How to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain With a Busy Career
How do you avoid holiday weight gain? Make your goal to keep your weight where it is, not to lose. Eat your normal meals on the days between events. Put what you want on one plate. Get your steps in every day. And the day after a holiday meal, go right back to your normal habits.
I wish I'd known that sooner. I used to skip breakfast and lunch on Thanksgiving and Christmas because I knew a big dinner was coming. By the time dinner came around, I wanted to eat everything.
This is how I get through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and a lot of women in my coaching do it too.
Why do the holidays feel so hard?
Three things happen this time of year. There's more food, there's less of a routine, and there's more stress. When that happens, cravings go up and movement goes down.
Your schedule changes too. There's travel, the kids are off school, and there are work parties.
When I read back through my clients' weekly check ins, about 1 in 3 of them wrote about Christmas and New Year.
What should your goal be over the holidays?
Keep your weight where it is. You've worked so hard to lose weight, and the last thing you want is to spend January losing what you gained over the last six weeks. Keeping your weight steady through the busiest time of the year is a huge win, because you start January in a better place.
The holidays don't have to undo much. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health weighed 195 adults from the fall through the next spring (New England Journal of Medicine, 2000). Over the holidays, the average gain was less than a pound. The catch: a year later, it was still there.
So set real expectations. Your schedule is going to change, so your plan needs to change too. Maybe your workouts drop from three a week to two. Maybe you walk more and work out less. That isn't failure. It's adjusting to your routine. What really hurts is quitting because you can't be perfect.
And if you go in planning to eat everything and not move, be okay with some weight gain when January comes around. You get to choose which path you take.
My 7 tips for holiday meals
Eat your normal meals outside the holiday events. Keep your normal breakfast and lunch, then enjoy the event meal. On days with no events, eat your normal meals, and keep food prepped at home so you don't grab fast food just because the kitchen is empty.
Don't starve yourself before the big meal. Eat your breakfast and your lunch, so you're not so hungry at dinner that you eat everything in sight.
Use the one plate rule. Put everything you want on one plate and skip seconds. This one is super simple, and you still get to enjoy that meal.
Still get your protein and veggies. I'm not saying skip the carbs or the sweets. Make protein and veggies a priority on your plate.
Pick one dessert, or pick a few and take just a few bites. This one is my favorite.
Drink water. Stay hydrated all day.
Slow down. Enjoy the people you're with. Before you keep eating, ask yourself: am I eating this because I'm still hungry, or just because it's in front of me?
You can enjoy holiday food. It doesn't have to turn into six weeks of eating everything.
How do you handle a week full of parties?
Use the same meal tips, and be picky. Choose which events you want to enjoy and which ones you'll keep a little lighter. You don't need dessert at every party, and a smaller plate works too. And remember, you're allowed to say no thank you when you don't really want more food.
If there are drinks, here's how I handle it. I have my drink, then a zero calorie drink like Diet Coke, Coke Zero or sparkling water. Then another drink if I want one, followed by another zero calorie drink. You still get to join in without feeling like you're missing out, and without drinking all your calories. If you have several events in a row, choose which days you want a drink, and maybe skip dessert on those days.
Why is the scale up after a holiday meal?
Even when you follow the plan, it's very common for your weight to jump 3 to 6 pounds after a holiday meal. It is not weight gain. A lot of it is water, from a few more carbs and from alcohol if you're drinking. Don't panic. Just go back to your normal plan.
Expect more cravings too, because more dessert brings more cravings through the day. Do your best to fight them off. They do start to go away.
The holiday meal usually isn't the problem. The problem is when one day turns into two, then into a week, and six weeks later the number on the scale has gone up.
A simple workout plan from Thanksgiving to New Year's
Thanksgiving week: get all your steps in, and aim for 1 to 2 workouts.
The first two weeks of December: go back to your normal routine. Your normal meals, your usual workouts (in my program that's 3 a week, about 30 minutes), and all your steps.
December 15 through New Year's: keep your steps, and aim for 2 to 3 workouts.
Christmas week and New Year's week: if you can, get 1 to 2 workouts in, and make your steps the priority.
This way you don't feel like you were off for six weeks, and getting back on track in January doesn't feel so hard.
Three mindset shifts for the season
You don't need to earn your food. You don't have to work out so you can eat.
You don't need to punish yourself with cardio the day after a big meal. Let that idea go.
You don't have to wait until January. Stopping everything until January is the all or nothing mindset. The day after a holiday event, go back to the habits you've been building.
What my clients said after the holidays
“Maintained weight and even dropped during the holiday break!”
Erika, client
“proud to have gotten all workouts in during the holiday.”
Lisa, client
How to avoid holiday weight gain: the quick recap
Keep your base habits: your steps and your water.
Eat your normal meals outside the holiday meals, and keep food prepped for the days with no events.
Pick the events you want to enjoy the most.
Move, even if it's less. If you can't get a workout in, at least get your steps.
The next day, go back to your normal routine.
You don't need to be perfect this holiday season. You want to keep your habits as strong as possible.
If you want me to build this around your own week, with a check in from me every week, that's what online coaching at A Cup of Fitness is. You can apply for my coaching program here.
