My Favorite Nutrition Strategies to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain
December 19th, 2022
Every holiday season
I have clients ask me for my favorite strategies for navigating the holidays.
I decided to write this to share my tips for maintaining a healthy weight during the holidays, since it can be an easy time to overindulge. Not to mention, once we start to enter the holiday season, healthy habits like eating well and exercising, begin to plummet to it’s lowest levels.
With holiday work parties, family events, gift shopping (not to mention, all the wrapping), the constant planning and commitments, cookie baking, kids functions, and holiday decorating, this is quite a busy time for all. This leaves us more likely to help ourselves to a cookie here, a treat there, a mindless grab of something as we’re flying out the door. Things that are out of the norm that will quickly add up.
The busier we tend the be, the more challenging it is to stay on track with our normal, healthy lifestyle and routine. Here are a few tips to staying on track this holiday season:
Focus on the season as celebrating that one day vs celebrating the entire month(s). It can start as soon as Halloween for some. The never ending sweet temptations and celebrations. If you reframe your mindset to take each celebration one day at a time vs chalking it up for the entire month (or more), it will be helpful to mitigate unwanted weight gain.
Go in with a plan. Going into a challenging situation blindly is not the best way to set yourself up for success. I tell my clients, let’s figure out a specific (yet, realistic) plan to keep you on the right path.
For example, imagine having zero plan and walking into a party with every snack, dip, dessert, treat, fancy drink, you name it, imaginable. How do you feel you would handle it? Would it be easy for you to stick to your healthy habits?
Now imagine having a solid plan: start with filling up on veggies and some fruits, having one small plate of yummy dips/snacks, filling up on protein and veggies as your main meal, choosing one dessert, while having your water bottle in tow. Just imagine how good you will feel. You conquered sticking to the plan and you felt great the next day.
So many of my clients are shocked they can do it! Better yet, they never felt deprived and they were able to truly enjoy a little of everything!
Make protein the main focus on your plate. Your body takes longer to digest protein keeping you fuller longer. Filling up on protein foods while snacking, and at meal time, can help you feel more satiated and satisfied. Consuming protein also helps with balancing out hunger and satiety hormones, leaving you less likely to have strong cravings. This can help with staving off the strong desire to consume every dessert available. Not only can protein help level out hunger hormones but it can provide a boost in metabolism.
Hydrate between every alcoholic beverage. If your family or friends like to go a little hard around the holidays, having a water between every alcoholic beverage can not only decrease overall calorie consumption, but it can help mitigate bloat and water retention the next day. Even some non-alcoholic, holiday-type drinks such as eggnog, hot cocoa, juice “mocktails”, and soda can add up very quickly in the calorie department.
In addition, alcohol impairs sleep quality by reducing REM sleep and causing sleep disruptions.
Be mindful and stay hydrated.
Have good sweat sesh. Have a good workout that day. This doesn’t mean completely destroy yourself in the gym because you know you’re heading to a holiday party. By doing this, it can make it difficult to stay on top of your nutrition and have well managed hunger levels. You will most likely end up starving at some point and then giving in to all the temptations. A good workout can result in making healthier choices throughout the day.
Don’t save your calories for the party. This is another disaster waiting to happen. Saving your calories for later on in the day will only negatively affect hunger levels causing to have less self control as the day goes on. Having a protein filled breakfast with veggies, a good snack, and protein packed lunch with lots of veggies will help you stay the course.
Prioritize sleep. Lack of sleep is one of the leading causes of weight gain during the holidays. Insufficient sleep promotes hunger and appetite, which can cause excessive food intake resulting in weight gain. New evidence shows that sleep deprivation can cause an average increase in about 300 calories a day more than those who are well-rested. Overall, most of the extra calories came from high-fat/processed foods. Not to mention, poor sleep can lead to snacking more and moving less.
.Enjoy being with family and friends. Don’t let food be your main focus. Cherish the time together with friends and family. Shift your mindset to staying present in the moment and enjoying the company that you are in.
Show up calm and with good intentions. There are times that I’ve had to create my own protective, energy bubble around myself in order to show up calm to an event. I’ve also done some deep breathing and even left and went for a walk to help alleviate any stress that I may have been feeling. Feeling stressed or in the “fight or flight” state can spike cortisol levels (your stress hormone) which can cause a cascade of negative effects in the body (i.e. blood sugar spike causing your hunger and cravings to be dysregulated). Set good intentions with how you want to show up, stick with the people who bring you most joy, and savor all the moments.
Choose the one on this list that you know affects your progress the most. However, give yourself a little grace this season if things don’t go 100% as planned. You’re only human.
As a registered sports dietitian and nutritionist, I’m dedicated to teaching active individuals and athletes the proper way to fuel their bodies to be the best versions of themselves— fit, strong, energized, focused, time-efficient, and driven to succeed in all that they do. Feel free to learn more about becoming your best version.
Xoxo, Katie