When you are looking at holiday eating, two big things go through your mind; you want to enjoy your time with family and friends eating what you want, but you also do not want to gain those unwanted holiday pounds. It seems impossible to do both, but I have some strategies that will allow you to stick to a plan and keep the weight off. The first hurdle is keeping up an exercise routine while on the go. If you are a regular reader, you know that last week we gave you a simple workout that you can complete with just your body weight. For those of you that will be traveling and don’t have a gym near you, click here for the holiday survival workout.
Once you have your exercise figured out, then we have to look at food. A lot of times people just have trouble controlling themselves with all the food and drink around and they eat a little (or a lot) more than they should causing that weight gain. This is understandable, we are all human. I know I have eaten entire pumpkin pies after eating 3 plates full of food. When you are trying to lose body fat, or just maintain the fat you have lost to this point, you must have a plan. It’s all about calories. On Thanksgiving Day and Christmas, the table is just full of high fat and high calorie foods. The good news is the table is also full of high protein, high volume foods.
There are three strategies that work wonders for making sure you don’t overeat during the holidays:
- The power of protein
- High volume low calorie (veggies)
- Monitoring daily calorie intake
We can roll these concepts into a plan for the day. The first thing you want to think about is how much you want to eat during that large family meal. Most people want to have a big plate of food and leave room for some dessert… or if you are like me, force some dessert down. If you are going to eat a big meal in the evening, you must eat less in the morning; this will keep your daily calories lower and allow you to feel satisfied at your last meal of the day. In the meals leading up to dinner, focus on veggies and lean protein. This will fill you up without adding a ton of calories.
When it comes to the meal, fill your plate up with veggies and protein first before adding on all the high fat foods. This will again fill you up with high volume, lower calorie foods and will just not allow you to eat as much of the other stuff. When selecting your dessert,don’t let your cravings make your waistline grow. All you really want to do is taste the high sugar and high fat desserts. This does not mean you need to have a high quantity of them. Take small portions, and if you ate a high volume of food before hand, honestly you will be too full to eat a ton of dessert anyway.
Use theses strategies and you will be on your way to success.
P.S. If you want to understand more about nutrition, fat loss, and reaching your physique goals, I am hosting a nutrition seminar on Nov 14th at 10am at Progressive Performance. RSVP HERE and check our Facebook page for more information.
