With the season of sweets and indulgences upon us, staying on the healthy bandwagon s even harder than usual as busy moms. Our days are busy with the impending holiday and Q4 rush, and our time and energy is spent taking care of everyone else.
Many of us put off the healthy goals for a few months as we bundle up, waiting for the New Year to kickstart our healthy efforts again. But the thing is, our momentum has stopped and the pressures of hitting the New Year with a bang, causes us to go all in on those efforts. Which a huge majority of the time, causes us to fizzle.
Another way some of us handle the season of indulgence is to hit the gym hard. We let our nutrition intake lapse into habits even worse than what we were combatting before and we add grueling workouts to the stress of our days and weeks. Carving out time we don’t have and adding to that list of to-dos. Just another thing to make us cranky and keep us reaching for the booze or sugar at the day’s end.
So instead of falling back into those old patterns that we know won’t end up working out for us, let’s try to find our balance this holiday season.
Two weeks ago I posted about creating a sustainable fitness plan for the holiday season and allowing that to create the momentum we need to hit New Years with some real actionable and sustainable new habits and goals. So this week, we’re diving in to my top 5 tips for staying consistent with those nutrition choices amidst the cookies, candies, cocktails and STRESS coming at us from all directions during the holiday season.
1. Treats are not bad, nor are they off limits.
Don’t tell yourself no and don’t feel guilty. Make a choice - have a treat or don’t and be proud of that choice. Create a plan for it, make room for it, and savor it. The guilt will not only cause stress but it will cause you to make a rash decision (like our 2 year olds!), tell yourself to shut up, and shove that sh*t in your awaiting mouth.
From there your day will go one of two ways:
1. You’ll feel guilty and mad at yourself for not respecting your healthy plans which will lead to stress and you’ll end up feeling pressured to emotionally eat which will lead to more feelings of inadequacy that you just can’t make it work causing you to give up then and there on all effort until “a better time.” Or
2. You’ll tell yourself, “eff it!” and you’ll finish the day with all the glutony you can muster because tomorrow you’ll really start making the choices you’re proud of…INSTEAD, how about we approach those treats not as bad, but as something that needs some weighing out and planning. How has your week been? How do you feel today? Do you really want that treat or are you ok without it? If you decide you do really want it, is there a time you can’t save it until so you can actually sit and enjoy it? You’re in control and you have the power to make a choice you’re proud of. At any time. No matter what choice you made 5 minutes ago.
If you forget to think and it ends up in your mouth anyway, don’t worry! You had it and it was delicious. Now move on and continue making choices you’re proud of. Don’t reach for another just because that’s your impulse. Think about that next bite and remember that you are the one in control. You will be proud and that creates what?? Momentum!
2. Make one healthy choice for every indulgence
As you regain control and assume the power to choose your healthy efforts throughout the day, one thing I like to do and that works for my clients is to tell yourself you can absolutely have that treat if you do one healthy thing first. Create that pride, give yourself power to make a choice you’re happy with and do it. Some of my favorite things to do in these situations are:
Have a big glass of water first. In fact, a great rule of thumb to cultivate your mindful approach to nutrition is to always have a glass of water before you put anything in your mouth. It will not only keep you hydrated, which is key to keeping your mind, not your body, in control of your nutrition intake, but it will give you time to think through your choice and give you a chance to feel proud you’ve done something good for your body.
Do a set of push ups or a quick circuit of 20 push ups against the counter, 20 squats, 20 alternating lunges and 20 mountain climbers. Add to that or leave it at that!Get in a workout!
Go for a walk. Even 5 minutes is a great healthy choice!
Get in a workout! That’s a bigger one, but even a 10 or 15 minute workout is AWESOME for your body and progress.
Save it for later when you have time to have gotten in your healthy goals for the day or can really sit and enjoy it.
You’ve now added some healthy living to your day that you wouldn’t have before!
No matter how small it is, it’s better than not doing it at all. Give yourself a high five, make the choice you’re happy with, and move on with your day.
3. Eat consistently
This one is hard to abide by in a season of often overindulging at dinner time in particular. You may feel like you want to save up your calories, get in a huge workout and eat super light, or skip some meals all together, especially before the night out or big meal planned.
But doing that will only leave your body feeling physically stressed out. Which causes you to not only crave comfort foods, but want to shove the first thing you see in your face. And you can justify these choices because you’ve been so “good” during the day! But that’s not the case.
You’ll make worse choices in quantity and quality of foods and you will most likely eat significantly more calories than you would have if you had stayed consistent during the day. This is what causes that yoyo-ing or mysterious weight gain when you feel like you’ve been creating a decent balance. You know how that goes. Remember - it’s not an all or nothing thing. Small healthy choices made consistently add up to HUGE results!
4. Save your sugar for later in the day
As you take in sugar and processed foods, your body is getting quick energy. The problem with quick energy is it dies down, at which point you want more energy, so your body craves more sugar and processed carbohydrates.
So to get this trend to stop, don’t stop sugar all together (it won’t be sustainable), but allow yourself one (or two!) time(s) a day to have a sweet treat if you want it. Keep it to late afternoon or early evening and/or after the kids go down when you can really sit and enjoy it. These are times you won’t find yourself reaching for more and more as dinner and bedtime will keep you from having to deal with the spike.
If you do have some sugar earlier in the day, try to focus on keeping it small and make sure you have some protein or fiber and nutrient dense foods at the same time so your body feels satiated and has lots of sustainable energy to digest.
This will help keep those blood sugar levels more even and you won’t have to be fighting your physical cravings, which is SUPER HARD! It’s not about how much will power you have, it’s about nourishing your body properly so you can use that beautiful brain of yours to keep you reaching for your goals and staying proud.
5. Take care of YOU
Reduce your stress through meditation and journaling. Get out for a walk and keep up a small fitness routine with quick workouts and ( you can use my app to) track all of your little wins to keep you celebrating and mindful of your healthy habits.
Stress = increased cortisol ==> comfort eating and survival mode instincts kicking in which leaves your hormones and body in control of your cravings and choices.
Prioritize sleep so you’re also not causing your body more stress and leaving it searching for quick energy (sugar and processed foods) to get you through the day.
Get yourself in the driver’s seat and you will feel in control, keep building momentum, and hit those goals in no time.