Say WHAT?! Yes, don’t count calories on Christmas Day. Why? One day of indulging isn’t going to ruin all your health and fitness related goals. Will a whole month of indulging counteract all your progress? Yes, but we need to get out of this “all or nothing” mentality. One day of enjoying meals with no regret or no guilt is not bad. In fact, it can be good for you because it can be a mental release. How many of you have stressed about eating a cookie [or insert whatever food it is was here] then felt guilty afterwards? Or maybe even “punished” yourself with extra workouts. Why not give yourself permission to do it rather than creating stress around it. Eating a cookie doesn’t make you bad nor do you need punishment for it.
The “all or nothing” mentality means that we think we either have to be completely one way or another: eat 100% healthy or only eat junk foods. One day of eating all the yummy things we love to eat is not going to completely change your health and fitness goals just like how doing just one workout isn’t going to suddenly make you loose a ton of weight. Health is a compilation of all the things we do throughout the entire year and one days isn’t going to completely ruin it.
What do you do on December 26th? Just go back to the way you were eating & exercising before. No guilt, no stress about whatever you ate or drank the day before. Eating guilt free for one day doesn’t have to equal a whole month of eating poorly. Nor does it have to trigger guilt related workouts. You’ve heard me say it before, workout because it makes you feel good, not as punishment. Workout because you cherish your body, not because you are mad at it for what you ate.
Here are three things you CAN do on the holidays that makes things easier for your body:
- Drink plenty of water. You have heard me say this a million times, but drink up! Water that is. Holiday foods tend to be salty and holiday times usually mean we often replace water with other drinks. Set a goal: drink X amount of water throughout the day.
- Go for your favorites first. Yes, FIRST! That way, the favorites won’t be the extra calories you add in after you have convinced yourself to eat whatever it is you were making yourself feel guilty about. Just eat the damn cookie! And enjoy it.
- Take the time to savor what you are eating. Don’t just scarf it down when you think no one is looking. Savor it, enjoy it, take smaller bites, chew it. Have you ever eaten 7 cookies in 3.5 seconds? Ya, we are trying to avoid that. Take the time to eat & enjoy.
When you make eating healthy and exercise a priority, it makes it easier to go back to how you were eating before. And if this is an area that you find you struggle with, join me for my January Reset Challenge.
As for Christmas, enjoy every delicious bite, I know I will.
