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The holiday season is here and we all know what that means. Cookies, dips, candy, chocolate, eggnog, pies and the list goes on. It’s the most calorie dense time of the year for sure!
So how do we deal with this onslaught of deliciousness and not put on extra pounds that will stick with us until March? The answer lies in how we perceive the holidays.
Even though Christmas is just one day, the holiday season in our society is more like a month. Basically it starts on Thanksgiving and heads right into the new year. It’s truly a holiday season, not just a holiday.
I would never tell anyone to skip the indulgences of the holidays. The food we eat and the people we spend time with will create special memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives. But let’s pump the brakes a little (you knew it was coming).
Whenever we look at weight gain or weight loss it’s all about the math. For every 3,500 extra calories you eat beyond what you need, you will gain a pound of fat. I will be the first one to tell you that practically no one puts on a pound of fat in a single day, no matter how bad the day was. You would even have to eat really poorly to do it in a couple days. But when you say all bets are off and let yourself eat unrestricted between Thanksgiving and January 1st then putting on a few pounds is almost a certainty.
The hard part about the holiday season is that there are so many opportunities to consume excess calories. Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, work Christmas parties, church Christmas party, school Christmas party, one side of the family Christmas, other side of the family Christmas, cookie exchanges, catching up with old friends who are home for the holidays. I could go on and on. There are several events that make up the holidays.
In between events there are always cookies and candy floating around. Then you usually have leftovers. These leftovers don’t tend to be things like salads either. My point is that there is a tsunami of calories that will last for about a month. When it’s all over you don’t want to spend the next few months cleaning up the mess.
My remedy is simple. Make the holiday indulgences on a few days instead of a few weeks. Pick the days that you want to let your guard down and enjoy yourself. Then stick to those days. Instead of being gluttonous for an entire month, enjoy a few days of treats and cut it off there. I would even wager that those days will become more special and the Christmas treats will taste even better! There doesn’t need to be any guilt either because these few days won’t break the scale.
If you want to make sure that the holidays don’t kill your weight loss goals then set limits on the front end and stick to them. You will feel great when January starts, I promise!
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