At this time of the year, most web sites race to suggest the best “strategy” to stay in shape during the holidays. You will read different things, from the absurd suggestions to starve and then stuff yourself, to carb rotations and so on. Unlike the others, I won’t suggest you complicated formulas you could follow until Christmas and then eat everything, you see on the table!
What I am gonna do is ask you a question! If you are gonna stay in shape or not, depends on your answer!
Here is the question: What do holidays mean to you?
There are different answers but they could be summed up in two ways:
1.Time to be lazy and eat as much as possible
2.Time for rest and gather with your loved once
If you think that holidays is equal to sitting on the table all day long, eating like it is your last day on Earth, it is time to change that! The best thing about holidays is that they are great occasion to gather the whole family in the same place. Usually our life is at fast pace and we could rarely find time to be with the whole family at the same time. That’s why holidays have a huge unit role!
How to control your food intake
During the holidays there are a bunch of delicious and tempting desserts. Everybody is trying to eat as much as possible! Why a holiday lunch needs to turn into an eating race? Couldn’t you treat it like every other day? Couldn’t you just eat as much as you need? Who cares that on the table there are so much treats? All those foods are there all year round and you could prepare them whenever you feel like it! You do not need to eat from everything in just one day! Stop associating holidays with food! Holidays are so much more than a food feast!
This year, during the holidays, don’t grab the big plate, only to fill it later with a mountain of food! Instead, take the smaller one- the plate you use to eat in everyday! Grab a little food, but still enough! The size of your plate plays a big role, when it comes to the quantity of the food you will end up eating! In a big plate, the food that is enough for your needs, seems insignificant! On the other hand, in a smaller plate, the food that is enough for your needs, looks just normal and satisfying! That’s why the better option would be a smaller plate- thus the illusion for deficiency, that the bigger plate creates, won’t made you think you are still hungry!
What should a good rest be like
During the holidays most people rest! I’ve never understood why people think that rest is equivalent to being lazy! Your rest is the time when you could do the things you love, the time when you do not have deadlines at your workplace, the time when your brain needs a rest! Instead of turning into a couch potato, and spend your day eating and watching TV, use your rest at its best! Take advantage of the fact that your family is around and do something together. Go for a walk, go skiing, go skating, do something more active! This will guarantee you a great time in the company of your loved once and it will keep you away from bad habits!
I guess you are disappointed, that I didn’t suggest you the magic formula, which you could use during the week, and then eat as much as you feel like at Christmas! Truth is, that when you accept healthy living as a long term goal and not the short term premise for future feasts, you won’t need a strategy that will keep the pounds away from your butt! When you stop creating all kind of excuses and reasons to eat junk food, when you stop taking food as joy, I guarantee you that you will understand the true meaning of holidays!
There was a proverb that whoever fails to plan,plans to fail! You have five days to change your mind! Instead of anticipate Christmas just because you want to eat all kind of treats, change your expectations! Start thinking how you couldn’t wait for Christmas, because you will see your parents, sisters, brothers, cousins! Be eager to make them happy, with the presents you made for them!
When you sit at the table, think is it worth it? Is it worth it to stuff yourself with food and then be sick? Is that the memory you’d like to have from Christmas 2011? A memory about discomfort caused by overeating? I’d much rather think about the food I will eat on Christmas as my body’s fuel! I’d much rather be healthy, fit and feel good so I can enjoy the small things in life, that will leave a nice memory for the future!
Make yourself the best Christmas present- be healthy and fit!
