If I had to try to pinpoint the moment that solidified my success with weight loss – the moment when I knew that there was no going back to the old me, I’d have to say it was how I chose to approach the holidays and the bullies that come with it.
You know the ones: the treats, the feasts, the family gatherings and the flitting around from one social event to the next. Next, add the frenzied shopping and the exciting highs that come with seeing family you haven’t seen all year. Then stir in the unexpected lows that come when they leave and you finally have time think, reflect and remember loved ones who are no longer here.
Yes, all those bullies you have to contend with – all in the midst of trying to get your health right!
Don’t let the holidays bully you!
For years, holidays single-handedly Deebo-ed my bike and my chain, otherwise known as my good health and my weightloss progress. Thanksgiving bullied me out of my will-power and Christmas tricked me into believing those extra pounds were presents I could return in January. But you know how it goes… when you arrive at customer service and the lines are too long… you procrastinate until your receipts expire and then you’re stuck with the junk in your trunk for the rest of the year. Ugh!
That was my life. I just couldn’t make it past the holiday checkpoint. I wanted to continue on my health journey, but I was like a lazy traveler who keeps putting off getting a passport. I kept wanting to, yet failing to take action.
The flaw I discovered was not my lack of desire, it was my lack of an action plan. I let the busyness of my life distract me while the holidays crept up and caught me off guard. It left me feeling as if I had no choice but to give in to foods I knew I should avoid and cycles I knew needed to remain broken. But no more!
Last year, I made a clear plan for how I would proceed.
Here are 4 strategies things that I did differently:
No starving all day and then eating everything in sight!
I would shop in advance and make sure I had enough ingredients on hand for a healthy breakfast and lunch on Thanksgiving day. When dinner time finally came around, I discovered I wasn’t that hungry and had the mental strength to make wise choices about what I put on my plate. I ate the healthy vegetables first before eating other items.
Don’t eat too much!
Since changing my eating habits, getting overly full was not something I could tolerate anymore, especially now that I get full much quicker. So instead of acting like dinner would be the last meal I’d ever eat, I approached it differently. I settled it in my mind: whatever I couldn’t eat for dinner, I could try again the next day if I still felt like I wanted it.
Choose one dessert or favorite food that is truly worth indulging in and leave the others behind.
I chose my daughters banana pudding cheesecake and then I cut a reasonably sized slice to eat – not the whole thing! I skipped the mac and cheese and a few other items I wasn’t passionate about.
Set a date for returning to your regularly scheduled healthy eating program.
I gave myself the Thanksgiving weekend to enjoy items I would normally avoid and by Monday I returned to stricter eating without delay.
You don’t have to let the holidays bully you out of your health goals and you don’t have to feel guilty about enjoying some of your favorite foods, either. Stay in control of your eating by developing a practical plan that you will adhere to during the holidays and then get right back to your healthy lifestyle as soon as possible. That’s how I survived the holidays and you can do it too!
If your goal for the next year is to get healthy and lose the weight, you might want to join us for the next 6 Week Boot Camp that begins Saturday, January 7, 2023. We’ll meet each Saturday, Virtually via Zoom @12pm ET and all sessions will be recorded.
Visit this link to learn more: https://www.kieshaeasley.com/the-weight-is-over-boot-camp/
IT’S WORTH IT
All of the effort you put into eating right and improving your health is worth it! When you begin to feel better and look great, you’ll come to see that it’s definitely worth the time you put into it.
For more strategies for adhering to a healthy lifestyle, get your copy of Worth the Weight, the story of my health journey that left me 75 pounds lighter, energized, and younger-looking.