Can You Maintain Your Weight Over The Holidays?

Okay, so you decide not to lose any weight over the holidays, just maintain. 

So how do you do that? 

This week is tough, the week after Thanksgiving. I see three kinds of clients - those who blew it nutritionally on the big meal day, those who kind of blew it on the big meal day, and those who did great on the big meal day and then proceeded to blow it over the weekend on their nutritional plans. 

Hmmm...

Is it possible to maintain your weight over the holidays? 

First of all, what is it to maintain? The dictionary says: "to keep or keep up; continue in or with; carry on". Okay, maintenance? The dictionary says: "upkeep, support, defense". A great coach once told me that maintenance is not the lack of work. You still have to be focused, you still have to be sharp and not let your guard down. You still have to work. And when you are trying to lose weight, let's be honest, that's work. 

One of my diehard clients had this to say about maintenance during the holidays: "The way I see it - the holidays are Nov. 26, Dec. 24, 25 and 31st. Why do I need a whole month of maintenance?" By the way, I love this client! She is making progress and has a great mindset. She is continuing to work hard during the month of December, even with obstacles in her way. But what she said is true - we are only talking about 4 days here! So why does everyone take off in the month of December? 

It's too stressful so you don't have time [make time] to workout. 
It's too many parties so you can't eat right [make good choices]. 
It's too cold outside to workout and I don't have a treadmill [give me a jumprope or a bench and I'll prove you wrong]. 
It gets dark early so I can't workout outside [duh, go inside]. 

It's just too darn BUSY! [get over it, workout!]. 

You can maintain during the holiday season. It starts with what you tell yourself and how you speak about the holidays. 


If you say, to yourself AND others, "I'm just too tired to even think about exercising right now" - guess what? You'll be too tired to exercise. 


If you say, to yourself AND others, "I know I shouldn't eat this, but I'll get back on-track in January" - guess what? You'll be mad at yourself and chances are, you'll have an even harder time in January getting back on-track. 


If you say, to yourself AND others, "I'm just too busy, I am just going from one thing to another, I can't think about being healthy right now" - guess what? You'll continue being busy, you'll continue going from one thing to another, and you won't be healthy. 


It doesn't take long for this to affect your body. Sicknesses seem to come along, whereas you may have been able to fend it off before, now you cannot. You get wore down, everyday activities wear you down. You get tired of celebrating. You get tired of overindulging, but it's a habit now. You just get tired. A bad December can last through March, I know, I've done it in the past. Why do you think the gyms are so crowded in January and February? 


Take the advice from my client, it's only 4 days of celebration, it's not 31 days. And take my advice, you'll feel better. Keep moving, keep eating right, keep telling yourself that you can do it. And before you know it, the holidays will be over. 


You MAKE the choice - every day. 


YOU CHOOSE to live healthy 


or


YOU CHOOSE to live unhealthy


Whatever you choose, own up to it.