Why do so many people set their expectations to gain weight during the holiday season? This is creating an unnecessary self-fulfilling prophecy. By preparing yourself for weight gain, you are setting yourself up to eat larger than normal portions and eat as if you might never see holiday cookies again the rest of your life. This belief encourages unhealthy rationalization for over indulging.
I am a firm believer in the ‘no deprivation’ philosophy; however, this has to be tempered with common sense thinking. Enjoy a small piece of the pumpkin pie, but do not eat a piece of every pie on the table. Treat yourself and move on. My experience in working with dieters is that many people deprived themselves of favorites foods until their will power runs out and then they over indulge. Avoid this overindulgence by giving yourself these small treats when you want them and then get back on track with healthy eating and add extra steps into your walking regimen to burn those extra calories.
There is no need to gain weight while enjoying the holiday festivities. Here are 5 easy little tricks to enjoy holiday food and fun without packing on the pounds.
1. Use your salad plate for your meal. This will naturally cut at least 200 calories. You can fill your plate since it is a smaller size. Since most of us eat with our eyes first, you will feel that this 'full' plate will fill you up and satisfy you.
2. Walk everyday. Whether you take a walk alone to center your thoughts and prepare for your day or you walk with family and friends to socialize, make sure you walk everyday to get physical activity that will burn calories. Use a pedometer to track your daily steps with a goal of hitting 10,000 steps during the course of your day. You can do it!
3. Focus on the social aspect of the holidays instead of the food. If you are more excited about seeing your family and friends than you are about eating Grandma's pumpkin pie, you will not eat as much since that is not the focus.
4. Eat whatever you choose in moderation. Do not restrict yourself from your favorite holiday foods. That is a set up for a binge. Your will power to not eat these foods will only last a certain length of time and then you will switch into rationalization mode. Rationalizing food typically leads to over indulgence. So take a small amount of whatever you want and enjoy every bite!
5. Wear form fitting clothes during the holidays to be a constant motivator to make good food decisions and maintain your figure. If you feel good in your little black dress or handsome black slacks, you will not be as tempted to eat everything on the dessert tray and bust the zipper!
Incorporate these techniques into your holiday party schedule and stay slim through December. There won’t be a need to diet in January if you do!
Happy Holidays!Kelly
Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC
www.LifeisMental.com
www.facebook.com/lifeismental
Kelly Stallings is a licensed psychotherapist and the author of Life is Mental: Think Thin to Live Thin, the simple solution for addressing the mental aspect of weight loss. Since 1994, she has worked with people to create significant changes in their life including increased overall physical health by teaching the appropriate uses of cognitive behavioral techniques for healthy living. She has extensive experience training medical professionals on the appropriate uses of cognitive behavioral techniques for client’s healthy living. Kelly’s book and training has been featured on several television news shows, radio shows and popular magazines like American Baby and Success for Women. She is a dynamic speaker who quickly engages the audience and puts them at ease with her warm, ‘no fluff’ personality. Connect with Kelly on http://www.Facebook.com/lifeismental and http://www.twitter.com/lifeismental to receive her daily dose of motivation for healthy living.