Take a deep breath and put down that holiday cookie!
What if I told you, you could sail through this holiday season without falling off the wellness wagon? Absolutely no "I'll get back on track in January" excuses this time around. This episode of the MindBody Project is all about breaking down the myth of the continual holiday food fest stretching from Thanksgiving to New Year. We're going to treat each celebration as an individual holiday, not a month-long binge.
Join me as I share actionable strategies and practical tips for managing your eating habits and exercise during this festive period. From portion control and pre-eating before parties to understanding the potential pitfalls of finger foods, I've got you covered. We discuss the importance of knowing what's on the menu at holiday gatherings and how to navigate it wisely. Remember, your wellness journey doesn't have to pause because it's the holiday season. Let's make this festive period an extension of our healthy habits, not an exception.
Welcome to a healthier and happier holiday season!
Take a deep breath and put down that holiday cookie!
What if I told you, you could sail through this holiday season without falling off the wellness wagon? Absolutely no "I'll get back on track in January" excuses this time around. This episode of the MindBody Project is all about breaking down the myth of the continual holiday food fest stretching from Thanksgiving to New Year. We're going to treat each celebration as an individual holiday, not a month-long binge.
Join me as I share actionable strategies and practical tips for managing your eating habits and exercise during this festive period. From portion control and pre-eating before parties to understanding the potential pitfalls of finger foods, I've got you covered. We discuss the importance of knowing what's on the menu at holiday gatherings and how to navigate it wisely. Remember, your wellness journey doesn't have to pause because it's the holiday season. Let's make this festive period an extension of our healthy habits, not an exception.
Welcome to a healthier and happier holiday season!
Welcome to the MindBody Project Podcast. After over a decade in the health and wellness industry, erin realized that our bodies change only short-term, unless our mindset changes for long-term success.
Speaker 1:Both our mind and body are forever linked. We are continually building up new ideas and tearing down old ones in our construction zone. We call our mind. After this podcast is over, make sure you give it a like and a share, and please subscribe and review this podcast. I would now like to introduce you to your host, the man connecting your mind and body to create a limitless life Erin Zegler.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the MindBody Project. Thanks for taking the time to join me today. We are heading into the holiday season. Actually, we just finished Thanksgiving. We are just moving into Christmas. We're about a month, a little less than a month, away from Christmas Really probably three weeks away from Christmas, and so it's getting close. We have a lot of parties, we have a lot of different events to go to, family gatherings, and so I want to talk about holiday.
Speaker 2:We talk about a holiday and we think of a holiday. Really, I think sometimes we think about, you know, if we think of Fort July, that's a holiday, a Memorial Day, that's a holiday. But when it comes to Thanksgiving and Christmas, we think about that fourth Thursday November all the way to January 2nd as a holiday. It's not necessarily one day. We think about that. All those five weeks, six weeks, are the holiday, and so on those holidays of 4th July, memorial Day, we just celebrate that day and we're back to work the next day, we're back to normal, whereas during the Thanksgiving, christmas, new Year holiday, we have six weeks of food and activities and all sorts of things. So I want to encourage you today to think about those Thanksgiving, christmas, new Years as holidays. So holidays, when we think about holidays, become important when we're talking about eating and exercise. It's not a food fest for six weeks. It's not because how many times do we get close to Thanksgiving go? I'm going to wait to the New Year to exercise. I'm going to wait to the New Year to get everything back under control. If you say that before Thanksgiving you have close to six weeks before the New Year, what can happen in six weeks? You can eat a lot of food in six weeks. You can not do a lot of exercise in six weeks. There's a big change. That can happen in six weeks. If you say I'm just going to wait till January 2nd, there can be a lot of things that happen. So we need to look at it as a holiday.
Speaker 2:So when we have habits, we have those habits in place that keep us in the same pattern, the same routine on a daily basis. Those need to be in place If we're trying to get that routine. Those habits started right before Thanksgiving, the week before we're in trouble. Our habits, our routines, our practices start way before Thanksgiving happens, starts way before those Christmas parties start. It has to start. It may start in summer, it may start in fall.
Speaker 2:But those habits and patterns already have to be in place of okay, I'm going to go to this family gathering, I'm going to go to this Christmas party and I'm going to have portion control Maybe it's you know. I know they're going to have a lot of desserts. Desserts is my weakness. I'm going to eat before I go, so I'm not tempted to eat while I'm there. I'm not tempted to go over to the sweet state, one of my big downfalls. When I go to Christmas parties or any kind of event, a Thanksgiving, if we have finger foods, finger foods get me, because we think, oh, it's not much, it's just a little, I'll just have a couple quarter sandwiches, I'll just have a couple of these roll-ups, tortilla roll-ups, I'll just have one cookie. But before we know it, with finger foods, we've grazed the whole afternoon, the whole evening and we've eaten way more than if we sat down and ate a meal.
Speaker 2:So in preparing for those holiday events, try to find out what's going to be served. What is there going to be? Alcohol? Is there going to be no alcohol? Is there going to be? What kind of food is it going to be? Are there going to be other options for food? And that all you know. You don't have to leave it up to the host. You get to decide hey, I'm going to drink some more water before I go so I'm not as hungry. I'm going to go ahead and eat a light snack so I'm not starving by the time I get there. You know, I know there's going to be a lot of alcohol. You know it doesn't. I don't want it. So you go in and say, okay, I'm going to have one drink. It doesn't mean that you don't have to have any. It doesn't mean you don't have to have any desserts. It doesn't mean you can't enjoy the six-week holiday. It's about moderation and some sacrifices. If there's going to be a big meal that night, you know that beforehand, and maybe the day of it's a light, it's some light meals. Maybe the day before it's even some light meals. Maybe it's just you know you're planning ahead for that event that's coming up. It's not, I'm going to be normal, eat all my stuff, and then I'm surprised by the event when I like to.
Speaker 2:I've told this story numerous times. But Weight Watchers, weight Watchers got on Weight Watchers 15, 16 years ago. Weight Watchers is what helped me lose 100 pounds. But I remember over the holiday. I weighed in before Christmas and this was this was when I was during my weight loss. It was the only time during the year and a half that I gained, gained weight. Other times I would either stay the same or lose. It might be a quarter, but anyhow, this during the Christmas week was the only week I gained weight. I weighed the week before Christmas. I didn't go. I didn't go weigh in that week of Christmas. We were able to. I don't remember how it was done, but so I weighed it to the next week. So I guess maybe I just skipped a week, maybe it was probably close to two weeks from between weigh-ins, but my weight gain was 12 or 13 pounds in that timeframe and that short amount of time.
Speaker 2:I took it upon myself to think well, I'm just going to eat what I want to eat, I'm not going to worry about my diet in air quotes diet, and that resulted in a 10 or 12 pound weight gain. Now, the next week, I think I'd lost about half that, but it still took me several more weeks to get back down to where I was prior to Christmas. If you know and I thought I'm just my mindset was already I'm going to go hog wild. I've been dieting, I've been working really good. I've lost 20, 30 pounds. I can do this. But when you lose 10 or 12 pounds, that puts you or gain 10 or 12 pounds, that puts you in a whole new set of numbers. By set of numbers I mean if you're 230, it puts you in the 240s. If you're in 240s, it puts you in the 250s. If you're in the 190s, it puts you over the 200s. So that was my mindset going into it. I'm just going to do whatever I want.
Speaker 2:But if we go into the holiday days and if we look at that six week, we need to be proactive. We need to plan. Am I going to only have one drink when I go to parties and am I only going to just have small portions? Am I going to have a light snack before I go? Am I going to try to maybe have a protein shake before I go? Maybe I'm going to drink more water so I'm not as hungry. We have to plan for that event and when we do that, we'll find that we eat less, we drink less and we come out on the other side feeling better when we start the new year, but when we January 2nd goes. Oh man, I was doing so good up until Thanksgiving and I've blown it.
Speaker 2:I'm right back to where I started when, in my small group training class, I kind of joked around that we have a challenge during November and December because typically we just slow down in exercise and we pick up in eating and so that's. You know, we did a challenge. So that way it keeps us moving, keeps our habits in check, keeps their eating in check. And I told them, I said you know, we're going to go into the new year like a wrecking ball, so we're not trying to play catch up, we're a full steam ahead, rocking and rolling into the new year. We're like a snowball that is getting bigger as it goes down the hill. We're gaining momentum.
Speaker 2:So when we're not, when January 2nd because we all know January 1st, we're not starting, that's still New Year's Day, it's January 2nd, and January 2nd this year happens to be on a Tuesday, so a lot of people go well, I'm going to wait till the following Monday to start. Now. We're already a full week into the new year before we started those new habits, those new New Year's resolutions. So why not pick up the speed like a snowball and go into the new year like a wrecking ball. But that takes planning, that takes intentionality, that takes knowing what your goals are going to be for the new year, because I just don't believe in New Year's resolutions.
Speaker 2:New Year's resolutions don't last. It's in the high like 97, 98%. New Year's resolutions don't make it past a couple months. So not to throw down on your New Year's resolutions, but chances are within a couple months you won't be doing them. Within three months you won't even remember what your New Year's resolution was. And chances are you've made the same New Year's resolution for the past 10 years in a row, which should tell you something. But yet again, on New Year's Day, we go I'm going to do this yet again. Well, what makes you think that this time is going to be any different than the last nine years when you haven't changed at all? It's not going to be any different, I promise you. Because you have not changed, you will go back to your old ways, because you haven't got those habits, routines and rituals in place prior to January 1st.
Speaker 2:January 1st, we expect to flip a switch and it all be on and we be going. It doesn't happen that way. It's about baby steps. One little change, another little change and those successes compound into big changes. But those changes will start the prior year. Maybe on January 1st there's a baby change that starts, and then by mid-summer you add another baby change and then by Late fall you had another baby change and Then you start to see some progress a whole year later.
Speaker 2:Too often we set those New Year's resolutions, new Year's goals, and we want to do a 180. That's not going to work. We need to turn one degree at a time to get that 180. That one degree at a time will get us where we need to go. But we have to be patient with that one degree. But gearing up for the holidays that are going to last for six weeks, we have to be proactive.
Speaker 2:What's our plan, what's our goal, what I want to do? Every time we go to a holiday gathering, holiday meal, we go to a Work Christmas party event. When you think about that, what's my goal? What am I gonna do for this event? I'm not going to worry about any of the others. What am I gonna do for this one? What's my intention for this one? There's gonna be some that you and I have, some of the best food that I don't get all year long, I'm gonna have that. That is totally fine. But plan for it that way.
Speaker 2:Don't go into the holidays and be caught off guard because guess what? The holidays I know this can be hard to believe. The holidays Thanksgiving, christmas, new Year's comes every single year. So to be caught off guard by it this year is no excuse. Go into it Planning what you want for the year. Go into it planning what you want for the year. Make this year different and get through the holidays and say I Was successful. I Showed up on January 1st, on January 2nd, the way I wanted to.
Speaker 2:So my challenge to each of us this holiday season is to be intentional. The holidays are one day, the Christmas party is one evening, the Christmas gathering is one afternoon. They're just one. Don't link all those together and not be successful. Be intentional this holiday season and start making those baby steps as you go along and those baby steps will add up one by one, one by one, to make that 180 degree turn and that 180 degree change To what you want to meet.
Speaker 2:Reach your goals to achieve, your goals to achieve. But you have to work the plan To reach and achieve your goals. I'd love to connect with you. If if you need some help on this, I'd love to connect with you. Just go to my website, aaron digler calm. Have ways there to connect with me, through email, through text, all sorts of ways. I would love to help you get through this holiday season and show up on January 1st feeling successful, strong and and come into 2024 like a wrecking ball. Thank you for stopping by and joining me today and as time my wife came every night for a go to bed. It's bombin tonight, double a out.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to today's podcast. If you would like to connect with Aaron, you can do so by going to Aaron digler calm or find him on social media as Aaron digler on Instagram, facebook and YouTube. Once again, we greatly appreciate you tuning in. If you've enjoyed the show, please feel free to rate, subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. We greatly appreciate that effort and we'll catch you in the next episode of the mind body project podcast.