Keeping Your Weight Down During The Holiday Season

holiday pies

When it comes to the holidays, it seems that the entire month of festivities, parties and events seem to surround themselves around winter treats and eats. Kicking off with the mother of food holidays, Thanksgiving, all the way until New Years Eve, we are constantly presented with holiday cookies, cakes, jams, pies, roasts, potatoes, candy, and any other kind of festive food that you could possibly dream up. And while the food is definitely one of the best parts of the holiday season, it always seems to leave us all struggling to fit into our trousers come mid-January. 

While indulging in a little bit of our favorite holiday treats is fine, no one wants to end their holiday season feeling like Santa Claus himself with all of the holiday cookies that they consumed. Not only is this not the best for your health, but it can leave you resenting the holidays and regretting your actions. (There is a reason why fitness is usually at the top of everyone's New Year's resolutions.)

Luckily, to help you get through the holidays without having to move up a size, we have come up with some tried-and-true holiday tricks for keeping your weight down during the festive season.

Say No To Encouraging Eaters

At every holiday party, there is always that one uncle or cousin who doesn't want to be the only one helping themselves to seconds and thirds of holiday pie, so they encourage everyone around them to dig in as well―usually with so much enthusiasm and insistence that you eventually fill up your plate again just to get them to stop pestering you. However, don't get talked into eating anything that you don't want to! Stick to your position and just continue to say "no, thank you" until they finally get the hint. You will be grateful that you did at the end of the evening when they are still recovering on the couch.

Fill Up Your Own Plate

While you may not have full control of portion sizes when you are going out to eat at a restaurant of a formal occasion, you can certainly offer to help plate dinner when it comes to family parties or events at friend's houses. Doing so not only helps you avoid any decadent dishes that do not fall under the healthy eating category, but also helps you to mind your own portions. You would be surprised just how much food a hostess will pile on your plate, even after telling them you're trying to eat healthy, simply because they don't know proper portion sizes.

Don't Beat Yourself Up For Eating Bad Food

Every person who has ever been determined to start eating more healthy, especially during the holiday season, has slipped up at one point or another. The key is to not beat yourself up about it or let it get you down if you have done so. Each day is a new day, and you can always start fresh the following morning. Do not let all of your hard work go to waste or give up on your health plans simply because you ate one holiday cookie. Just tell yourself you will be extra good tomorrow with your food choices!

Authored by: YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas