7 Tips for Enjoying Holiday Food Without Worrying About Weight Gain

The most wonderful time of the year is quickly approaching, and you’re probably looking forward to holiday decorations, holiday meals, lavish gatherings, and quality time with friends and family. However, the holidays can seem daunting to some people, especially when it comes to food. If you’re determined to enjoy the joy of the season and the delicious flavors it brings—all without making you feel like you’re “cheating” or neglecting your nutrition plan and weight goals—you’ll want to keep reading.

Ahead, we’ll cover nutritionist-approved tips and tricks for eating happily and mindfully throughout the holidays.

7 Tips for Enjoying Holiday Food

1. Define your goals

First, figure out what your overall goals are during the holidays. Whether you’re trying to stick to a personalized nutrition plan, lose weight, save money on eating out, cut down on alcohol, or something else, it’s important to dig in and find out the reasons behind it.

For example, you may want to lose weight to control your blood sugar to promote a healthy metabolism, keep your energy levels high, and curb your appetite. A great way to support this is to incorporate HUM’s Best Berberine Supplement into your holiday routine to maintain healthy blood sugar levels and weight management. Or, you might be soberly wondering whether alcohol is sabotaging your fitness goals, affecting the quality of your sleep, or giving you a nasty hangover when you wake up.

Focusing on your “why” will lay the foundation for you to build new habits and stay motivated, says nutritionist Lauren Manaker, MS, RDN, LD, CLEC, in Charleston, South Carolina.

2. Develop the habit of achieving your goals

Once you’ve honed your goal and why you want to achieve it, it’s time to develop new habits to set yourself up for success.

“Building new habits can be challenging, but creative strategies can help you overcome obstacles in your path,” Manak shares. “First, identify the specific obstacles you encounter and turn them into opportunities for growth.”

Drawing on the weight loss example above, perhaps the obstacles you are about to face include:

• Party lineup packed with people
• Don’t want to miss your favorite holiday foods
• If you’re stressed or lonely during the holidays, eat for comfort

Once you’ve identified obstacles and/or patterns, you can enter planning mode.

While you don’t have to quit everything completely, you can find small but important ways to overcome these obstacles. For example, if you know you eat when you’re stressed or upset, try creating a new way to cope, such as practicing yoga, calling a friend, or doing guided meditation.

If you don’t want to skip the long-awaited holiday treat, don’t. Instead, New York-based nutritionist Amy Shapiro, MS, RD, recommends creating flexible plans by day or week rather than micromanaging every meal. For example, if you know you have a big dinner coming up, you can cook more balanced meals at home in the days before and after.

3. Find ways to be consistent

Manak points out that making a 180-degree shift in habits can seem daunting. So she recommends starting slowly. “Embrace the concept of mini habits by breaking your goals into smaller, manageable tasks and building new habits over time,” she advises.

She also recommends the concept of habit stacking, which is incorporating new habits into existing ones. For those looking to stay healthy and in shape throughout the holidays, this may require:

• Take extra laps around the grocery store to get more steps
• Take a brisk walk after a main meal or washing the dishes
• Eat a piece of fruit or dark chocolate when you usually choose dessert

Need some extra help solidifying your habits? “Set an alarm [or reminder] Get reminders on your phone to perform simple health-supporting tasks like taking vitamins or drinking more water,” Manaker shared.

According to the magazine’s 2023 review NutrientsTaking tips and tricks like these can easily and effectively help you avoid weight gain throughout the holidays.

4. Find a friend to stay on track

To be honest, self-discipline has never been my strong point. However, I find that when I create accountability with friends, I’m more likely to achieve my goals and healthy habits.

Both nutritionists are fans of this technique, too. “Enlist the support of friends or a community with similar goals [can] Provide accountability and motivation,” Manak says. “If you commit to walking every other day, find a friend who will walk with you on the same schedule every week. “

It’s not a problem if your friends have different goals. For example, I successfully created a shared document where everyone wrote down three goals for the week (e.g., walk 10,000 steps a day, eat out only once a week, or exercise four times a week). We then each review successes or obstacles and set new or improved goals for the following week. Such a process not only promotes commitment, mindfulness, and accountability, but also creates a built-in support system.

5. Plan ahead

As Shapiro mentioned before, planning ahead can also set your diet up for success during and after the holidays.

When you’re meal planning around large dinners and other food-filled gatherings, she recommends:

• Control hunger signals by eating snacks throughout the day or before big events
• Check the menu before going to a restaurant so you know in advance if there are healthy options
• Aim to stop eating approximately 2 to 3 hours before bed to promote healthy digestion and a good night’s rest

6. Indulge in things you really enjoy

“Holidays are a time of joy and celebration, and food plays a central role in gatherings and celebrations,” explains Manak. “In order to navigate these moments with grace while taking control of your goals, it’s important to take a balanced approach.”

This might include following the 80/20 rule, which is sticking to the script 80% of the time and giving yourself leeway the remaining 20% ​​of the time. When it’s time to treat yourself, allow yourself to truly enjoy it. Shapiro recommends choosing wisely which bites are worth eliminating (i.e. those real Satisfy your taste buds), while Manak recommends practicing mindful eating by slowing down and savoring every bite.

7. Let go of deprivation and shame

As you navigate foodie paradise during the holiday season, remember that deprivation is never the right choice and guilt is counterproductive. “Food is joy for many people [people]when deprivation is taken to extremes, it can affect your mental health,” Manak warned.

Instead, finding a sense of balance — habits that are sustainable while allowing for self-compassion and some wiggle room — is key. Reframe any decadent meal you consider a “miss” or “failure” into a moment worth enjoying. “When you allow these moments to become ‘events,’ they hold you back,” Shapiro explains. After all, Thanksgiving and other winter holiday meals only come once a year; a small portion of them won’t derail your larger goals and other healthy, consistent habits.

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In his parting words, Shapiro opined maintain Your weight during the holidays is a success in itself, and losing weight can be considered an added bonus. This holiday season, give yourself the gift of elegance—and yes, delicious food—to make winter so merry and bright.