Everyone who has ever tried to lose weight during the
holidays has probably experienced the frustration of going in with the best of
intentions and ending up throwing in the towel sometime between October and
mid-December. This is the first
year of my entire life that I have not done the same thing. Usually I am
frustrated and decide right about now that life is getting too busy and my goal
is too hard to do until the holidays are over. Besides, my weight loss goal was
my New Year’s resolution last year.
But this year I have a few tools that I’ve never really had
before or (if I did have them) didn’t utilize them properly. Here is what is
different this year:
1) A support group
· I know that I have not been the best at updating
my blog lately since work has begun to pick up but I still receive emails,
comments and texts from people cheering me on. So I’d first like to say THANKS
for everyone who’s following. I am not saying that a weight loss blog is right
for everyone but you have to admit that it is hard to be a perfect 10 on your
own motivation scale 100% of the time. Especially during the holidays.
We as human beings enjoy pleasing
one another and would usually be more likely to disappoint ourselves than to
let other people down. So let people know what your goal is and how they can
best help you. You may find that they have similar goals and were not sure how
to enlist your help. Not everyone will be supportive and some may even
unintentionally make things more difficult (I am sorry to say but I am almost
always a terrible influence on my own mother). So have multiple people in your
support group that you feel you can help support as they support and uplift
you. You can do this in your church, friend circles or even with online
programs and apps.
Please open yourself up. I know
that your weight can be a personal struggle that you may not want to share.
Take it from someone who recently decided to make hers very public – the more
people you have on your side, the better.
2) Consistent accountability with zero exceptions
By ‘zero exceptions’ I mean there is no excuse for not being accountable. I am not saying that you need
to follow a diet or eating/ workout plan perfectly.
If I had to pick one tool in my holiday survival kit that has made this year better than any other year, I would pick this one. This year I set a goal not to have any ‘cheat days’ (or days where I eat at a calorie surplus) for 90 days. In order to know whether I ‘cheated’ or not, I would have to log ALL of my food EVERY day no matter what.
I have had parties, activities, dinners out, my own wedding anniversary, and even travel where foods were served that I didn’t anticipate or I yielded to the temptation to eat something “bad”. Normally, after arriving to the unexpected event or eating the ‘bad’ item, I would stop logging and go crazy with the thought in the back of my head that I would be ‘good’ tomorrow, the rest, of the week or wait until Monday or whenever ‘life gets more manageable’.
This year, though, I have logged every bit of my good decisions and my bad decisions. With the information that I gather, I have been able to enjoy just about everything there is to enjoy about travel and the holidays and have been able to stop before ruining any of my hard work. I may have a few maintenance days but at least I can have the piece of mind knowing that I have not lost any ground that I work so hard to gain.
3) The allowance not to be perfect
· It’s the holidays, people. Food is a HUGE part
of enjoying them. Anyone who says differently is either lying or not a normal person.
As much as you may try to deny it, food is a huge part of enjoying LIFE. We
keep trying to forget that fact and treat food as if it is the enemy. Even if
your goal is to eventually not use food as your go-to for emotional comfort
(which is a fine goal to have) you probably won’t be able to change your deeply
ingrained mindset in a few short weeks or even months. Let alone during the
holidays. So if you fall to the temptation to have a comfort food, it is not the end of the world. You are not a failure. You are a normal person enjoying one of the greatest pieces of the holidays and quite frankly something that brings your family together. Don't beat yourself up for enjoying time with your loved ones to the fullest.
One cookie will not make or break
your goal. One dozen will. Somewhere in between one and one dozen there is a
line. If you know how much your body burns in a given day and what you need to
eat in order to lose weight, you know what the line is (or at least a decent estimate). If you cross it but logged it, you will have a clear indication of what you need to do to fix it.*
*Again, I am advocating logging food. I have had clients ask
me in the past if I could just make them a nutrition program and tell them what
to eat. That is called a diet. I don’t like diets because they don’t teach you
how to live your life. So, yes, I could do that if you are willing to eat that
way for the rest of your life or at least the foreseeable future. If
not, let’s log. If so, you’re a better man than I and I applaud your ability to shift lifestyles so dramatically and permanently.
My Progress:
Weight: (Because I have been traveling and eating differently, I have decided not to step on the scale until I can be sure that my lack of water or bloating is not affecting the number. I know that I have logged a calorie deficit every day so no need to worry about it. However, the day before I left on vacation I weighed in at:) 158.8 lbs
Successes: I didn't even cheat on Thanksgiving day. I logged all of my food including pumpkin pie and whipped cream and I was able to hit a deficit every single day.
Confession: I have certainly not eaten a very nutritious diet even with a deficit... Lots of pie, not lots of fruits or veggies.
