It’s the most – wonderful time – of the year!
I love the holiday season. We get lovely leaves, scenic snow, tasty treats, and it’s full of family time.
What’s not to love?
Well, if you’re the average American, it could be the weight gain that comes with it.
Believe it or not, the average American will gain about 7-10 pounds between Halloween and New Year’s.
It’s no wonder there is such a rush to lose weight to start the new year, it’s because your pants don’t fit right at the end of the year!
You’re going to do better than the average American, though, because you’re reading this article right now.
Instead of waiting until the new year to lose all the weight you gained during the holiday season, we’re going to start ahead of schedule by not gaining that weight in the first place!
Here are 10 ways that you can avoid the added pounds while still enjoying the holiday season!
INCREASE NEAT
NEAT (Non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is, like it says, all movement that doesn’t include working out.
Walking more, standing up instead of sitting, raking leaves, or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. ANYTHING that gets you moving more in your day to day life. You don’t have to go to the gym every day of the week but being more active every hour of the day will help you avoid the holiday weight gain.
DRINK MORE WATER
This one gets overlooked a lot during the holiday season. Partly because it’s cold and you don’t feel as thirsty as often. Making sure you keep up with your water intake is essential though because it’ll curb appetite and reduce excess calorie consumption. Start by drinking ½ your bodyweight in ounces daily.
START A TRAINING PROGRAM
It’s easy to veer off course with your workouts if you don’t have a program to follow. Having that structure to fall back on will avoid the feeling of not knowing what to do when you think about going to the gym. Not to mention it kick starts motivation when you start something new. If you don’t already follow a training program you can start one here.
FIND ACCOUNTABILITY
What I’ve found with people is that we’re usually OK with letting ourselves down. Which sounds kind of bad to say, but if you don’t feel like following through with something that you told yourself you would do, it’s easy to back out of it.
That’s where having a source of accountability can be HUGE because we would hate to let someone else down. Announce it on social media, make a bet with a co-worker/friend/relative, or find a workout partner.
The bottom line is that if you have public accountability your chance of success increases by 74.6% based on a statistic I just made up.
TRACK YOUR INTAKE
This is the easiest way to have nutrition structure and flexibility to eat the foods you want to eat without going overboard. If you’re aware of how many calories and what kind of macros you’re eating throughout the next few weeks, it’ll be pretty hard for you to gain weight.
CALORIE EXCHANGES
If you know that there will be a day that you will be eating way more calories than you should, you should have less calories the next day (or the day before). Basically, you’re having less calories one day so that you can eat more another day.
So if you have a goal of 2000 calories a day that means you should be eating 4000 calories every 2 days. Knowing that, you can mix and match that to be 1000 calories for one day and 3000 for the next. The point being you’re trying to save your calories for the days you know you can use them to your advantage.
PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!
Plain and simple, the more that you plan your meals and training, the less likely you are to veer off course or have an unaccounted surprise.
Plan more often this holiday season.
PERIODIZE
This is where we take a step back and focus on the big picture.
If you’ve spent the past few months in a calorie deficit so that you can lose weight, shift gears and focus on maintaining your weight for the next couple of months instead. This’ll give you more flexibility in your food choices and make the holiday season easier overall.
STOP MAKING EXCUSES
There will always be an excuse if you’re looking for one, and there’s always a way if you’re looking for a way. It’s just the holiday season not the plague. If you stop telling yourself “you can’t because ____” you’ll succeed.
Shift your perspective and start being honest with yourself.
HIRE A COACH
I know, super blunt, but I’m being honest. The people that see the most success during the holiday season have guidance, a framework of success, accountability, support, structure, and flexibility systems. Truth be told, this is the easiest way to make sure you see success this holiday season.
If you want to see success this holiday season – and beyond – apply for a free strategy call here so that we can see if you’re a good fit for the program.
