Managing Nutrition Through the Holidays – Beast Over Burden

Managing Nutrition Through the Holidays – Big Picture

It’s Thanksgiving week, which for many begins the longer holiday period where they find themselves standing on a scale come January unhappy with the changes to their body over the past weeks.

Where would you like to be standing come January? What’s realistic? What does a holiday period look like where you step onto the scale in January content with where you are?

Consider this. If you maintain your weight for the remainder of the year but increase your weight during the holiday period, that spells over years and decades a higher weight and increasing waist line.

This time period is meant to be enjoyed, so realistic goals probably do not look like losing a significant amount of weight during this period. Effective strategies likely do not look like only eating turkey breast and greens on Thanksgiving day with water.

Managing Nutrition Through the Holidays – Effective Strategies

Developing strategies to limit calories during this important is important. This might look like only allowing yourself one plate of food. It could look like waiting 15 minutes to see if you’re still actually hungry before going for seconds. Maybe you cap the alcoholic drinks or the calories from alcohol. This means you’re aiming for somewhere in between your most aggressive nutrition periods and reckless abandon.

Niki and Andrew recommend against fasting for most people. For some, this may work, but a better strategy is likely eating an extremely high-quality meal the morning of Thanksgiving. Focus on protein and fibrous vegetables.

For many, alcohol is an important area to address. Alcohol comes with many calories, it negatively affects sleep, it does not lead to satiety, and it affects your decision-making abilities.

Managing nutrition through the holidays is possible and important. Hope is not a strategy. We encourage you to set some realistic goals and intelligent strategies as part of your overall sustainable nutrition approach.