I used to gain around 8 lbs every Holiday season. Then it would take me almost the whole year to get it back off. But I would not get all 8 pounds off, just most of them. So every year I was a little heavier going into the holidays. The Rhino 6 Week Challenge changed that for me and I’ve kept the weight off for a good 3 years. But lately I’ve been a little lax on my nutrition. Nothing crazy, just allowing myself to eat fun treats whenever there is a party or my Mom sends homemade cookies with my brother Brent.
So, I asked myself how many treat meals I will be allowing myself between now and New Years. I know I want to have fun at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, for sure. I also want to have one morning where we make Cinnamon Rolls. But other than that, I want to keep my nutrition healthy and consistent with the 6 Week Challenge guidelines of 1 treat per week.
In talking to our past challengers who graduated and kept up with their good habits, I realized a few things.
If it’s in our house, we will eat it. So keep the bad stuff out of the house. Make Christmas cookies, keep 4 of them, and give the rest away.
If it’s at work, we will DEFINITELY eat it. I hear this all the time: “I have to have treats for the customers who come in and I end up eating them.” It’s time to purchase some Kind bars or other types of ‘healthier’ options, or put the treats under a cute, decorated box that says ‘treats for customers’ and opens from the front so you don’t look at them all day.
Track the ‘cue’ that makes you eat unhealthy. Is it going out with friends? Is it coming home from work? Is is boredom? Once you know what makes you eat unhealthy, set some boundaries for yourself.For example, whenever I go to a restaurant, I usually want to eat something ‘fun.’ So, I decided that I’m only going to eat something ‘fun’ if it’s a special date night or it’s a restaurant that I haven’t tried before. I was in the airport recently and stopped at Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza. It wasn’t a date night and it wasn’t special so I had the Mahi Tacos without the shell and a salad. I was at a party recently and there were homemade cupcakes. I LOVE cupcakes, but I have a policy to only eat homemade ones or ones from my favorite bakeries. I ate two. However, whenever there are store bought items that aren’t special, I stay away. Set the boundaries for yourself and stick to them. Otherwise, you will always ‘treat’ yourself.
The worst thing you can do is say “Oh well, it’s the Holidays” and just mindlessly eat every bad thing for the next 2 ½ months because it’s in front of you. The 8 pounds are not worth it. Most of the treats are not worth it. Save the treats for when someone makes homemade cookies or cinnamon rolls.
Don’t skip any workouts if it is possible to make it to class. There are going to be times when you are with family and cannot get your workout in. You will have holiday parties and other extra obligations that will keep you from getting your workout, so you need to make sure you get in as many as possible when you are able to. If you are only getting in 3-4 workouts a week, amp it up to 5 for the weeks you can make it.
Let’s plan our holiday treats and keep training hard through January! We can do it!
If you need extra accountability over the holidays, we have a 6 Week Challenge starting November 20th, and another one starting in December. These are Holiday Challenges, where you get 6 full hours of ‘treating.’ Or, you can just sign up for our nutrition program and get all the accountability you need through the Holidays.