4 Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Holiday weight gain is almost expected between Halloween and New Years Day. But I assure you, it is possible to get through this crazy time of year without seeing a big spike on the scales come January 1st. Behold, my top tips to avoid weight gain over the holidays. I have learned this information over many years of dieting, sometimes the hard way, and feel it’s my duty to share it with you.

In the past, I was a crazy-eyed holiday monster, not wanting to miss out on a single thing – no treat, cookie, or casserole was safe. I saw to it that I literally didn’t miss out on a SINGLE THING…not even the ten pounds people tend to gain during the dreaded, I mean, beloved holidays. Now I know better, and thanks to me, so will you. Here are my top 4 tips to keep the holiday weight off:

1. Don’t treat everyday like the holiday

From October to January there are only a handful of holidays. I know from personal experience that if you eat uncontrollably for just 4 days out of NINETY-TWO, your weight will not be affected whatsoever. Four days is rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

So if you celebrate four holidays and go crazy for each of them, you will be just fine.

But even if you had to attend a holiday party every week for 12 weeks, there’s no reason you should gain weight. Why? Because one over-the-top day out of seven won’t cause the pounds to pile on. Worst case scenario, you maintain your weight. I know this golden nugget of information from my own personal experience, trial-and-error, and meticulous calorie and weight tracking.

If, for some reason, you do want to gain weight, I know how to do that from personal experience, too. Simply wake up every morning and celebrate with complete abandon that the holiday season is here. Jump out of bed, slurp down a cup of eggnog (spiked or not, you do you), eat a slice of pie, and continue devouring holiday cheer until it’s time to sleep, and do it all again tomorrow. That right there is a surefire way to gain weight. I know, because that’s how I rolled back in the good ol’ days.

That picture on the left is from the good ol’ days. Now I have things more in balance.

2. Don’t Bake All The Things!

Combine holiday spirit with cold, winter mornings and you got yourself the perfect invitation to BAKE your days away. Unfortunately, baking is the achilles heel to my weight loss efforts. I’m like a drug addict working in a pharmacy when I hold a ball of cookie dough in my hands. It is impossible to resist the danger and excitement of its raw egg temptation.

And that is just the beginning.

When I used to bake cookies, I would eat over a dozen cookies in one day. Allow me to explain. First, I would eat three balls of cookie dough before they could realize their true calling to become actual cookies. Then I ate a cookie fresh from the oven (duh), one cookie while they were still warm, then a cookie after they cooled completely…for each of the 3 batches I’d bake. I considered it quality assurance. Unfortunately I STILL want to bake cookies like this, but it’s only because I CARE about the quality of the cookies I’m peddling around town, nothing more.

So if I’m dieting during the holidays – which I always am – I have to rely on willpower from the initial dough stage all the way to the finished product. By the time I have actually baked the cookies, I’ve been holding back and smelling their deliciousness calling to me from the oven for far too long. I haven’t a shred of willpower or self control left, which means I eat like a Cookie Monster-esque lunatic.

My point is, baking can be hard, and unconducive for weight loss unless you happen to have willpower of steel. I’m not saying to not bake your traditional family dish or treat, but maybe only bake a single batch of just that.

3. Don’t Say Yes to Everything

I have always been known for my ability to eat copious amounts of food. It’s one of the things I felt people liked about me, and expected of me, when I would show up to a party. I was the chick who would kick back and have a great time without a calorie care in the world. I am not that person anymore.

In fact, I’m the opposite of that person. Now I show up to parties and hardly eat anything. I don’t even put food on my plate to pretend or be polite. It’s almost shameful how much I reject food! I will even try it and stop eating it if I don’t like it. I don’t care who is around, who made it, or who sees me throw it in the trash. If it’s not worth the calories, it’s dead to me.

It’s ok to go to a party and turn down food. In fact, it’s ok to not go to the party at all. There are so many commitments during the holidays, people understand if you can’t make it to their get together. I don’t like to be busy for the sake of being busy, so before agreeing to make an appearance, I make sure I actually want to go, and it won’t add stress to my life. By not going to a holiday party all together, it’s a heck of a lot easier to not eat the party food.

Please don’t take this to the extreme and avoid any and all events in the name of goals. If you want to go, by all means, go! You can even eat whatever you want, just make sure you get right back on track the next day or meal, and you’ll avoid weight gain in the long run. Just know you don’t have to go to everything, and missing one of many parties can help you stay on course.

4. Don’t contribute to the holiday weight gain problem

You don’t have to bring the highest calorie dish to a party. Just as you also don’t have to bake holiday treats for all your neighbors, and you don’t have to make a different dessert for every day of the week for your family. I have a history of getting in my own way during the holidays. Whether by bringing the least healthy dish possible to a get together, or sitting at home making and devouring treats for no good reason.

Instead of choosing to sabotage your goals for 3 months straight, bring healthy dishes to potlucks and parties, take cute ornaments to your neighbors instead of candy, and stop baking just to bake. Consider holiday crafting to pass the time instead.

So in conclusion

If you have fitness goals, don’t let the holidays derail them. It is well within your control to make smart choices and eat right. You can do it with the right mindset, a little planning, and some self-awareness.

I truly don’t understand what happens to people (my old self included) this time of year. Why are they so willing to kick all their good habits and healthy eating to the curb for a quarter of the year? What is this weird power the holiday season holds over us that we decide to phone it in for 3 months of the year? Not only that, but we actually accept that we’re digging ourselves into a hole we know we’ll struggle to climb out of in January? Don’t think like that!

My strategy for the holidays this year is to pretend they don’t exist.

I know this seems like a weird angle, but it’s totally working. I survived Halloween because it snuck up on me. This year has been so weird anyway that it ought to be pretty easy to not make a big to-do over holidays that are typically centered around highly social activities.

I hope you realize that waiting to start until the new year is unnecessary. And to be quite frank, it’s just a really bad idea. Don’t wait until January to start becoming a better, healthier version of yourself. My friend started her journey on the day after Thanksgiving. She was 10 pounds down by the end of the year. Trust me, you have the power to change, and you will feel better if you start now.

If you need support with your weight loss journey, join Mom’s Kids. It is run by someone who understands how you feel 100% – ME. Hope to see you there.

Protip: You will struggle through the holidays far less if you find a way to lose weight that fits your life. A way where no foods are off limits, and you don’t feel deprived. If you’d like to learn more about this method of weight loss, check out Mom’s Challenge.

Don’t forget to follow me on Patreon as I continue on my never-ending weight loss journey.