3 Things I Learned About Weight Loss this Holiday Season.

My weight loss journey and I got slammed over Christmas. Here are 3 things I learned about weight loss this holiday season.

I knew losing weight over the holidays would be hard – this wasn’t my first rodeo – but I didn’t anticipate feeling like so much was out of my control. Everyday it was like I’d stand up, only to get knocked down time and time again at every meal by one massive, crashing wave after another. I would get to my feet just in time for another wave to pummel me to the ground. Over and over again. That’s how Christmas went this year.

I spent seven straight days wherein all but two meals were out of my control. It was TOUGH, and weight was gained despite my best intentions. But all is not lost! I feel no disappointment about it because I have adopted this philosophy for myself and my journey, (and instill it in “my Kids“): “There is no failure, only learning.”

Now I’m ready to share what I learned over my Christmas week with you. Take this information and apply it to anything life throws at you – such as a vacation – as the year unfolds.

1. Damage Control for holiday weight loss

This is the most valuable piece of information I could possibly pass on to any weight-loss hopeful staring a high-calorie situation in the face. I straight up sabotaged myself the day before my family’s big Christmas celebration. How, you ask? Well, I didn’t plan to eat over my calorie goal at all on the days leading up to, or following, the scheduled big family dinner. The plan was to ONLY eat majorly over calorie on just the day of the dinner…yet, I ended up going over calorie the day before. I weighed myself the morning of the family dinner and discovered I was 2 pounds heavier than the day before.

I know from experience there’s no way I had truly gained 2 pounds of body fat overnight. All I had to do was snap right back to it, and the weight would drop back down. Unfortunately, I was up against a menu on the day of my “comeback” that made me weak in the knees. Biscuits and gravy followed by a turkey dinner with all the fixings, plus pumpkin pie. Snack foods and baked goods rounded out the remainder of the afternoon and evening. But knowing my weight was up, I didn’t want to go all in anymore.

It was time to adjust the original plan.

Thanks to some help from “the kids” prior to being face-to-face with the holiday smorgasbord, I was able to determine that the only foods I felt were “worth it” was pumpkin pie and stuffing. So I made a plan and stuck to it. I splurged on pumpkin pie and stuffing, ate other items in moderation, and kept everything else on the buffet table. I ended the day only slightly over my calorie goal – which is a win in and of itself – and the next day I was back down the 2 pounds.

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Had I freaked out and given up when I saw the 2-pound spike before my holiday feast, I would have gained a lot more weight and discomfort by now. Damage control and, in the words of Eliza Kingsford, staying in my “wise mind,” is what pulled me through and kept me on track with my goals. (check out her site and read this book to help you understand this concept more.)

2. Exercise for holiday weight loss

Exercise is completely independent of nutrition, but people don’t tend to think like that. A lot of people like to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as they say. They simultaneously exercise AND eat right, or they don’t do either.

Exercising can help offset the damage of poor nutritional choices. It won’t magically negate sub-par eating, but it can help. Plus, it has a plethora of other positive effects: it can suppress your appetite, help get you out of your food depression, and put weight gain in perspective. Meaning you might reconsider going hog wild every dang day as you’re moving your body and already feeling the extra weight and jiggle you’ve got going on.

This week I was HIGHLY active, not as a punishment for my food choices, but because I genuinely enjoy movement. I made my sister go for runs with me, and forced her to join me for ab workouts.

People who don’t enjoy working out dread my presence at get togethers because there is no end to my workout requests: “Who wants to go for a walk?” “Abs anyone? You don’t even have to change your clothes!” “I noticed a hiking trail, let’s check it out.” “You have a home gym?! Let’s use it!” I’ll admit, I’m out of control and borderline annoying. My sister-in-law says she is going to strategically wear dresses and dress shoes for no other reason than to avoid my incessant exercise requests.

If you find yourself in a non-stop celebration situation, I encourage you to continue to exercise, and drag others into your exercise. You’ll feel better all-around, and so will everyone else. I guarantee it!

3. Enjoy yourself

It can be stressful to be out of routine…even in a situation designed to be enjoyed. Time off work and school, spent with family and friends, ought to be fun and memorable for all the right reasons. But, when you live so much of your life focused on goals and weight loss, unfortunately being out of your routine now and again can steal your joy. It could feel like a giant set-back to someone who has been singularly focused on achieving their goals.

Here’s the thing, though – life is a lot more than your ideal body weight, pant size, or physical appearance. Sometimes you have to be able to take a step back from the pressure of weight loss, and simply enjoy.

I have learned over the course of my weight loss journey, that not only is an out-of-control week or two here and there inevitable, but they’re really not as detrimental as they might feel at the time. Thinking logically, I can see clearly that an entire week of over-the-top, “bad” eating will take, at most, 1 month to “undo.”

You have to understand that weeks and months are actually not long amounts of time when you stack them up against all the years you will be alive. Now that I’ve found a sustainable weight loss method that easily fits into my everyday life, I don’t mind pushing pause now and then, because it’s easy to pick up where I left off. You shouldn’t mind pausing either. The grind will still be there next week, you just have to show up for it.

I will use this experience to help me in the future

I will continue to apply these takeaways from this year’s Christmas to upcoming holidays and vacations, and I hope you will too. For so long I’ve viewed celebrations and good times as set-backs, OR excuses to throw all my goals out the window. These realizations will help me to strive for my happy medium when it comes to social events, holidays, and celebrations when it comes to weight loss. These situations shouldn’t be stressful because of something as trivial as a temporarily slightly tighter waistband.

When I first started to consciously allow myself to actually enjoy my holidays and vacations, I still felt terribly stressed at first. But as time wore on, I saw that these joyful occasions really don’t have a significant impact on the trajectory of my weight loss goals for the year as a whole. Now I am able to fully enjoy celebrations. I understand that it’s all good if you get right back to your routine and habits as soon as you’re able. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. Join me.

Moving Forward

I hope you keep this in mind as you enjoy the upcoming, final holiday of the year! Try to keep it together between now and the 31st. But if you find yourself in a nonstop party situation all week, just try to find a little balance. Then you can hit the ground running come the first. Or second…or just whenever you can establish a bit of a routine again. There’s nothing magical about the 1st. The magic is in your ability to be consistent and give yourself grace moving forward.

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