 Start planning for healthy holidays
The last thing on your mind is planning for the holidays. Think about it for a moment though, and you will realize that very soon you will be in the thick of things with absolutely no time to think about healthy eating or exercise plans.
Right now is the perfect time to decide how you want to handle the holidays and to create a plan to achieve your goal.
Of course, your plan may simply be to enjoy it all to the fullest extent possible and deal with the consequences later. That's a valid plan. Just keep in mind that those consequences will come in January when you are shopping for new jeans because your old ones don't fit anymore.
Or maybe you'd like to just maintain your weight or even lose a little bit. Good for you. It is absolutely possible and don't let anyone tell you it isn't. I've done it, comfortably.
The trick is to pick one and only one day each holiday on which to enjoy the treats. For example: Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve orChristmas Day and New Year's Eve. That's only four days of indulgence. The rest of the time you would stick to your plan.
Another option is to allow yourself a modest weight gain. Make a decision on how often you will allow yourself a treat and how much. Get familiar with the calorie content of your favorites and stick to around 200 calories or so per day. It doesn't sound like much, but that's nearly a half pound per week gain. If you started now, you'd end up with an extra six pounds by January 1st. So, perhaps you might want to have a treat every other day?
Once you've set your goal, it's important to plan for it. A few minutes of planning now will make the New Year much nicer to ring in.
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