The good news is that you don't need to pick up any weight or feel deprived over the Christmas holiday season to keep from picking up all the weight you have lost! In fact, it is possible for just the opposite to occur and to lose weight over the Christmas holiday season...
The bad news is that Christmas does not give you permission to over-indulge and undo all the good you have done so far! Remember, it's only food, and the pleasure is temporary.
Go into the season with a different way of thinking this year - the Christmas season is probably the ultimate test you will ever endure in terms of food and losing weight, so think about food differently, and you will walk out of the Christmas holiday season with a looser belt and a grin on your face because you would not have picked up any weight...
The most helpful tip I can give you is that you actually make the commitment to yourself before all the feasts begin to choose to only eat when hungry. Make the conscious decision this holiday season, that no matter what, you will not stuff yourself on food, but food remains food no matter the season, and you choose to eat only when hungry. If it helps, take a doggy bag to eat over a longer period of time over a couple of days rather than stuffing yourself in one go. That will make you feel that you are not depriving yourself, but you will still be exercising self-control.
Here are some other practical and helpful tips to get through the holiday season in victory:
Monitor liquid calorie intake. Obviously water doesn't count - you can drink as much of it as you want. What you really should be cautious of are things like fizzy drinks and alcoholic beverages including beer, wine and champagne which are empty calories. Limit yourself to just one or two during holiday dinner activities. Sip water in between your drinks to space them out a bit.Snack before dinner. If you eat an apple or drink a full glass of water about 20 to 30 minutes before you eat, you'll eat less because your appetite won't be horrendous. With that said, never go to a meal feeling starved, or you'll end up with a food hangover for sure. Those tend to be filled with feelings of regret and major bloating - it's just not worth it for those few minutes of temporary pleasure...Eat a side plate of salad before your main meals. This helps prepare the body for the abuse to come, and you will find that this serves two benefits - the raw food helps to digest your meal faster, which means faster elimination and it serves to fill you up a little before the "bad" foods come tumbling down.It's perfectly okay to indulge - a little. You can still have a taste of everything you enjoy, just watch your portions. Split your huge slice of pie with a family member and take small samples of everything else you want to try.Move after eating. Try to walk around a bit after you eat instead of plopping your stuffed butt on the nearest couch. It'll help you burn a few extra calories.Work out extra hard (and during the holidays, you will have extra time so you can't use lack of time as an excuse...sorry!) On weeks you know you'll be having holiday get-togethers, put some extra effort (and minutes) into your workouts. If you eat more than you planned, work it off by putting in the extra time to burn the extra calories you ate. It's okay to say "No." Don't be afraid to tell people "no, thank you." It's YOUR body, and it's YOU who has to get rid of the excess through hard work.Be aware. Before you start eating, look at the food on your plate and tell yourself that this is a lot of food and it will fill you. Of course, don't initially pile your plate up high so that you have an excuse to overeat! Rather dish up a small portion, pause when done and if you are still hungry, only then go back for more.Copy a thin person. If you have not yet learnt how to identify true hunger, copy someone who is thin. Watch how much they eat and simply copy them!Eat slowly. If you eat slowly, you'll give yourself a chance to feel full, rather than jamming food down your throat fast and then feeling like you're going to throw up afterwards because you're so full.Most importantly, if you are tempted to overeat, remember that it's just food and the pleasure is only temporary.
We offer a free "Get Thin for Good" program which will help you lose weight and stop overeating without dieting, using slimming products or feeling deprived. The program is focussed on changing the way you relate to food, which is the root cause of being overweight. Go to http://www.get-thin-for-good.com/ for more information, or to subscribe to the program.
Or check out lots of interesting stuff and resources on our blog at http://www.get-thin-for-good.com/wordpress.
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