The good old holiday season is a time of joy and putting our goals on the backburner and starting over every January. That is the cliché, isn't it? Well, it doesn't have to be. This behavior typically derives from an all-or-nothing mindset which I wrote about a few months ago. I suggest giving that a read if you haven't already and then popping back over here. Within this article, I want to provide you with three tips to get you not only through the holidays unscathed but progress towards your current fitness and health goals. Let's get to it.
Remember That Perfection Is Not Required
I am going to share an actual statistic with you based on true data in the US. According to a 2016 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the average American's weight increases by 0.4 percent over Christmas and 0.2 percent over Thanksgiving. In total, that amounts to around one pound gained. One pound. Why is everyone freaking out about gaining one pound? It could be that the diet industry wants you to buy into their products to "prevent" the "inevitable" holiday weight gain. But folks, weight gain around the holidays isn't happening like people think it is. Hell, before I did my research, I truly thought most people gained five to ten pounds over the holidays...but they don't.
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What matters way more than the four- to six-week holiday season? What you do the other 46 weeks in the year. Four to six weeks out of the 52 weeks is NOT the reason your body composition is what it is. Our health and body composition is the result of what we do on average all of the time, not just 13 percent of the time. Four to six weeks is negligible for someone with an already healthy diet and lifestyle. However, if you already have a terrible diet and lifestyle, those four to six weeks can make matters worse, so while it shouldn't be ignored for the majority of the population, it surely is not the reason your health is where it is today.
So what's the real solution here? As long as the other 46 weeks of the year are 80 percent solid, the holiday season will play zero role in hindering your goals.
Do Not Under Eat Leading up to an Event
Undereating before an event is a common mistake I see all the time. I mean, at first, it makes sense, right? If you know you have a holiday event with lots of food, you should "save calories" earlier that day so that you don't go into a caloric surplus at the event. This is what most people think. But they don't realize that going into a food-focused event starving will 100 percent lead you to eat MORE than you would have had you gone to the event not famished. How does going into Grandma's house with a blood sugar level of 60 sound like a good idea? It's going to do the exact opposite. Now, if you know there will be some amazing food at Granny's that you want to partake in, that's fine! At least have some protein and veggies earlier in the day to help stabilize your blood sugar and get some food in you so you don't eat everything in sight. Remember, perfection is not required, but you also have to set yourself up for success.
Create Boundaries in Advance
Last, but probably the most important, is setting personal boundaries in advance and then adhering to those boundaries. Let me explain. Maybe you have a total of ten holiday parties between Thanksgiving and New Years. You have also been working on losing that last stubborn ten pounds when you have already lost 20 pounds (woo woo!). You surely don't want to backtrack your hard work, so you compromise and pick six out of the 10 parties to be more flexible with your food intake. For the other parties, you will eat some protein and stick to the veggie tray for the most part. And remember, this is over six weeks, so really, that is only one event a week on average—totally doable in terms of staying on track while providing yourself flexibility!
You also make sure you pick the events that will have the best food; gotta be strategic here. The time comes for Granny's event, and you set your boundary to have some turkey, green beans, and mashed potatoes—nothing crazy because, truthfully, her food isn't quite the best. Your Aunt Karen starts teasing you about your one plate of food with no dessert, and the whole family takes notice. You instantly feel embarrassed and awkward, so you contemplate getting more food to get them to shut up. Sound familiar? THIS situation is where many people break their boundaries because of family peer pressure. But despite your family pressure, you stay strong. You remember that when people comment on what you are eating, it is a direct reflection of their own insecurity and poor relationship with food. It has nothing to do with you. Plus, YOU are the one who must live in your body every day, not them. If they want to continue clogging their arteries, so be it. But that doesn't mean you have to. So you politely decline more food and go on with your life, with a cholesterol level under 200mg/dL.
Remember y'all, the holidays are not a goal-setting death sentence. We can absolutely enjoy fun foods, time off, a few more drinks than normal, and still make progress towards our goals. It is those who write the holidays off as "impossible" and go crazy because "they have no choice," who continue to have weight and health problems year after year. Do not strive for perfection. Set healthy boundaries for yourself, and you will be smooth sailing come January 1st.
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Alycia Israel is a nationally qualified NPC figure and bikini competitor and raw powerlifter. She has a master’s degree in exercise physiology, is an NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist, and an ISSN-certified sports nutritionist. As the former personal training coordinator at Ohio State University for seven years, she currently owns and operates Alycia's Barbell, an online training and nutrition business that helps clients lose fat for life or jump on the competitive bodybuilding stage. She can be contacted at alyciafit@gmail.com.
Absolutely! Thank you for reading.