned with not overeating, alcohol is NOT your friend.
Alcoholic drinks create an intense craving for more sugar and can cause you to make a poor judgment with food
This can be dangerous when you find yourself at a holiday party on an empty stomach and now in a straight-up ‘food emergency’!! Plan ahead, don’t leave the house on an empty stomach, and have a glass of water every few drinks. Your body will thank you!
Don’t neglect your sleep
When it comes to stress and routines, few are as important as sleep. Sadly, sleep is usually the first area people sacrifice when they become overwhelmed. If you don’t get the proper amount of rest, everything else will become more stressful and difficult to manage. If you schedule nothing else in your day, you should at least schedule your sleep. It’s primary. Without it, not much else falls into place.
Choose healthy substitutes
With just a few simple food swaps and adjustments, you can still enjoy delicious foods without packing on the pounds and the guilt. For example, replace store bought mashed potatoes with mashed sweet potatoes and swap out sour cream for Greek yogurt. Choose clear broth-based soups over creamy soups that are heavy with fat and calories. You can swap out potatoes or pasta for spiralized vegetables or roasted veggies and hummus which makes for a much healthier dip than ranch or blue cheese dressing. Whether at home or going to a holiday party, bread, holiday cookies and pies do not have to be off limits. Aside from portion control, choosing these delicious foods with healthier ingredients IS possible.
Stick to calorie-free drinks like seltzer, tea, and water
If hosting a party, make sure guests have Tupperware to take leftovers home, so you don’t get tasked with finishing them off
A smart move is to have Tupperware for your dinner guests to take home leftovers in. The last thing you need is 5 more days of Christmas in your refrigerator. Either ask guests to bring their own Tupperware, or for under $15 you can purchase a stack of containers that will make all your guests very happy at the end of the night.
Practice eating mindfully
Ever find yourself eating a delicious meal so quickly you practically inhaled it and have no recollection of how tasty it was? That is the opposite of mindful eating! Train yourself to eat slowly enough to be able to maintain a conversation, enjoy your meal fully without overeating. Be patient, eat slowly until you are 80% full, not stuffed! What’s the point of all the delicious holiday treats if we eat them so quickly we can’t remember what they tasted like.
Don’t be a recreational eater
Only eat when you are truly hungry when at holiday social events!! It’s real easy to chat up a conversation with someone and as they are talking, we keep taking and continue picking at the appetizer and snacks in front of us. Many times we reach for food instinctively without giving much thought to why. Ever walk through the kitchen and open up the refrigerator for no reason when you’re not even hungry?
Check your hunger cues!
It is too easy to over-consume calories at a holiday party just by eating mindlessly.
If you are going to a holiday party or event and you know it will be filled with foods that you may be likely to overindulge in, eat a sensible meal beforehand, that way you only eat what you truly want and not what your taste buds are taking you into( those little rascals!!)
Choose your splurges wisely
With all of the wonderful seasonal dishes and holiday treats, it’s difficult not to indulge. Be ‘party smart’……scan the food selection carefully and pick a couple of your holiday favorites to savor instead of splurging on foods that you can have all year long, like bread, macaroni and cheese, apple pie, and mashed potatoes. Pick your favorite holiday treat, take your time, and enjoy it. Or if you are going to enjoy holiday treats, choose ones made the old fashion way, with real ingredients and love.
Keep a calorie budget
Just as we need to be careful with who we give our time away to, we need to be judicious in keeping an eye on what foods we give our calories away to. You do not need to sample and eat every food this holiday. Be choosy in what foods you give away your calories to and let’s not have your taste buds call all the shots
Take a timeout
It’s no news flash that it is easy to keep eating for a while before a feeling of fullness sets in. This is why experts recommend eating until you are only 80% full and avoid the infamous holiday ‘food coma’. After your first helping, sit back and take a 10-minute break, make some conversation, drink some water, help clear the table perhaps, then re-check your hunger appetite. You will be surprised that you no longer want seconds or just half of the dessert instead.
- Food can be a powerful distraction if we let it -
Don’t leave the house on an empty tank
I said it earlier……do not get caught in a flood emergency!! Don’t leave the house hungry saying “we’ll just eat when we get their honey”. Even if you are rushing and don’t have too much time to grab a healthy meal, don’t set yourself up for regret later on by not planning ahead. Try eating a quick and well-balanced snack like nuts, apple slices with almond butter, or a cup of yogurt with fresh fruit. All of those options contain protein, healthy fats, and fiber that will go a long way to keeping your hunger in check so you focus on the people, not your plate.
- Visit the people, not the food -
Stay hydrated
Every single cell in your body and virtually every chemical reaction in your body involves water. Think of adequate hydration as your body’s way of taking out the trash. If you are dehydrated you run the risk of increased inflammation, brain fog, and fatigue. Drink plain or infused water as often as you can throughout the day. If you're consuming alcoholic beverages over the holidays, try alternating with glasses of water in between your cocktails. Your body will thank you for the next morning.
Let go of the guilt
If you happen to overindulge, the last thing you should be doing is make yourself feel bad. Shaming yourself never works and that is just NOT what the spirit of the holidays are about. It only perpetuates the bad habit. You have a chance to make your NEXT meal healthy and get some exercise in if you have time. Take the focus off of yourself and focus on family, friends, food, and festivities instead. Remember the ‘reason for the season’ and if you find yourself overindulging, read #17.
Go for an after-dinner walk
Postprandial(‘after eating’) walks are an excellent method mitigating the calories that can be stored as fat after a meal. A simple 15-minute brisk walk helps to pull much of the sugar from your meal into your muscles where it is absorbed and burned as fuel. This leaves fewer calories that are stored away as fat after a meal. I particularly recommend postprandial walks to people who eat close to their bedtime. So if you find yourself eating later than usual and want to help buffer against going to bed with a full stomach, take a short walk after your meal, then go to bed.
Pinpoint your WHY
Ask yourself THIS: what is the ‘WHY’ behind my desire or need to eat clean, look good, and perform better. If someone offers you a food that you know you shouldn’t have, instead of telling yourself that you’re dieting and you shouldn’t have that sugar-filled dessert, tell yourself “I’m just not the type of person who eats those foods”. It’s a hundred times more empowering!! Amazing how a few words can reel you back into the place you need to be and re-align yourself with your goals. YOU GOT THIS!!
Tommy Markov is a Functional Nutrition Professional and Wellness Educator with a Master’s in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine. He specializes in healing the person, not the condition. He is passionate about uncovering the root cause of his client’s ailments and incorporating an integrative mind-body approach.
Tommy’s knowledge of the interconnectedness of body systems helps him identify imbalances before they manifest into dysfunction and disease, allowing for an effective preventative approach.
Tommy has been working in the health and fitness industry since his 20’s, ranging from health clubs, hospitals, medical practices to currently founding his own thriving practice, Living Wellness Solutions, after overcoming his own health challenges.
Tommy has appeared as a guest and expert speaker on numerous podcasts, speaking events, as well as being a nutrition and supplement consultant. Most recently, Tommy became a proud partner of F.L.O.W. Wellness Center in Abington, Pennsylvania, where he incorporates Functional Medicine and Nutrition along with various other healing modalities and practitioners.
