5 Holiday Tips for Thriving


Christmas greeting card on the wooden background

Christmas is a special season for me.  I enjoy the festive foods, the sparkly lights, board game laughter and spending time with family and friends.  As well, Christmas is when my family and I celebrate the birth of the infant, Jesus Christ.  Our traditions include celebrating advent during the weeks preceding December 25th, attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service and cooking special foods for the holiday season.  In fact, I seldom sway from our “usual” foods — 

  • Christmas morning –  warm pumpkin soup, fresh fruit bowl, and cinnamon buns
  • Christmas dinner – turkey with wild rice, sausage & bread stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes with gravy, Brussel sprouts, green beans, cranberry raspberry gelatin mould, pumpkin cheesecake or pie

I enjoy my holiday favourites and forget about the calorie count.  The holiday season is not the time to focus on dieting or over thinking every single morsel that passes through your lips.   When you focus on everything you can’t have, shouldn’t eat or drink and dwell on the choices you’ve made, you miss out on the celebratory cheer, the laughter and the joy that makes this festive time of year special and often traditional.  

Do you beat yourself up when you make less than stellar food choices?  Are you afraid to eat or not eat certain foods?  Are you afraid to put on “extra” weight during the holidays?

Stop!  

Truthfully, I don’t worry about my extra glass of red wine or enjoying appetizers.  I certainly don’t feel bad about making those choices.  I make my food choices, which are heavily influenced by my food intolerances, and enjoy each mindful decision from chocolate to wine to other goodies like the gluten-, dairy- and egg-free cinnamon buns I made.  Food evokes pleasure and pleasure fuels metabolism.  Enjoy a little vitamin P, pleasure, and your body will reward you.  “The key to pleasure’s powerful effect in balancing your appetite is that it promotes a physiologic relaxation response.”[1]  Win-win — enjoy your choices, stress less about your choices, and your body breaks them down to nourish your body.

I want you to enjoy your food choices this holiday season, including your favourite shortbread cookies or a second glass of wine.  Basically, let loose this celebration year and just be…

Give yourself permission to be happy this holiday season and make the best possible choices given your circumstances. Eat with awareness and enjoy your time with friends, family and loved ones.  And to help here are a few holiday tips to be a winner at making mindful choices during the festivity:

Tweetable: Maintain don’t gain. Try these holiday tips.Tweet!

5 Holidays Tips for Thriving

  1. FOMO – Fear of Missing Out: Remember that you can eat this food or beverage any time of the year.  So don’t justify that you “need” to indulge just because it is the holidays.
  2. Only eat things you absolutely LOVE:  Anything that is less than fabulous and tantalizes your tastebuds doesn’t deserve to pass by your lips.  Choose wisely and mindfully.
  3. Wear tight clothes:  Sounds funny, right?  But stretch pants or elasticized waistbands only give you permission to indulge unnecessarily and mindlessly eat, whether amazing or not.
  4. 3- bite rule: Research has shown that the first three bites of anything deliver the most pleasure to your brain.  If you simply need to try a little, then stick to 2-3 little bites.  My favourite trick is to share the dessert with the table.  Everyone gets a fork to have a couple of bites each.
  5. Be a social butterfly: Instead of stalking the appetizer or dessert trays, find someone to engage in conversation.  Focus on connecting with your family and friends and learn what’s new in their lives.
  6. Be the DD (Designated Driver): You want to save your splurge or have already used it this week, then volunteer to bring your family and friends home safely.  This smart choice saves lives.

Maintain your weight during the holidays by practicing healthy and mindful selections, and moving your body.  You’ve made positively lifestyle habits that has brought you to this point.  Keep practicing those habits.  Habits don’t have finish lines.

Check out “5 Healthy Habits for Consistent Fat Loss Through the Holidays” by blog post from December 2014 for a few more habit ideas to implement during the holidays or anytime.

My desire as a holistic nutritionist is to impact you to believe in your ability to be fabulous and confident where you are put in this “world.” I find that losing those “extra” pounds always unveils the inner greatness of each of my clients. Often times, extra weight is a shield to protect yourself from something, emotional or physical. [2][3]

Instead forget the number on the scale for now and anticipate your greatness in the coming months, days and hours. How?  That depends on you.  You are in complete control of how you unveil your greatness — choose your nutrition, movement and habits to enhance positive changes.  I am here to coach and cheer you onto your ultimate greatness.  Don’t let 2016 be another year where you “wish you could lose weight”  instead together we can make it a reality! 

Let’s sit down for a chat and make a plan for 2016 to be your most successful year ever!  Call Brenda at 403.801.5698 or email hello@wattworksnutrition.ca to schedule your free no-obligation Discovery Chat today.  


RESOURCES

[1] Marc David, “The Metabolic Power of Pleasure,” http://psychologyofeating.com/metabolic-power-pleasure/

[2]David, Marc.  “8 Unique Ways to Lose Those Last 5 Pounds,” http://psychologyofeating.com/8-highly-unique-ways-to-lose-those-last-5-pounds/

[3] Yvette Bowlin, “Body Clutter Is Just More Mental Clutter,” http://declutterist.com/body-clutter-is-just-more-mental-clutter/


About Brenda

Brenda loves learning and sharing what she's learning with you. She is a certified keto/carnivore coach with Keto-Adapted (Maria and Craig Emmerich, a certified holistic nutritional consultant (CHNC), and a natural nutrition clinical practitioner (NNCP).