You can enjoy holiday parties and dinners without destroying your diet!
Many of my clients repetedly hear me telling them how important their diet is to their weight loss goals. In fact, I always make it a point to mention that diet is 80% of the work and exercise is only 20% of the work in achieving weight loss.
It is for this reason that many clients are getting a bit worried as thanksgiving rolls around and the dinner invitations are being passed out. What many people may not realize is that the holidays do not have to be a break on your diet or take away from your progress. There are many simple solutions to keeping you on tract such as the following:
- Drink water before a big holiday meal or party. Many times our bodies are confused about being hungry when we are really thirsty. Drinking water will help solve this problem and keep your appetite from expanding as you view the delicious foods.
- Plan in advance certain foods that you are going to choose to eat and foods that you are going to skip to avoid piling unwanted and unnecessary calories onto your plate.
- Stop eating when you are full. So many people keep stuffing themselves because they feel that they should be eating everything on their plate. Sometimes using a smaller plate can help this problem and we should only eat until we are full.
- Avoid the leftovers after the parties are over. If you have splurged a little for the thanksgiving holiday, eating the leftovers all week will have calories too. Avoid this situation by not taking any home or distributing them to your guests.
Having fun at the holidays is still possible if you are trying to keep in good shape and health. Also remember that in order to prevent weight gain is to expend as many calories out as you take in. Maybe doing an extra 10-15 minutes of cardio on the day of a holiday party can prevent the pounds from sticking to the waste line.
