14 Healthy Hacks for the Holidays

This time of year can be the most trying when you’re attempting to lose weight or simply maintain it. Maybe you’ve worked hard to get where you are. Maybe you know you can’t afford to gain any more weight. Regardless, you want to approach this holiday season with a strategy that allows you to enjoy yourself without having to loosen your belt another knotch. This short article aims to bring you closure regarding your health journey by providing you with some proven tips for keeping the pounds off during the holidays.

By the way, If you’d like to watch the live presentation I recorded for this, join the FIT Church United FB Group and click this link: https://fb.watch/oq-qHOdJWd/1. Eat before you go. 

Most of us plan on attending events where there may not be healthy options available. This means we don’t want to show up hungry and ready to dig in, though they may be your temptation. Why? Calorie-rich foods take longer for our bodies to break down, make us hold more water, and provide more calories than our bodies need. This can lead to fat gain. 

Hack: Have a small protein and fiber-rich meal before the event. This way, you still have a little room to enjoy a couple of things but aren't overdoing it because you’re genuinely hungry, and the only food options are dense or sugary.

2. Have fiber and protein with your desserts

This is an excellent tool because it helps minimize the effect of the sweets you eat on your insulin levels. 

Having sweets alone allows the body to break down those sugars more rapidly and release them into your bloodstream. 

Your insulin levels then must rise to match the level your blood glucose levels did to transport those sugars to cells for use. 

The higher your insulin levels rise, the longer they take to level back out. Here’s the problem with this. Your body is always storing and burning fat, but when insulin is present, fat burning shuts off. This is why keeping your blood sugar levels relatively steady and, thus, your insulin level is vital to losing fat and maintaining your weight. Fiber and protein help you to do that.

3. Eat a treat with a meal

Much like #2, this hack points toward eating treats with fiber and protein to lower the glycemic index (the scale used to measure food’s effect on blood sugar levels) of desserts. This is because it takes longer for the body to break down. By having your desserts or treats at the end of a meal rather than by itself, you can lower your body's insulin response and prevent weight gain. This does not mean you should have a sweet treat with every meal containing fiber and protein because that's still not good for your body and will likely backfire. Moderation and timing are essential, and that is the point of this hack. Maybe you wait to have a treat offered until your next meal or the next day rather than when they offer. It's okay to save things for the next day. Be strategic about when you have your treat, and you’ll thank yourself come the new year!

4. Train on days you celebrate

This is a little hack I discovered early on my health journey as I was transitioning my Thanksgiving day tradition from wake and bake to wake and weights. Holiday celebrations tend to be a bit more calorically dense than other days. This means you’re body will either need to burn more to stay balanced, or you’ll have some extra calories floating around. We want balance and, therefore, train on days we celebrate. Prep your body for a slightly bigger meal later in the day by revving up your metabolism and burning some extra calories before the big meal. You can also move after to help with the digestive process and ease the rise in blood sugar levels, which we talked about earlier. This may look like an evening walk or a few rounds of Just Dance after the meal. (My daughter loves Just Dance lol)

5. Remember the reasons for the seasons. Food is not the answer

#5 is a simple but timely reminder that holidays like Christmas and even Thanksgiving should point us toward Christ more than they point us to our next meal. We want Jesus to be at the forefront of our minds and to honor him during this season just as we should all year round. This means gluttony isn’t suddenly excusable during the holidays. Honor God with your body by eating with wisdom and reverence for his temple. 

6. Send the leftovers home

Nobody needs half of a cake, ¾ of a lasagna, and 4 head-sized cinnamon rolls in their kitchen. Bad decisions are bound to be made. There is nothing wrong with sending leftovers home with the crowd you hosted. You can purchase to-go containers prior to help with this. While you may still have a few items you need to be mindful of overeating after events you host, we can be strategic in the way we distribute and receive food throughout the holidays. If someone brings something they don’t want to take home, but you really don’t need to be eating, ask them to take it with them. If they insist, let them know that it's going in the trash unless they take it because it's so delicious for you not to eat, and you have health goals. Works every time.

7. Hydrate well

When you’re dehydrated, you may feel hungry or have cravings even though you’re really just thirsty. Believe it or not, dehydration is more prevalent in people during the colder months than during the summer. This is because we are more focused on staying or getting warm through the things we wear or drink. Carry water with you wherever you go, and be mindful of how much you’ve had by 1 pm. If not at least 1 liter, step up your game and start drinking more consistently. Make your goal 64-96oz per day.

8. Don’t skip meals on the days of events

Though I get the logic behind skipping meals on event days, it’s not as productive as we think. In fact, it typically backfires. Eating prior to bigger meals wakes up your gut, stimulates your metabolism, prevents you from being ravenous at the event, and makes you far less likely to overdo it later on in the day. Unless you plan to make unhealthy choices like overindulging at the event, there’s really no need to skip meals. Being that you’re trying to prevent weight gain and live a healthy lifestyle for the Lord, I’m going to assume you’re not planning on intentional gluttonous behavior at any event. Especially the event surrounding the holiday dedicated to our Lord and Saviour. Be wise and eat like a healthy human during the day. 2-3 meals before the main event. Then, when it’s time to chow down, have reasonable portions and stick to one plate. 

9. Up the cardio (5-10 minutes per session)

This little trick is subtle but packs a punch. By spending a little extra time on the treadmill or doing whatever you do for cardio, you will burn more calories. By performing 5 extra minutes of cardio 5 days a week, you burn an additional 200 kcal (approximately), which accounts for a treat or two you may intend to have. This is with the understanding that you will use moderation and portion control. If you’re not already doing cardio, I encourage you to start for at least 20 minutes, 3 days a week. Suppose you’re already at 3 days a week up it to 4. If you’re already at 4 days a week for 20 minutes, you can add one more day or 5 minutes to each session. Wherever you’re at, turn up the heat and keep those lbs off of your midsection.

10. Keep track of your treats (have a system)

It truly helps to have a plan before the week starts. That way, you can plan your treats in advance or keep track if they catch you a little off guard. A gauge will prevent you from overdoing it with the sweets and keep you focused. It takes discipline, but that’s true of a healthy lifestyle overall. Set a parameter that matches your goals and desired experience. Compromise is required. While you may want to be able to eat, whatever, whenever you want, you may also want to lose or maintain your weight. Figure out what matters more to you in the long run and make your choices based on that.

11. Maintain an eating schedule (meal time windows)

So many of my clients quickly fall in love with having a system of meal times based on a schedule. After determining how many times a day you will eat, choose when those meals will be and construct healthy meals for each meal time window. Protein, veggies, fruits, etc. Having balanced meals throughout the day helps keep your energy high, metabolism strong, and cravings down.  This is also a helpful setup in that it allows you to think ahead strategically about events and gatherings. For instance, you may typically have a carbohydrate included in your third meal of the day. Knowing that you will want to enjoy sharing a baked good with a friend from out of town at your favorite coffee shop, you remove the carbohydrates from your meal. Eat the protein and veggies from that meal prior to meeting at the coffee shop, and enjoy the treat as your carb for that meal. It’s all about balance, and maintaining an eating schedule helps you to do that.

12. Lift Heavy

Those who know me know that I love to lift. It's a form of therapy, in my opinion. That said, this holiday season can be full of the right kinds of gains if you’ll only allow it. Lifting burns calories like cardio, except when you lift, you also build muscle. That is if you live to the point of near failure. Lifting heavy is a relevant phrase, as it means something different for everyone based on their fitness level, but heavy is the goal nonetheless. How much weight can you safely perform a particular movement with? How many reps can you hit on your last set? How much lower can you go on your push-ups? You see, by lifting heavy, I don't necessarily mean trying to lift the gym. I mean, push yourself to become stronger. Move in bigger ranges of motion, move more weight, and hit more reps with the same weight you have been using. In doing so, you’ll burn more, build more, and take better advantage of the extra energy you may consume this holiday season.

13. Find nonfood ways to have fun

I’m not always a social butterfly, believe it or not. I actually do get a bit anti-social from time to time, as my wife Katie will tell you. But when I'm with people I want to be with, it's game on. The events you go to, with their vast array of delectable, are more about the people than the pastries. Indulge in the conversations that can be had, the game that is started, and the laughter to be enjoyed. Don't sit by the table mindlessly munching. Take your endeavors elsewhere by embracing the presence of those around you. Either you can get involved or get something going. Either way, if you’re used to sitting around and munching, switch things up and start the party. You’ll make far more memories that way, and that’s something we treasure more than any dessert, isn’t it?

14. Keep track of alcohol

This may or may not apply to you, but for those who have no problem enjoying a glass of wine or some of your dad’s famous egg nog, listen closely. We all know how enjoyable a drink can be, but it affects the way your body functions, and that's something to consider. When you consume alcohol, your body switches from burning calories from carbs or fat to calories from alcohol. We want our bodies to burn off the sugar we consume because if our bodies do not, they can be converted to triglycerides and stored as fat. Hence, eating too many carbohydrates over an extended period of time leads to weight gain from fat. Like anything else you enjoy but need to have in moderation, keep track of your alcohol consumption. Depending on your goal and level of self-awareness, you may not want to drink at all. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, it may lead to an even more enjoyable holiday season. But if you permit yourself to have an adult beverage here and there, I encourage you to keep it to 3 drinks or less per week. This is to keep alcohol down to a tiny percentage of your caloric intake.

My Invitation To You

I pray this was helpful to you, and if that’s the case, ask that you share this with a friend. As the new year approaches, you may desire to start taking your health journey more seriously but feel you need help. I and my team would be more than happy to learn of your goals, examine our obstacles, and provide you with a level of support that changes your life for the better. Schedule a call for us to explore this option using the following link!

Blessings!