Holiday Challenges Can Be Unique!
Ahh…the holidays! You’ve got to love them (right?), but dieting at Christmas-time can be one of the most difficult things imaginable. Temptation smacks us in the face everywhere we turn!
Take a simple visit to Starbucks for example. Most of the year we are satisfied with the Tall Skinny Caramel Latte for just 90 calories, but now we have to contend with Pumpkin Spice Latte, or Eggnog Latte, or Gingerbread Latte, or heaven forbid…Peppermint Mocha! Who can pass up such tantalization?
Then there’s the workplace…the idea of holiday weight loss is absurd with co-workers bringing in delectable goodies every day to share with everyone! Passing up the homemade fudge gets tougher and tougher with each trip to the copier!
Add to that the family dinners, cocktail parties, and gift-exchanges, and calories are adding up faster than you can punch them into your cell phone app
As a society, we are programmed to cut loose during the holidays! Nobody makes it easy to do otherwise. In fact, businesses and organizations pay big bucks to ad agencies whose sole purpose is to make us give in to temptation! Dieting any time can be challenging, but sticking to a plan at Christmas, on top of the stress and sleep-deprivation that the holidays bring, is a monumental task!
Is it even possible to lose weight at Christmas after having already experienced Halloween and Thanksgiving?
Fortunately, there’s hope! We have been granted the ability to make choices!
One of the choices I’d recommend is to consider “weight maintenance” instead of weight loss. Being satisfied with simply not gaining weight would take a huge load off the stress wagon! That would also leave you room to savor the occasional treat, instead of trying to live with total deprivation.
Another choice I’d make is to take a year off from making treats for the holidays. Even if you are world-renowned for your fruit cake (really?), I think you have to ask yourself what is in YOUR best interest. A year without a traditional treat will only make it sweeter when the next year rolls around.
Don’t despair dieting at Christmas is doable! Check out these fabulous tips to help you not only survive, but actually enjoy the holidays!
