Don't Let Holiday Parties Ruin Your Weight Loss Success

Every year around this time, articles start popping up with advice about how to eat healthy and have control during the holiday dinner parties and family get-togethers. Every year, people worry about putting on extra pounds from Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

Fitness professionals everywhere are quick to give advice and healthy recipes to help avoid those unwanted pounds. It's always good advice, too. Healthy recipes are important to living a healthy lifestyle.

Here are my secrets to enjoying the holidays without ruining my weight loss success.

Secret #1: Eat whatever you want. I'm very serious. You can sort through healthy cook books or you can just enjoy the unhealthy stuff. "Junk Food" makes people happy. Happy people are healthier than unhappy people.

Secret #2: Eat as much as you want. Again, I'm dead serious. If you restrict yourself at your family's Christmas party, you'll spend more time thinking about the stuff you wish you ate and less time thinking about your friends and family. Eat two plates of dinner, pie, and ice cream. If it makes you happy, eat it.

Now let me interrupt my list to encourage you to keep reading. This isn't crazy talk and if you keep reading, it'll begin to make more sense.

Secret #3: No Leftovers. Never take home any leftovers from any holiday party you attend. A party is a party. Everything that happens at a party was meant to be different than everyday life. If you're taking home two pounds of honey ham, a bag full of dinner rolls, and half a Dutch apple pie, then you're taking the party to your home. What was okay for the party is not okay for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the following week.

Secret #4: Keep it short. Don't spread your Thanksgiving dinner over the course of 5 hours. Try to limit it to one or two hours. Less is better, get what you want, fill up, and move on to the rest of the party's activities. If you spread it out, you'll eat more than if you keep your meal short.

Secret #5: One party a week. First, some of you may have more than one party that you have to attend in a week. That is fine. Unfortunately, you'll only be able to eat like it's a party at one of those. You should treat yourself every week in my opinion. However, holiday parties can get out of hand if you let them.

All in all, two months out of the year don't make you fat, overweight, or obese. The body you have now is an accumulation of years of eating, drinking, and physical activity. You should enjoy your holidays and the food that comes along with it. Not doing so will make you feel deprived and increase your chances of cheating on your diet.

A planned party is one of the best ways to get your treat meals in. If you eat right 90 percent of the time, treating yourself to good things the other 10 percent is not going to break your diet. If you have any health issues about food, please consult your doctor. This article is not a replacement for any advice given by a medical professional.

Dan Sabin is a fitness professional certified by the ISSA (CFT). He provides Private Training, Semi-Private Training, Boot Camp, and more in Oakland Township, MI and Clarkston, MI. For more information and FREE resources, visit Sabin Personal Training.

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