4 Ways to Approach Holiday Eating
Challenge: My holiday eating is out of control!
Reason You Give: “I can’t escape it!”
It’s that time of year….turkey roasting in the oven….the scent of rosemary and thyme floats through the air while the savory stuffing and sweet cranberry sauce absorb your stare. Soon, your indulgence reaches maximum effort, and you’re ready to sleep off your food coma on the host’s hardwood floor. The official kickoff to holiday eating: An annual tradition of celebrating the best of life from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day!
While it is a time of celebration, it is also a time of stress for people interested in weight loss or maintaining their health. Although I believe “if you do it, you should do it well,” you may not feel or look well if you do “it” for 40 nights. With this being said, here are four approaches to help you handle the festive eating holidays this month.
You can still celebrate the holidays while meeting a personal trainer. / Photo: Nicole Michalou
1. ESTABLISH A DAY-TO-DAY ROUTINE, ENJOY THE HOLIDAY INDULGENCE, AND THEN RETURN TO YOUR ROUTINE.
Personal Trainer Wisdom: Whether it’s a holiday or not, your indulgence, or cheat meal, truly needs to be an outlier. Why? You want an impeccable and nutrient-dense perfect routine so that a celebration won’t undo everything you worked hard for….it’ll just slightly skew it for the moment. If you find that the simplest smell of a pumpkin pie sends your weight through the ceiling without returning, you must question your day-to-day approach (which means rethinking your daily meals). Ultimately, the routine you integrate before and after a holiday will determine how restrictive that holiday becomes. Take the time to establish an effective diet (the normal way of eating) that meets your health goals and make the celebrations a small blip on the radar of health.
2. SET FOOD RULES.
Personal Trainer Wisdom: No matter how you spend the holidays, you most likely will be enticed by the many belt-busting traditional dishes. While you can’t avoid it all, you can establish a framework to guide your choices. It will help you achieve bottom-line nutrition with each meal and the proper exchange system to manage holiday eating. Here are several rules to consider:
-Minimize the “Big 6”: Dairy, grains, alcohol, refined sugar, processed food, and meat. The combination and amount of these foods have played the biggest role in whether or not my personal training clients lost weight over the last 13 years. Choose the pastries with the least amount of sugar. Cut your portion of turkey in half and replace it with roasted vegetables. Eat half of the cheese that you normally select when drinking wine. Little changes can go a long way!
Fill half of every plate with vegetables.
Drink a glass of water between each glass of alcohol.
Precede each treat with a healthy option.
3. BRING TWO HEALTHY DISHES.
Personal Trainer Wisdom: Recently, my wife, Sammy, and I hosted a Friendsgiving (an early Thanksgiving party with friends). Although I have a dairy intolerance, our friend, Zelle, is allergic. We carefully identified which dishes had butter, milk, and cheese. Funny enough, nearly half of the potluck dishes fit this criterion (and were some of the favorites). Not taking any chances, Zelle typically brings a couple of dishes, knowing most people’s habits. If you have a similar restriction or concern about the food at parties, take the same initiative. At the bare minimum, you’ll have a couple of dishes to choose from without feeling guilty.
4. HOST THE PARTY AND MAKE THE FOOD.
Personal Trainer Wisdom: Don’t like what other people serve at holiday parties? Host your party, then! There’s no better way to control the type of food being served. It’ll give you the chance to contain every ingredient of your meal. You limit the temptation of another host’s treats and organize a party that supports your goals. If cooking is too much of a burden, cater from Whole Foods or ask guests to bring a specific dish (with your restrictions in mind).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MICHAEL MOODY, PERSONAL TRAINER
As an author, a personal trainer in Denver, and podcast host, Michael Moody has helped personal training clients achieve new fitness heights and incredible weight loss transformations since 2005. He also produces the wellness podcast "The Elements of Being" and has been featured on NBC, WGN Radio, and PBS.
Michael offers personal training to Denver residents who want to meet at the 2460 W 26th Ave studio….or in their homes throughout LoHi (80206), LoDo (80202), RiNo (80216), Washington Park (80209), Cherry Creek (80206, 80209, 80243, 80246, 80231), and Highlands (80202, 80211, 80212). Michael also offers experiences with a personal trainer in Jefferson Park (80211) and Sloan's Lake (80204, 80212).
If you’re looking for a personal trainer who can curate a sustainable (and adaptable) routine based on your needs and wants, Michael is the experienced practitioner you’ve been looking for. Try personal training for a month…your body will thank you!
