Grandma’s homemade holiday ham sure smells great when you walk into her house, but you already overindulged in the Turkey on Thanksgiving. Fearful that you might pop a button? Looking for tips to survive Grandma’s guilt this year and stick to your meal plan during the holidays? We’ve got your back with some fresh survival tips of the season!
Tip #1: BYOF — Bring Your Own Food!
First year trying to avoid dairy or gluten at holiday event? Well it’s no cakewalk, that’s for sure. Make it easier on yourself, and guarantee there’s something for you to eat at the party. Bring a dish, or three, to your next holiday dinner. This is a great way to stick to your meal plan by knowing what’s going to be on the table!
Tip #2: Go light on the scoops
There will always be a chance for seconds, no need to put two servings on one plate to start! Make your first loop around the family buffet light, so you get the chance to try the selection. That way if Grandma start’s to guilt you about ‘how you didn’t eat enough of her ziti’ you won’t feel stuffed going back for more. Just because your cousins put themselves into the annual holiday food coma doesn’t mean you have to do the same! Start small, and take a breather to see how you feel. If you feel satisfied or remotely fully, walk away from the glorious buffet maybe have a warm tea to digest. There’s always leftovers, give your stomach a chance to be able to fit it all!
Tip #3: Save your cheat day for the holiday parties
A lot of us tend to give up on our meal plans during the holidays, and start to make claims to ‘start back up in the new year’. We absolutely love future goal setting over here at G-plans, but we don’t think you need to give up completely on your meal plan during this holiday season. The family dinners and holiday parties might be move common this time of year, but there are still six other days in the week to keep tracking! If you know you have a party coming up that you just can’t avoid, stick with your meal plan for the rest of the week. The best way to not stress about sticking to your meal plan at family dinners is to use that meal as your cheat meal!
Tip #4: Don’t be too hard on yourself
Obviously we want strive to do our best, but don’t beat yourself up if you had a few extra cookies last night. Each day is a new day to motivate yourself to try your best. If you find yourself struggling to survive the temptation this holiday season, just take a second to remember it’s not always easy being healthy. This is the time of year where many stressors and temptations are much more blatant. Most importantly, you’re not alone. We all tend to overindulge or loose focus around this time, they key is coming back. There will always be a way to get back on track no matter how much egg nog you drink!
Take the metabolic quiz to get a customized meal plan to fit into your holiday festivities!