If you’re in the U.S., you’ll know that the time between late October (Halloween) and the beginning of the next year can be a dicey time to attempt to lose fat.
You’ve got the aforementioned Halloween, and all the candy that comes with it (especially if you have children in the home who participate), you have Thanksgiving, Hanukkah (for those who celebrate), Christmas (also for those who celebrate) and New Year’s. All of which are very much focused on food, drink, and socializing.
It’s not just the actual days those holidays fall on either.
Depending on how the family congregates, each holiday can be celebrated for more than one day and leftovers from all the delicious food can last for several days as well.
Not to mention, all of the emotional highs and lows of gift giving, cooking, family dynamics, work celebrations, and more and those two plus months can make it difficult to be successful at fat loss.
So, what can you do?
The answer isn’t simple but here are some thoughts:
-The holidays might be a good time to focus on weight maintenance rather than fat loss. You may be pulled in a lot of different directions and dieting can be enough of a stressor as is. Do the best you can to accept some degree of overindulgence on those holidays in particular and use the rest of the given week to get back to “normal” without attempting to slash and burn calories aggressively on the opposing days.
-Some people relish the challenge of trying to lose fat during this time. Far be it from me to stop someone when this may be motivating to them. For a certain type of person, being able to go against the grain and diet successfully may be realistic and possible. While I wouldn’t count this person as the rule (rather the exception to the rule), it is still possible for some to succeed by managing food intake more strategically on the holidays by skipping desserts, alcohol, etc.
-Focus on the people around you and less on the food itself. I don’t know about you, but over the last several years, I’ve found myself less likely to overdo the food and more likely to concentrate on the people I’m with. This isn’t in efforts to control my weight, rather I just try to be present and enjoy the company.
-Doing the best you can with some type of consistent movement can help. I’ve written many times about this on this website but if you commit yourself to walking, hiking, etc. it’s incredibly beneficial for your mental health and some of us need that improvement rather than shooting for how many calories you can burn during the activity itself. In other words, if dressing is your Thanksgiving food of choice, try not to hop on the treadmill later that day in valiant attempts to burn it all off. Enjoy the dressing and go on about your day.
-If you need a strategy for navigating holiday food, I touched on it a bit above but you can go easy on desserts, alcohol, starchy and cheesy foods. Not because those foods are “bad”. They’re not, they’re just easy ways to consume a fair amount of calories in a relatively small amount. Keep an eye on the proteins and green veggies and if there’s something you’re truly craving, see if someone would be willing to share a bite with you. The holidays are a good time to remind yourself about that type of bonding too.
(Photo courtesy of Katie Azi)
