It’s really hard to maintain a diet during the month of December. It’s really hard to maintain your fitness too. Why? Because there are just SO many things to do between the holiday rush that starts at Thanksgiving and carries along like a tidal wave until December 25th. It would be nice if the week right after Christmas were any easier, but when it comes to school breaks, holiday shopping, holiday returns and counting down to the New Year, that week feels like a scratch too.
Suddenly, it’s January 5th or 6th and all you feel is worn out from the rush. It’d be nice to just coast along and you’ll get back to the diet/exercise in a few days. If that’s been your attitude in the past and if you’re feeling the crunch now, because sometimes it really does seem that even fifteen minutes on a treadmill will take too long when you have so much else to do – then welcome to the Holiday Huddle.
Everyone does it and has done it. It’s hard. It’s harder at the holidays that any other time in the year because there is just so much hustle and bustle. Here are a few holiday suggestions to help maintain your diet and keep up your energy that flies in the face of the holiday excess. Try some, try all, but even if you let it all slide; set a start date to get back in the saddle. That’s right, set a date that says ‘holiday over, back to work.’
· Bring your own dessert to an office party — more often than not I can make my own cheesecake using Splenda and Low Fat Cream Cheese that no one can tell is made any differently yet has a 1/3 of the fat and calories as the rest.
· Loosen the reins; give yourself permission to have small portions of your favorite foods. Rather than deny yourself the stuffing, have a very small serving. By giving yourself permission, you are taking the edge off the desire to pitch headfirst into a splurge that you will regret or worse, dumping your diet altogether.
· Choosing to eat slowly, rather that shovel the food in is good on two different levels. Savoring the food, especially the small portions of your favorites you have allowed yourself gives you a chance to really enjoy the entire indulgence. Eating slower also gives you a faster warning of when you are full. The average person feels full 20 minutes AFTER they are full.
· Can’t really make the time for any of these? Forgive yourself ahead of time and flip open the new calendar to mark the day in red that you’re going to be restarting. Whether that day is January 2nd or January 10th set the date.
Since the effectiveness of any diet is a balance of how many calories in versus how many calories out, maintaining light workouts, even in the midst of the holiday bustle can trim back on any losses to indulgence.