Christmas is just around the corner and I always have people asking about losing weight for this holiday or that and now people are wondering, how can I lose weight for Christmas?
Well truth is this is the worst time of year for most people to lose or even to maintain weight. We have lots of temptations and not a lot of support.
Temptations? Let me count the Christmas eating extravaganza that this season has in store for us. Christmas parties with lots of food and booze, cookie exchanges, Christmas baking in the office, holiday get together, eating food at the mall while shopping, Costco hotdogs. In fact this time of year is so busy that some people do not cook a meal between December 1st and December 24th.
And then the lack of support and motivation. Have you had anyone say, “Just one cookie, you are looking so good a cookie can’t hurt”. This is not the only chance for someone to stop you from making good choices, there are all the opportunities above to make sure that you have an excuse to blow off the gym for eggnog (double whammy) or just to sneak out for a bit of shopping. Even the best laid plans can be threatened by people that we tend to lean on for support.
So what’s a person to do? Gain 10 pounds of holiday fat? Maybe just be healthy for 11 months of the year and have a cheat month? There is some ways to make some good choices and makes the most of the month of December.
How Can I Lose Weight for Christmas
How Can I lose Weight for Christmas
Make a schedule. I am bad for scheduling time until I get down to a crunch time and surely this is that time. All you need to really do is sit down and look at your social schedule, your work schedule, and your shopping schedule, and your family schedule…you get the point, look and see what you need to do and then fit in where the workouts can go. Most months our workouts will just happen on schedule but in a month like December that can be difficult so you just need to find the right times
Eat the Best Possible Foods. You will eat some bad food but the real problem this time of year is indulging in way too many white carbs and fats. What you need to do is control your breakfast and other meals as well as you can. You do have lots of control over at least breakfast but really you can control almost all meals.
We will get a lot of other foods that are terrible for us and if we keep control over all, or almost all of our meals and make sure that we are eating all those healthy fruits an veggies that will fuel our bodies and minimize all those crappy processed carbs and fats.
In fact if you don’t do this already I think it is great. Looks at the food you are about to put in your mouth and decide – is this fuel? or is this crap?
Social Events with bad eating and drinking. OK so I think that you kind of have the eating and exercise taken care of if you are planning your schedule and eat planning now there are those other times. The times out at the mall or at a party or other get together
First off I have to say don’t use fitness as a crutch not to be social there are lots of options when going out. You are out to socialize and there are lots of good things that come out of that, like having a life and stuff.
So eating can be a problem. I have found that there are always choices and whether you are at the mall or if you are at a Christmas party you can still find the meats, fruits, vegetables that will fuel you. Just try not to eat too many of the fried foods and cookies and keep a level head.
Don’t stay out too late. we all know that later in the evening our decision making abilities become hazy and sleep is a very important part of healthy lifestyle.
Drink in moderation. I tend to drink too quickly so my best hint here is to make sure to pace myself. I will have a beer and then have a big glass of water. Water is really good and the alcohol flows a little too freely in the Christmas season.
OK, I gotta say I always feel like a party pooper with a list of tips like these but really the fact is that most of us don’t have any willpower and that’s why most people gain so much weight in the month of December. It all comes down to planning, healthy eating, exercise, and willpower.
What are your thoughts? Do you have any great tips for how to lose weight by Christmas?
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One thing I was thinking about today was riding and oatmeal, and yogurt. I always have my go to foods of oatmeal, protein powder, and a fridge full of fruit so I never have an excuse not to eat well. I hate yogurt but most people really like it and it is a super easy and fast meal replacement if you add some fruit, try the Greek yogurt since it is higher protein and stay away from the yogurt 