8 Strategies To Avoid Weight Gain Over The Holidays
Today I will get straight to the point. Here are 8 ways to maintain or even lose weight over the Holidays.
- Don’t miss workouts. This is the easiest way to maintain your current weight. I don’t care what anybody else says. If you’re consistently showing up and working hard you’ll burn an extra for 300 to 400 calories per hour, if not more, I’m being conservative. Plus, the chances are you’re going to overeat, what better way to burn off some of those extra calories by performing a hard workout.
- Keep a food log. Yes, I love keeping a food log too. They’re extremely beneficial when it comes to maintaining or even losing your weight. There are numerous studies that say when people write down what they consume it prevents them from gaining weight and actually helps them lose weight. So, even if you’re going to splurge a little bit, ok fine, just write it down. I highly suggest you use the app MyFitnessPal extremely useful and easy to use.
- Eat breakfast. Once again, not going to list the studies, because no one will read them anyway :-), but people who consume breakfast on a regular basis consume fewer calories throughout the day. Those who skip breakfast end up eating more. Be an adult, do what your mommy always said and eat your stinking breakfast.
- Keep your hunger in check. This is probably one of my most favorite strategies for the holidays. It’s simple and it’s highly effective, while at the same time being slightly frustrating. If you know you’re going to have a party or attend a big event never show up hungry. Yes, I know most of you just moaned and complained because your strategy has been to starve yourself so you could stuff yourself silly. Don’t do that. You’re going to consume way too many calories. One way to do this is to eat some nuts or cheese or vegetables before you go. The idea is to consume protein before you leave with some food that is high in fiber, like produce. That way, when you show up, you feel you satisfied. That way you’re not going to overeat because you’re already full. And this prevents you from eating random things, just for the sake of eating then. Instead you’re going to choose things that you enjoy the most. Which means you will eat less food and consume less calories.
- Weigh yourself twice a week. Normally I don’t like people to weigh themselves daily but during the holidays you need to know how much you’re going up and down because that’s the metric were using to see if you’re on track. You need to check it at least twice a week because if your weight goes up 2 pounds, you need to readjust what you’re doing. After a big party, when you step on the scale, it’s going to be 2 – 3 pounds more than it was in the morning. You need to tailor your workout and what you eat the following day so you can lose those 2 to 3 pounds which are largely water weight because of all the extra sugar and carbs you consumed.
- Eliminate the leftovers. This is going to kill a lot of the people who like to save everything. But I am giving you permission. No, better, I’m mandating that you get rid of your delicious leftovers. Don’t just leave them sitting around so that you can eat them mindlessly. Freeze them, give them away, or just toss them away. It simply isn’t worth the temptation of it’s staring you in the face the entire time. Everybody probably knows a 14 to 18 year old boy somewhere and you can just give everything him.
- Remember what your goal is. Everyday remind yourself what your goal is and what your mission is. Your goal and your mission is to lose or maintain your weight. Why? So that you have less guilt and less regrets when January 1st comes around. Remind yourself what it felt like every time after the holidays when you looked at the scale and you tried to put on a dress or pants and they don’t fit or the number on the scale was stupid high. You felt like crap. Why would you want to put yourself through that experience again and again every year? I don’t think you want to. I know I don’t want to.
- Go public on social media. I did this last year and worked great! Every time I ate something I posted it on Instagram and Facebook. I saved myself 1000s of calories with this strategy. Think about it, you see some chips but instead of grabbing a handful of chips you pass because you don’t want to take the time to take a picture and you don’t want the “accountability” from your peeps ;-). Is this strategy scary? Yes, it is. But, just think of how many fewer things you would avoid or how much smaller the portions would be if you actually did it! Shoot, just implementing this strategy would probably help you lose 2 to 3 pounds over the holiday LOL.
Stay true to your goal, try to have a regret and guilt-free January. Maybe even print off these tips and post them somewhere so you remember and don’t push it to the back of your head.
Go be awesome!
KELLEN LAKE – 8 ways to be awesome!
PS – This week’s meal plan if interested.
This will work, however, if you aren’t losing weight it is likely because you are eating to much. If that is you, eat ¼ to ⅓ less than shown.
To see the recipes click and download here.
All meals serve 1 unless otherwise indicated
Day 1
Breakfast
Ingredients
Blueberry Carrot Smoothie
Directions
Add extra ice if desired
Lunch
Ingredients
Ground Turkey Casserole (see recipe)
1 cup of oven roasted veggies of your choice
Directions
Bake the vegetables on a baking tray at 375 for 10 -15 or until tender. Have on the side of the Ground Turkey Casserole.
Dinner
Ingredients
4 ounces of grilled salmon, seasoned with lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp of pistachios nuts sprinkled on top of salmon
2 cups of mixed vegetable stir-fry
1 tbsp of sesame seed oil to stir-fry vegetables
Directions
Bake salmon with seasonings in a glass dish in the oven at 350 for 8 – 12 minute or until opaque. Remove when done and sprinkle pistachios on top. While the salmon is cooking stir-fry the vegetables in sesame seed oil.
Day 2
Breakfast
Ingredients
Coconut Flour Pancakes (see recipe)
1 tbsp almond butter, raw
Directions
Make coconut flour pancakes according to the recipe. Top with raw almond butter.
Lunch
Ingredients
1 serving No Fry Salmon Patties (see recipe)
3 handfuls of baby spinach + 1 cup chopped mixed veggies of your choice
10 olives – pitted and cut in half
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar – as salad dressing
Directions
Make the No Fry Salmon Patties according to the recipe and enjoy with the salad on the side.
Dinner
Ingredients
Sweet and Smokey Chicken (see recipe)
Rosemary Green Beans (see recipe)
Directions
Make dishes according to the recipes.
Day 3
Breakfast
Ingredients
Tex-Mex Egg Scramble
1 cup of mixed berries
Directions
Make the Tex-Mex Egg Scramble according to the recipe and enjoy with the berries on the side.
Lunch
Ingredients
Real Healthy Egg Salad
2 cups of Spinach
1 cup of raw pepper, sliced
Directions
Make the Real Healthy Egg Salad according to the recipe and place on top of the bed of spinach. Have the sliced raw peppers on the side.
Dinner
Ingredients
Fully Loaded Lettuce Wrap Turkey Bacon Burgers (see recipe)
Sautéed Sweet Potato Hash (see recipe)
Directions
Follow the recipe instructions
Day 4
Breakfast
Ingredients
Low Carb Green Smoothie
Directions
Follow the recipe instructions. Add extra ice if desired.
Lunch
Ingredients
Balsamic Asparagus & Steak Salad (see recipe)
Directions
Make the Balsamic Asparagus & Steak Salad according to the recipe.
Dinner
Ingredients
Fish Tacos (see recipe)
1 cup of broccoli
Directions
Make the recipe according to the instructions. Steam the broccoli and have it on the side.
Day 5
Breakfast
Ingredients
2 whole eggs
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 piece of bacon, cooked
1 grilled tomato
Directions
Scramble eggs in coconut oil. Sear tomato in frying pan. Enjoy the scrambled eggs, with the tomato, bacon on the side.
Lunch
Ingredients
1 cup spaghetti squash
Turkey Vegetable Meatballs (see recipe)
½ cup tomato sauce
2 handfuls spinach
1 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
Cook the spaghetti squash according to the directions. Top the squash with the cooked Turkey Vegetable Meatballs, spinach, hot tomato sauce and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Dinner
Ingredients
Halibut With Dijon and Almonds (see recipe)
Stir Fried Rice (see recipe)
Directions
Make the recipes according to the instructions
Day 6
Breakfast
Ingredients
Smoked Salmon Scrambled Eggs (see recipe)
Directions
Make the recipe according to the instructions
Lunch
Ingredients
3 Grilled shrimp and veggies on a stick (see recipe)
Avocado Salsa (see recipe)
Directions
Make the recipes according to the instructions
Dinner
Ingredients
Sausage and Artichokes (see recipe)
Real Healthy Zucchini Cakes (see recipe)
Directions
Make the recipes according to the instructions
Day 7
Breakfast
Ingredients
Creamy Chocolate Shake (see recipe)
Directions
Make according to recipe
Lunch
Ingredients
4 ounces of grilled chicken, baked with garlic
8 asparagus spears
Olive Tapanede (see recipe)
Directions
Have the cooked chicken with the asparagus on the side, topped with the Olive Tapanede.
Dinner
Ingredients
Halibut with Dijon and Almonds (see recipe)
Kale chips (see recipe)
Directions
Prepare the recipes according to the instructions