Preparing Now for Holiday Eating: Going in Low to Accommodate the Season
Controlling My Metabolism: Preparing Now for Holiday Eating
Worried about the holidays? You live in Texas, and we start our famous eating habits with football and the State Fair of Texas! Insane you say, there is no way someone can be in good shape and maintain a healthy weight while living and eating all the southern food your heart desires, even sweet tea because who wants unsweet tea? Many Texans, generations deep, and newer Lone Star residents do not have to pack up and move or be treated like an alien to eat with the family, friends, and neighbors who seem to keep offering you more and more food, eating outside your regular habits.
The next day will come, and you may step on the scale and realize that you lost weight, after what you expected to be the life-or-death party with tables of food and all you can think about is being strong. But when you let logic take over, and set anticipation and anxiety aside, things will be okay as you are preparing now for holiday eating.
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Anticipation is the worst part of life, when it comes to just about everything, including weight loss and weight maintenance. Your fit friends seem to make it through the holidays, how do they do it? Next time you attend a company party or event pay attention to what other people are eating and how much. While it may sound funny at first, all you must do is be an intentional eater and watch what you are eating and how much. Even if you feel the need to try one of every appetizer, you should be okay if you get back to your core diet habits after the party.
Smaller U Weightloss program participants are prepared by their nutritionist to get through the holidays and all those football parties and the State Fair by getting ahead of all the eating. If this means being down a few pounds, that is the goal. For others with mid-weight loss, on their way to a goal weight, it is still okay to indulge and not worry about losing progress. It’s the day after a cheat meal or two that is important. Proper and clean eating habits keep our metabolism where it needs to be to maintain a healthy weight and fluctuations now and then are not going to disrupt your body’s rhythm and metabolism.
Maintaining Weight Loss During the Holidays by Enjoying Moderation
Stress is bad and nobody needs to feel anxiety overenjoying the holidays. However, anyone who spent the past few months fighting the battle of the bulge, knows that being committed to eating clean and working out is paramount to losing weight and keeping it off. But what happens when we hit our goal weight and are in maintenance mode? Can we have chocolate cake? What about that glass of wine? It takes time and patience to experience long-term weight loss by learning how maintenance works.
Learning Opportunity: Metabolic Age and Maintaining Weight
Preparing now for holiday eating at your parents’ house is easy when you know what they are going to serve, so that takes the guess workout. If you know your parents’ meal is going to be full of carbs and sugar, you may adjust what you plan to eat during the rest of the day, before or after you eat outside your regular habits.
Remember that everything good and or bad will sneak up on you. But when we are so deliberate about our health actions, we tend to notice changes. Losing weight, we watch our input and output like a hawk, and otherwise, we might slowly gain or lose weight just by fluctuations in our eating and health habits. The takeaway is that the impact of eating habits sneaks up on us.
Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain by Preparing Ahead for Celebrating with Family and Friends
Athletes prepare for events by adjusting their workouts and what they are eating. For example, athletes might practice carbohydrate loading before a game, match, or running a race. They know they can temporarily store energy and know they are going to need it. The same works in the inverse if you know the event is going to be eating.
Booze and the Holidays: Why Drinking Slows Weight Loss
Anyone who has quit something before by simply never having that thing again, whether it be alcohol, cigarettes, or something else, there is a stigma about never doing that thing again. But with food it is different. While you may be vigilant about avoiding sugar and processed foods while losing weight, start accepting that it is okay, even good for you to have some special plates and dishes here and there during the holidays.
By the time you arrive where you anticipate the table will be full of irresistible eats and treats, you know what you are going to eat and are deliberate about your eating. Enjoy your time with others and eat a reasonable amount of food. You are going to imagine wanting to eat everything you normally restrict, but then realize your capacity just is not what it used to be because of your new healthy Smaller U lifestyle.
How to Eat Everything and Not Gain Weight by Keeping a Core Diet
Balance is everything and when you figure out what healthy foods make up your long-term weight loss maintenance diet, the goal is to keep up with the core diet and be aware of everything you eat. By developing an energy-focused food attitude, you learn what foods have the right amounts of protein, healthy fats, and light carbs needed to maintain permanent weight loss and avoid eating outside your regular habits.
The people who gain all the weight they lose do so by going right back to the bad habits that caused the individual to be overweight in the first place. If someone is going to spend all the time, money, and energy getting fit, why would it make sense to forget everything learned and throw it away on fast food and sugar addiction? Luckily the people who take weight loss seriously know that maintenance is just as important.
Smaller U Weightloss nutritionists like Ms. Valerie Maclin, CPT, LN, are ready to help you keep up with your permanent weight loss goals and maintenance. How often one steps on the scale, measures their calories and adjusts ingredients based on labels is up to the individual. For some, keeping an eye on the process becomes second nature and they will always look at a pear and see 100 calories.
Keep Working Out and Get the Body and Blood Moving
People joke about needing to be rolled to the car because they ate so much at Thanksgiving. People also joke about walking home, but maybe that’s what everyone needs to do after getting home or before going to the big meal. Walking and working out can be adjusted in advance of a calorie fest to combat some of the sweet eats and treats nobody wants to pass up. And nobody wants to say no to someone who bakes those pies and cookies with love and holiday spirit.
So while the saying holds that we cannot outrun a bad diet, we can probably make an exception and say we do our best to outrun some of our cheating. Even if you gain weight, keeping up with exercise and a routine means those additional pounds will come right off easily because you kept your body in good condition. If you didn’t keep up with the gym and just measured food, do a little extra over the holidays to combat extra eating. You might just get used to it and keep going and keep the body and blood moving. Exercise is so good for us and it is a gift to be able to work out and burn fat.