First of all, as holidays come and go, one thing that can stay with you from the holidays is weight gain. Many social groups celebrate holidays with food. It can sometimes be the cornerstone of a holiday, such as Thanksgiving. While good food is always part of a holiday, that does not mean that you have to gain weight. Some holidays can be very sedentary without much activity and combined with food. There are a few simple strategies that can be used to avoid gaining weight when you are celebrating a holiday.
Don’t Start the Celebration Hungry
Planning on going out with a group or with a few people to celebrate a holiday is always fun, one great idea is to eat before you arrive at your destination. When you plan on going somewhere that has a focus on food such as a barbeque, cookout, or restaurant, you can eat before you leave home. When you satisfy your hunger with a healthy option before leaving your home, or wherever you might be, you may not be inclined to participate in the foods being served. This gives you the advantage to pass on some foods that might not be the healthiest, but still allow yourself some options and some flexibility in what you eat.
Arriving somewhere hungry can be one of the easiest traps that we allow ourselves to fall into. We may believe that we are not hungry before leaving but end up finding an appetite once we arrive somewhere. If you can create a healthy snack for yourself before leaving to keep some healthy food in your stomach, you will not be as hungry when you arrive at your celebration. This will deter you from overindulging on food that may not be the best for you.
Bring Your Own Food or Treats
Eating out at a restaurant or at somebody else’s house where they have prepared food can sometimes make healthy eating more difficult. it might be easier for you to bring your own meals, treats, and snacks. When we go out to eat or let somebody prepare for us, it can lead to a guessing game of what has gone into the dish. We may be unaware of its calorie content or contents of its fats. This can make it difficult to know if a meal or a snack is healthy or not and make it harder to know when enough is enough.
Bringing your own food gives you the advantage of knowing all the ingredients in what you’re eating. Bringing your own snacks and treats will also be helpful in portion control. Once you have eaten all you have brought, you can sit comfortably, knowing that you should not continue. You know where your limit lies within the quantity of the food that you brought for yourself.
Control Your Portions
Controlling the amount of food that you eat can help you maintain your weight as well. Caving in to your cravings is fine if it is in moderation. Finding a meal or snack that you enjoy does not have to be a bad thing, you do not have to refrain from indulging yourself. You can eat smaller portions of what you like and still maintain a healthy weight. Portion control helps you avoid overeating.
If you happen to find a large serving of something that you like, you can fill a small bowl or plate with whatever it is and limit yourself to one serving. We tend to overeat in situations where we may have a lot of food in front of us and feel obligated to eat it all. That is not the case. Moderate your intake and listen to your body when it signals that it is full. If you listen to your body and follow the signals that it offers you, you can keep yourself from overeating by controlling the size of your portions too.
Stay Active to Avoid Weight Gain
Maintaining your weight during holidays can be as easy as staying active! On sedentary holidays such as Thanksgiving, we find that we want to savor the time with those around us and sometimes forget to remain active. Once you have eaten, stay active by getting your social group up and out by proposing an activity. A walk is a great activity to help you remain active after a meal and can be done with a group, or even by yourself.
Staying active and ensuring that you keep moving throughout a holiday is a critical aspect of maintaining your healthy weight. You can choose to be active after you have eaten, but you can also get some activity on the holidays before your celebration. If you have a workout routine that should be carried out on that day. If the usual time that you workout interferes with your celebration, then make time before the celebration to be active.