Now that October is coming to a close, the holiday season is upon us. While the year is certainly not over yet, we know that the winter holidays will be here before you can say “pass the gravy.” For many of us, the holidays are a time of increased travel and time away from our routines that keep us anchored to our health and fitness goals. Here are some easy strategies to keep your eating on track as you navigate this often busy, but hopefully joyful time of year.
Envision Your Goal and Create a Plan
It might seem like there couldn’t be a worse time than the start of the holiday season to commit to a healthy lifestyle goal, but in fact there’s no better time than now. Considering that holiday eating often results in excess weight gain that only leads to New Year’s resolutions and unsuccessful dieting attempts, starting now can help reframe old thinking patterns and stop procrastination. Whether your healthy holiday plan is individualistic or involves the whole family, taking steps in this moment for a healthier lifestyle will give you the key advantage of having the guardrails of a plan in place when you may very likely need it most.
Travel with Smart Snacks
If you plan to travel to enjoy the holidays with loved ones, you will likely be spending time away from home in cars or on airplanes. The eating on-the-go that comes along with travel makes it hard to maintain control of food choices. Plus, we know that exhausting travel days pose other challenges to healthy eating by throwing off meal times and limiting good food options. Bring along snacks that are both satisfying and convenient like protein-packed beef jerky, single pouches of tuna and string cheese and high-fiber plant-based foods like fresh fruit, banana chips, nuts, seeds, and roasted chickpea snacks.
Drop the Excuses
There are always endless reasons to not make changes. Whether it’s the difficulty of limiting holiday indulgences or not wanting to disappoint your host by saying no to second portions, excuses abound and cause deviation from the best of plans. There’s no doubt that change is not easy, but the sooner you decide to drop the ambiguity, the sooner you’ll start to realize your goal of better nutrition for health. Turning excuses into opportunities for change will ultimately help you create the healthy lifestyle you desire. This might mean bringing a vegetable-forward dish to a work potluck, signing up for the gym now – not in January or setting limits on seasonal alcohol consumption.
Enlist Your Success Squad
Involve friends and family to join you in your healthy eating and fitness plan. We tend to eat like the people who eat with us. By creating a support team that encourages each other to stay consistent and committed, we are more likely to persevere and develop new habits that can withstand time. This also means setting limits with those who are not the best influences or may unintentionally sabotage you. Plan activities and celebrations that center around non-food activities that incorporate movement and stress relief, for example.
As the holiday season approaches, take the necessary steps for a healthy lifestyle to withstand the challenges of the months ahead. Visualize your goal, create a plan of action that you can commit to, and encourage your favorite people to join you. Not only will you be a great role model for those around you, but your proactive strategy will improve your health without the need for post-holiday diets.
LeeAnn Weintraub, a registered dietitian, provides nutrition counseling and consulting to individuals, families and businesses. She can be reached at RD@halfacup.com.