Packing on holiday pounds has become an accepted practice.
Any type of care about staying in shape normally goes out the window from Mid-November until January 1st.
However, it doesn’t have to be.
I’m 1000% for enjoying experiences. Enjoying time with family and friends. And obviously, enjoying tasty good.
I say that because there are people that are too hard on themselves. And won’t even let themselves have a sliver of pumpkin pie. Straight turkey and green beans.
But for most people, they need a little push and guidance.
If you want to stay in shape, hell even get in better shape, during the holidays - keep reading. We’re going to go over how to stay/get in shape over the holidays.
Exercise. This is a non-negotiable.
When it starts getting colder outside and darker earlier in the day, it’s an easy trap to strictly go from work back home. Every single day. It’s the comfortable thing to do.
Being inactive during these holiday months is not the move.
Want to look your best for next year’s spring and summer? It starts right now.
Want to have more energy than you’ve ever had during these winter months? Hit the gym.
Want to balance out the tasty food that you will be eating? Work out.
You don’t have to workout every day. But at least 2-3 times per week is absolutely necessary.
And please, please do some type of strength training. Some type of lifting. This is going to help build muscle, shape your body, and allow you to eat more food without gaining fat.
Sure, you burn more calories in the short term by doing endless of cardio. However, in order to be able to continue eating the same amount of food and not gain weight, you’re going to have to be doing that same amount of cardio forever.
A mix of both cardio and strength training is best, with a tad bit more emphasis on lifting. Trust me, best decision you will make.
Exercising around your holiday schedule.
Let’s take Thanksgiving as an example.
If you know you’re going to be enjoying some higher calorie food on Thanksgiving (aka all of us), then schedule your workouts to be near that day.
Wednesday (before Turkey Day) - get a workout in. Thursday (The big day) - get a workout in. Friday (Black Friday) - get a workout in.
You could do something like this:
Wednesday: 40 minutes of lifting, 15 minutes of cardio.
Thursday: 40 minutes of lifting, go for a 15-20 minute walk with a family member after the feast.
Friday: If you’re a Black Friday shopper, go walk around the mall and all of the stores. If you’re doing that for a few hours, you’re bound to walk a handful of miles. Being active is being active. If you’re not a Black Friday shopper, put those extra calories to good use and get a killer workout in.
But what about traveling and not finding a gym?
There’s always a way to get a workout in.
If you’re staying at a hotel, there’s always some sort of hotel gym.
If you’re staying with a family member, ask about local gyms or look them up. You can probably find a local gym with an affordable day pass rate.
If you’re short on time and really can’t find a gym to use, then knock out a body weight workout. Push-ups, lunges, squats, burpees, planks. All things that will have you feeling good. And all things that you can do anywhere.
Again, working out - non-negotiable. Being sedentary and eating endless mashed potatoes and gravy is a recipe for gaining weight.
There’s 97 reasons why you can’t (don’t want to) workout. But if it’s a priority for you, you’ll make it happen.
Even if you don’t feel like it in the moment, you feel amazing afterwards. And you’ll feel substantially better about the food you’ll be eating.
Now, The Big Topic - Nutrition.
Most of the time, people associate holiday food with the big family meals - Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year’s.
Even if you have a big family meal for every holiday during the holiday season, that’s only 4 “Unhealthy” meals.
The other stuff - Thanksgiving leftovers, Christmas cookies, beers with old friends, Christmas work parties, or just simply sitting at home eating junk food because it’s ‘comfortable’.. That stuff doesn’t get talked about enough, as far as staying in shape over the holidays.
Here’s the thing - you have prioritize what’s important to you. You always have a choice.
If you’re reading this, you don’t want to get fat over the holidays. Hear me out.
Thanksgiving leftovers? Don’t need them.
Christmas cookies and desserts laid out? You have a choice whether you have one, or ten.
Beers with old friends? You don’t have to get sloppy drunk.
Eating junk food? That shouldn’t change because of what time of year it is. Make good nutrition decisions.
Christmas work parties? Make a small plate of food and keep it moving.
Obviously, one incident of overindulgence doesn’t make you fat.
Sure, one night out with friends throwing back 10 beers won’t cause you to gain 10lbs.
Neither will eating Santa’s plate full of Christmas cookies. Or any other one occurrence.
But add all of those up - it sure will pack on the pounds.
Here’s the solution - have some rules for yourself.
Rule 1: Never have back to back “unhealthy” meals.
Even if “unhealthy” food is your only option, that doesn’t mean you have to eat an unhealthy amount of it. Remember, you have a choice.
Eating consecutive “unhealthy” meals makes it extremely difficult to break the cycle.
Rule 2: Select which occasions you want to enjoy and celebrate.
Again, there are endless opportunities to eat like an idiot around the holidays.
Select the holidays you want to enjoy the most and stick with healthy habits the rest of the time.
For me, I’m enjoying the big Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Also, may have a handful of drinks on New Years.
The other stuff - holiday parties, random friend get-togethers, etc. You don’t have to lose your mind for all of them.
Rule 3: Don’t Eat Terribly On Your Own Time
There will be plenty of chances for you to have tasty food.
Stuff that tastes better than a sleeve of Oreos or a jumbo pint of ice cream. Don’t sabotage yourself.
Make solid nutrition decisions when you have complete control.
Veggies, lean sources of protein, some fruits.
If you want to be really festive, I’m confident you can find some healthy pumpkin dish to whip up.
How to stay on track around a holiday, from a nutrition standpoint. Let’s stick with Thanksgiving as our example.
First, let’s talk about the important part of this - Thanksgiving dinner.
Nothing beats a wonderful Thanksgiving spread.
With that said, let’s assume you want to enjoy this meal. Not stuff your face until you can’t walk the rest of the day. But you’re going to enjoy it.
So let’s base all other decisions around this.
Wednesday (Day Before): You probably are going to go out at night and have dinner and drinks with old friends. This is normal Thanksgiving tradition.
During the day, have some lighter meals. Some veggies with grilled chicken. A Chipotle bowl without cheese and sour cream. Stick to something that is a little bit lower calorie so that you have plenty of calories for later in the day to enjoy some adult beverages.
Thursday (Thanksgiving): If you have Thanksgiving wayyy later in the day, then similar to Wednesday, have a smaller meal earlier in the day. Again, stick to something small. Ideally with a good amount of protein and veggies. This will help keep you full and save all of the fun calories (carbs and fats) for the Thanksgiving feast. After the feast, don’t eat later at night.
If you have Thanksgiving earlier in the day (like my family does), then either don’t eat beforehand or have something small like a few eggs with a piece of fruit or a protein shake. Enjoy Thanksgiving food. Later in the day, get back on track with a healthy meal or a healthy serving of leftovers. Don’t have two giant Thanksgiving feasts in one day.
Friday (Day After): If you went about Thanksgiving in a responsible way, then just treat this day like any other day.
If you went bonkers and overate, treat today as a way to balance out the days of eating. Keep calories lower. Little things that you can do to reduce calories: Order grilled meats instead of fries, avoid fried foods, turn down the desserts, only drink water or black coffee.
Imagine you put the working out and nutrition strategy together….
Boom. You successfully made it through Thanksgiving & all of the holiday season. You enjoyed your time. You enjoyed the food. And you stayed on track.
No added pounds. You even made some progress. You feel great about yourself.
If you want to get in shape over the holidays, or at least not gain weight - you can.
If you want to feel great about yourself and get in shape during the holidays but need some guidance and accountability - let’s work together.
Applying for coaching by filling out the application below.
Happy holidays! Enjoy your family, friends, and the food!
Patrick