Stay On Track During The Holidays: 5 Habits That Help
1. MAKE YOUR “WHY” YOUR PHONE BACKGROUND
If your kids are your “why” make them the background of your phone. Be reminded every time you pick that phone up that you’re doing this for your kids. You’ll be triggered by your “why” so much, it’ll trump your desire to grab the food. If you don’t know your “why,” dig deep. Ask yourself a couple questions like:
“What are you willing to struggle for?”
“What do you want to think about you?”
“What do you want people to think about you?”
“What’s a limiting belief about yourself you want to prove wrong?”
Dig deep to find out why having a healthier life, losing those last 10 pounds, or avoiding gaining 10 pounds from Thanksgiving to New Year’s important to you? If you can figure out your “why,” make it the background on your phone, you can be reminded of it hundreds of thousands of times throughout the day. Your “why” should always trump the cookie.
2. DON’T SKIP MEALS (IT BACKFIRES):
I know it’s tempting a couple days before Thanksgiving to try a “cleanse,” intermittent fast, or just eat as little at breakfast on holidays as possible. But let me be clear, skipping meals almost always leads to irrational hunger and overeating later in the day or week. Three meals a day tends to work best for most people in terms of keeping their hunger managed and still having room to enjoy the holidays. If anything, it just allows you full permission to eat to prevent any restriction induced binges.
3. FLUFF WITH VEGGIES & PRIORITIZE PROTEIN:
Alright I said eat 3 meals but I didn’t tell you of what… So here we are. The one thing you’ll just about never have to search for on the holidays are carbs. They will be there, everywhere you turn. So instead, I want your focus to be on fluffing with veggies and prioritizing protein at every meal you can. Ideally 3 meals a day, realistically 2-3 meals. By fluffing with veggies, I mean about 2 cups or half a plate of low starch vegetables. By prioritizing protein, I mean about 20 grams of protein at each meal. Your low starch vegetables and lean protein can come from wherever you want. Ham, meatballs, and turkey are all fine sources of protein on the holidays. Thanksgiving salads, roasted brussels sprouts, and spaghetti squash are great sources of low starch vegetables. (So many more on my site!)
4. RECOGNIZE FALSE DESIRES & TRUE DESIRES:
Restriction is something that tends to really hold people back from their goals. Humans hate feeling restricted. So if you’re craving a cookie, I’ll be the last person to tell you not to have it. But I will challenge you to ask yourself if it’s a true desire or a false desire. Take 5 seconds, breathe, close your eyes, and let the impulse subside. Ask yourself, do I want this because the habit loop I have now is familiar and comforting? If the answer is “Yes,” that’s likely a false desire. Eating that cookie isn’t satisfying your current goals and true desires of being healthier and losing that 10 pounds, but instead satisfying a false and momentary desire of wanting that cookie just because you walked past it.
Current Habit Loop:
Cue: In Sight, Boredom, Hunger
Routine: Grab & Eat Cookie while walking, working, on phone
Reward: Kept you busy for 3 seconds, Comforting, Short Term Energy Boost
New Habit Loop:
Cue: Out of Sight (cookie in freezer, veggies on counter, meal prep in fridge), Boredom, Hunger
Routine: Grab and Eat veggies while heating up meal prep for lunch
Reward: Work Break, Relaxation, Comforting, Long Term Energy
Our goal is to keep as many of the rewards the same and simply change the routine.
5. KEEP TREATS OUT OF SIGHT UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO BALANCE THEM IN:
Listen friends, I love treats. And I know it’s not realistic to say you can always keep them out of sight, especially with families. Hear me out. On the day to day, when it’s holiday season but not actually the holiday just yet, take those cookies and treats and put them in the freezer! Your family won’t think twice about them if they’re out of sight and neither will you!
This is not a form of restriction! When you’re ready for a treat because you truly want it, you can balance it into your day accordingly. For the nights I have a sweet tooth, I balance in treats by going veggie and protein heavy at dinner. For dessert I’ll balance in carbs and fats through the dessert that I choose to have.
Grab a tip or two, pick the ones that seem most realistic for you and your lifestyle and slowly integrate it in. As one habit becomes more natural, add in another. Then another. A year down the line you’ll be impressed with your progress. 3 years down the line you’ll be shocked at your sustainability. 5 years down the line, you’ll forget you ever lived any other way.
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