New Year Resolutions are a popular form of goal-setting that many people use each year, and resolutions related to weight loss, health, and fitness are some of the most popular goals.

Sadly, the success rate for New Year Resolutions isn’t good, and that goes double for weight-related resolutions.

Have you ever set exciting New Year Resolutions to lose weight or get in better shape, and lasted only a few days or weeks before giving up? If so, you are definitely not alone! Failure is much more common than success, and for some really good reasons.

Here are some common mistakes with weight-related New Year Resolutions:

- Trying to accomplish too much, too soon.

If you have a lot of weight to lose, you can easily become overwhelmed by looking only at the big picture. You don’t have to lose a large amount of weight at once – just 1 or 2 pounds at a time. If you keep thinking, “I have so much weight to lose,” you are sure to feel overwhelmed fast. The task will seem too large and progress will seem to be too slow, which makes it much more likely that you’ll give up long before you reach your goal.

- Focusing on the outcome alone, rather than the path to the goal.

Every goal requires you to take manageable, repetitive steps to reach it, but many people fail to properly think through the actions they’ll need to take to achieve the goal. If this has been a challenge for you too, understand that you can’t “get there” in one big leap.

- Failing to consider possible challenges and obstacles.

No matter what kind of goal you set, you are bound to run into a few obstacles and challenges along the way. If achieving goals was easy, everyone would be doing it! Rather than naively expecting it to be easy, it’s important to prepare yourself to face challenges.

- Failing to prepare tools for overcoming challenges.

For every problem, there is a solution. For every challenge, there is a workaround. The only question is whether you are going to prepare the workarounds and solutions ahead of time, or wait until a big, gnarly challenge is blocking your path. Not surprisingly, people who plan ahead often move through challenges much faster and easier than people who don’t.

- Tackling too many goals at once.

It’s tempting to set goals to improve many areas of your life, but trying to tackle them all at once is just asking for trouble. Especially with a goal like weight loss, there are many aspects of lifestyle changes you may need to address; and trying to also overhaul your financial situation and meet your soul mate and quit smoking all at once will be difficult, if not impossible.

- Failing to prepare for dwindling motivation.

When you first set a goal to lose weight, you will feel motivated and inspired about it . . . for awhile. But within a matter of days, weeks, maybe even a month or so – you’re going to wake up one day and say, “Ugh. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m tired of counting calories. I’m tired of working out. I’m tired of making slow progress.” It happens to everyone at some point. Knowing this and planning for it ahead of time will help you overcome it quickly and easily.

- Failing to define a set of clear action steps.

Imagine if you set a goal to walk to a specific destination. Now imagine that you didn’t bother to map out a route; you just laced up your walking shoes and started moving in that direction. What are the odds that you would make it to your destination? Not very good! You need to know exactly where you want to end up, and exactly how to get there from your starting point.

- Holding counter-intentions that conflict with your goals.

This is a major cause of New Year Resolution failure, and especially related to weight loss goals. What is a counter-intention? It’s an underlying (sometimes subconscious) intention that directly conflicts with your goal.

A good example is if you set a goal to lose 25 pounds, but deep down inside part of you feels scared about losing weight, so you keep sabotaging your efforts even if you aren’t consciously aware that you are doing it.

Components of Successful Weight Loss New Year Resolutions

To set really powerful, effective New Year Resolutions for losing weight, it’s important to take a different approach that helps you avoid these common pitfalls.

Below is an effective 7-step plan for setting and pursuing weight loss New Year Resolutions:

Step #1 – What Are You REALLY After?

Every goal has an underlying desire associated with it, and these desires are always related to feelings. In other words, you don’t just want to lose weight – you want to feel a certain way about your body. You want other people to react to you in different ways which will make you feel a certain way about yourself.

It’s not just about the outer goal; the key is tuning into the way you will feel when you achieve the goal. When you first set a goal, it’s beneficial to get clear about what you’re really trying to accomplish so you don’t aim for something that won’t satisfy you.

Why exactly is it important to you to lose weight? Grab a sheet of paper and jot down the main reasons why you are setting this goal. Which benefits will you gain from achieving your weight loss goal?

Here are some examples:

- I want to have more energy.

- I want to feel sexy and attractive.

- I want to feel proud of my body.

- I want to live a longer, happier life.

- I want to enjoy vibrant health.

- I want to wear clothes that make me feel attractive.

- I want to feel light and energetic.

There are no wrong answers – just write down the essence of what you are trying to accomplish by losing weight.

Then, pick out the biggest, strongest reasons from your list and expand on those thoughts a little bit. Go into more detail about why they are so important to you.

Here are a couple of examples from our list above:

- I want to have more energy.

“I want to wake up in the morning feeling energized and ready to start the day. I want to live an active, exciting life. I want lots of energy so I can take care of my obligations, pursue my dreams, and still have plenty of energy for having fun. I want to feel strong and vibrant, rather than depleted and tired all the time. If I were in better shape, I could easily accomplish the things I need to do each day, and still have energy to do the things I WANT to do. It would mean a lot to me to be able to get through each day, no matter how busy, with plenty of energy to spare.”

- I want to feel proud of my body.

“I want to be excited about getting dressed in the morning. I want to put on clothing that makes me feel slim and attractive. I want to walk down the street feeling good about myself. I want to receive compliments from people I know, asking me what I’m doing that’s making me look so good lately. I want to feel proud of my body when I’m out in public, rather than feeling embarrassed because I’ve got this extra weight. I want to feel attractive and confident, no matter where I go and no matter what I do.”

Step #2 – What Would Help Me Achieve This Goal?

Now that you’ve identified exactly what you want to accomplish, take some time to think about the circumstances that would help you feel the way you want to feel.

Certainly, the end result of losing weight would help you feel confident, attractive, and energetic.

But even before you achieve that goal, there are action steps that can awaken those feelings of satisfaction and confidence within you.

Here are a few examples:

- Daily exercise.

- Eating better quality food.

- Drinking plenty of water.

- Taking vitamins.

- Reducing my caloric intake.

- Getting plenty of rest each night.

- Taking better care of myself.

- Finding things to appreciate about my body right now.

- Wearing clothes that make me feel good, even before I lose weight.

As you start to explore the circumstances that would contribute to your positive feelings, you will realize that there are many things you can start doing right NOW that will help you experience those feelings even long before you have achieved the ultimate goal of weight loss.

Taking better care of yourself, getting plenty of exercise and rest, drinking plenty of water, appreciating your body now – these things will help you move toward the completion of your goal faster and easier than simply focusing on weight loss alone.

Don’t worry that focusing on these things will weaken your desire to actually lose the weight!

The purpose of focusing on these related issues is to help you start moving toward the feelings you are seeking by wanting to lose weight in the first place. Even though you still want to lose weight, you will start to feel better about yourself even before you have lost a single pound.

That will help you to feel better AS you lose weight, rather than waiting until you’ve reached your goal weight before you can feel better.

Do you see the importance of this step? If you have ever tried to force yourself to follow a very strict, unpleasant diet and fitness regime to lose weight, you probably know that it takes every bit of willpower you have to stick with it until you can enjoy the feeling of success at the end. But taking a gentler approach like we’ve described above helps you avoid all that struggle and unpleasantness. Instead, you start feeling better now, even as you are still losing weight.

Step #3 – Daily Action Steps for Weight Loss

Now we can delve into the physical part of your goal; the nitty-gritty action steps you will be taking to lose the weight. If you are following a specific diet plan, most of this planning will be taken care of already. If you are creating your own plan, then you will need to think about the specific action steps you will take each day to move you steadily and surely toward the completion of your goal.

For most people, a weight loss goal will include steps like these:

- Improving eating habits.

- Reducing calories.

- Drinking more water.

- Daily exercise.

- Improving mind-set.

For each of these categories, you will want to get very clear on exactly what your approach will be. Examples:

Improving Eating Habits & Reducing Calories

Are you going to omit “junk food” from your diet? Or limit yourself to a treat just once a month? How many calories will you eat each day? Which foods will comprise the bulk of your diet? Create some sample menu plans to make it easier to stick to your new eating habits.

Drinking More Water

How much water will you drink each day, and when? Will you drink 8 ounces of water before each meal? Will you carry a bottle of water with you throughout the day? Get a clear idea of how you plan to implement this part of your goal.

Daily Exercise

How much exercise will you do each day? What kinds of exercise, and for how long? Do you prefer to work out in the morning, afternoon, or evening? Will you do cardio exercise for certain days, and resistance training on other days? Will you join a gym, or work out at home? Create a specific plan that you will follow each day, so you know ahead of time that you are committing to a specific workout routine.

Improving Mind-Set

Weight loss is not just about taking specific physical actions, simply because so many of your actions stem from your mental focus. Which attitude changes will help you follow your new action steps each day? Do you need to work on building up your confidence? Strengthening your self-esteem? Seeing your new habits as positive, life-affirming decisions rather than daily “chores” that must be done? Do you need to reinforce your commitment and determination each day so you’ll stick with your new healthy lifestyle? Think about the general mind-set you usually have, and come up with ways you can improve it to support you in achieving your goal.

Once you’ve gotten clear on the exact steps you will be taking each day to achieve your goal, write or type them onto a sheet of paper that can be displayed prominently in your home. Create a one page “snapshot” of your daily action steps so you can see at a glance EXACTLY what you should be doing each day. Here’s an example so you can see how it should look:

DAILY ACTION PLAN

Morning:

- Cardio workout first thing in the morning Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 30 minutes (walking outside, treadmill inside, elliptical machine, or calisthenics). Resistance training Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday – 30 minutes (weights, toning, push-ups, crunches).

- Drink 20 ounces of water before/during/after workout.

- Meditation, affirmations for building confidence.

- Shower, get ready for work, eat healthy breakfast (fruit, grain, protein – 300 calories).

- Mid-morning snack (protein, vegetable, grain – 200 calories).

Afternoon:

- Brisk 15 minute walk outside.

- Drink 20 ounces of water.

- Lunch (protein, vegetable, grain – 300 calories).

- Mid-afternoon snack (vegetable, fruit, grain – 200 calories) plus 8 ounces water.

Evening:

- Dinner (lots of vegetables, protein, grain – 300 calories).

- Drink 20 ounces of water.

- Dessert (fruit – 200 calories).

- Brisk walk after dinner, 15 minutes.

- Positive reinforcement (focusing on goals, my reasons for wanting them, etc.)

This is just an example, but you can see how the entire day is laid out in a clear fashion so you know exactly what you need to do, and when.

Step #4 – Possible Obstacles & Challenges

The plan on the previous page looks fairly easy to follow, doesn’t it? But we all know that things rarely go according to plan! Just because you put a plan onto paper doesn’t mean you will be able to follow it easily each day. Life has a way of throwing curveballs now and then, and they can totally catch you off-guard if you’re not prepared.

What kind of obstacles can you expect as you work toward your goal? Will you struggle to find time to prepare healthy meals? Will you procrastinate about working out? Will you have a hard time avoiding pizza and beer with friends on Friday nights? Will the vending machines at work keep calling to you throughout the day? Will you have a hard time avoiding the gourmet coffee and pastry shop that’s just around the corner from your office?

Everyone will have different challenges, and just by reading the examples above you are probably getting a clearer idea of your unique challenges.

Take a few minutes to jot down some obvious challenges you know you will have to deal with as you adopt your healthy new lifestyle habits.

You don’t have to spend a lot of time on this step, because it will be impossible to predict every possible challenge. However, you can focus on the ones you KNOW will be an issue for you.

Step #5 – Prepare Solutions

Now, how can you prepare solutions to handle these challenges when they come up? Some of the challenges will be easy to overcome.

For example, you can avoid the siren call of the vending machines at work by making sure you eat frequent, healthy snacks and meals throughout the day, and drink plenty of water. The vending machines will still be there but you won’t be so tempted to visit them if you avoid getting too hungry.

You could keep a container of sliced vegetables and low fat dip, low calorie protein snacks, a few pieces of fresh fruit, and a large bottle of water nearby to keep your stomach happy and avoid intense cravings.

The larger challenges, like pizza and beer night with friends every Friday night, may require a bit more creative problem-solving.

You could stick to salad and water. You could adjust your caloric intake to be lower throughout the week so you can splurge on a slice of pizza and one glass of beer on Friday nights. You could put in an extra 15 minutes of exercise each day to help create a bigger calorie deficit to absorb the extra calories you eat on Friday nights.

There are no right or wrong answers – just create solutions that help you stay on track while also allowing a treat here and there so you don’t feel deprived.

Step #6 – Steady, Gradual Progress

Have you ever noticed that weight loss goals in particular seem to trigger a strong sense of impatience in many people? Perhaps they do for you too. You feel confident and motivated during the first week or two, but as time goes on you start to get restless and think that you aren’t making nearly enough progress.

It’s like children on long car rides; “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”

Avoiding this sense of impatience is as easy as adopting the right attitude about your new healthy lifestyle habits. This will include three basic tasks:

#1 – See your daily actions as permanent changes.

Impatience usually arises when you view your daily action steps as temporary measures to get you where you want to be. In the back of your mind, you may be thinking that you’ll only have to do these things until you’ve reached your weight loss goal, and then you can finally relax and enjoy life again.

This entire premise is flawed because going back to a more “relaxed” lifestyle will most likely mean gaining back the weight you’ve worked so hard to lose! Instead, see your daily action steps as a lifetime commitment. You can still enjoy the foods you really love, just do so in moderation, and only occasionally instead of every day.

#2 – Focus on the progress you have made so far.

Rather than groaning about the fact that you’ve still got a long way to go, look back over the past few weeks or months and notice how far you’ve come! This is a surefire way to ease feelings of impatience.

Think about where you were just a short time ago. Feeling frustrated, sluggish, unhealthy – and now you’ve made some fantastic changes to your lifestyle that are really starting to pay off. You’re probably feeling more energetic and losing weight, and you should feel really good about that. Every time you feel tempted to look far into the future with dread, stop yourself and instead look back to see all you have accomplished so far. Immediately, you will feel eager to continue.

#3 – Feel confident about the journey ahead.

You can certainly look ahead to the future, but do so with a sense of confidence and happiness that you are creating a healthier, more vibrant future for yourself. Rather than feeling frustrated that you’ve still got more work to do, look forward to the benefits you will enjoy because of the hard work you are doing right now.

With every healthy meal you eat and every workout you do, you are investing into a healthier, happier future. Feel good about that!

Step #7 – Encouragement, Motivation, and Positive Reinforcement

Earlier we touched upon the concept of positive reinforcement and creating the right kind of attitude to help you stick to your goals. This is such a crucial part of weight loss because poor lifestyle habits are almost always the result of destructive thoughts and beliefs.

The physical changes we’ve been covering are very important in creating a healthier lifestyle and losing weight – but those physical changes will be a LOT easier to perform if your head is in the right place too. Below are three key areas to pay attention to as you set your weight loss resolutions and begin working toward them:

#1 – Encouragement

If you are like most people, your mental self-talk is geared more toward the negative. Do you often berate yourself for mistakes? Do you talk down to yourself? Do you express doubt and disbelief that you can achieve your goals? If so, you will want to turn that habit around pronto! Negative self-talk is powerful enough to derail your goals. Turn that self-talk into positive daily encouragement and you will see and feel a huge difference in your ability to stick with your healthy plan. Each day, make a point of speaking kindly to yourself. Say things like this: “I’m really proud of myself for making these positive changes. I know I have what it takes to achieve this goal. I’m going to love the feeling of satisfaction I get from succeeding! I can do this; I know I can do this.” Over time, you will come to truly believe it.

This is where you can work on counter-intentions too. If you notice that you feel tempted to sabotage yourself, overcome the temptation by encouraging yourself: “I really DO want to lose this weight, and I’m not going to be seduced by self-sabotage. I can overcome this temptation and stick to my plan easily.”

#2 – Motivation

Keep reminding yourself of the powerful reasons WHY you want to lose weight. Remember that list of reasons and expanded explanations you wrote down earlier? Keep that list close by and read it frequently – especially during moments of weakness. But don’t just read it – really focus on those reasons and what they would mean for you. How would your life change if you did feel vibrant, energetic, attractive, and healthy? Remind yourself of these benefits every single day – multiple times a day if necessary.

#3 – Positive Reinforcement

We touched on this briefly in Step #6, but it’s such a helpful tool that we should stress it again. One of the most powerful ways to stay motivated is by acknowledging how far you’ve come and allowing yourself to feel really good about it. Every day, spend a few minutes feeling proud of what you have accomplished so far. Give yourself a pat on the back for every challenge you overcome; for every healthy move you make; for sticking to your workout routine, and more. Build yourself up and you’ll be more likely to keep going.

One Step at a Time Will Get You to Your Goal!

Hopefully this guide has shown you that planning ahead and taking steady, deliberate steps each day will absolutely lead you to the achievement of your weight loss goal. There’s no way you’ll fail if you simply keep moving forward.

As you go along, you’ll want to gauge your progress by weighing yourself once a week, or perhaps taking bodily measurements so you can see how many inches you are losing. However, there is a reason we haven’t included this suggestion until now, and that is because putting too much emphasis on visible signs of progress can actually work against you. If you get too attached to seeing obvious results early in the game, you may end up getting discouraged. Instead, if you focus more of your attention upon simply taking the right ACTIONS each day, the results will happen whether you are watching for them or not.

Before long, the results will be very obvious – your clothing getting looser, having more energy and stamina, enjoying better concentration, and diminishing cravings for unhealthy foods.

Once those results become obvious, it will be easier and easier to keep going. You’ll start to get used to the healthier lifestyle habits you are adopting, and they will override your prior negative habits. You’ll feel excited about the signs of improvement you are enjoying, and you’ll become more and more motivated to keep going.

New Year Resolutions may have a high rate of failure, but ONLY if you approach them in a haphazard way. If you plan ahead as we’ve described in this guide, you will find it easy to move step by step to the completion of your goal.

Recap – The 7 Steps to Successful Weight Loss New Year Resolutions:

Step #1 – Get Clear About What You REALLY Want (Feelings You Want to Experience)

Step #2 – Identify Steps You Can Take to Feel That Way Now

Step #3 – Create Daily Action Steps to Begin Moving in the Right Direction

Step #4 – Identify Possible Obstacles & Challenges

Step #5 – Prepare Solutions for those Obstacles & Challenges

Step #6 – Stop Feelings of Impatience in Their Tracks

Step #7 – Encourage, Motivate, and Empower Yourself

While you may face moments of temptation and frustration along the way, these 7 steps will make your journey much smoother and easier than it would otherwise be. Focus on taking one step at a time and you simply cannot fail.

Trying to lose weight during the holiday season can be tough. Not only does the entire season seem to revolve around food, it revolves around extremely high calorie, high fat, and sugary food.

Add in alcoholic beverages, lots of candy, cakes, pies, cookies, and eggnog, and you can be almost guaranteed to gain 5 pounds or more by the time the New Year rolls around.

Many people would love to continue losing weight through the holiday season (if they’ve already been following a weight loss plan) – but many others would be satisfied by not gaining any weight. Whether you intend to keep losing weight, or just avoid gaining weight this holiday season, you’ll love what we’re about to share with you.

Download this weight loss tips  report for free This guide contains excellent tips for eating less, cutting calories, and reducing stress during the holidays. You’ll learn how to make healthy substitutions, how to keep a positive attitude so stress doesn’t take over your mind (and store fat on your body), and tons of great strategies for reducing calories and keeping your appetite under control. You can download this report for free Click Here.

Let’s face it; you don’t have control over many aspects of the holiday season. For example, you may attend parties where someone else did all of the cooking. You may be faced with some of the richest, most fattening foods on the planet. You may be stressed and rushed, which doesn’t leave a lot of time for cooking healthy meals or exercising.

You may even have to deal with deliberate saboteurs who know you are trying to watch your weight and find great delight in putting irresistible temptations in front of you. Maybe you are even your own worst enemy. Maybe despite your best efforts you just can’t seem to control yourself when there are so many festive, delicious foods available.

There’s no sense denying the facts – it’s hard to stick to a healthy eating plan during the holidays. But it doesn’t have to be that hard – especially when you know some powerful tricks and strategies to help you eat less, cut calories, and stay calm during busy, chaotic times.

In the next several pages we’re going to share a lot of great tips for losing weight or maintaining your weight throughout the holiday season. Some of the tips might not apply to you personally if you don’t have that particular problem. Obviously, your best bet is to make note of the ones that will work best for you and don’t worry about the rest.

Even if you feel they would all work great for you, keep in mind that you don’t have to apply ALL of them to see results. If you feel overwhelmed about applying all of them at once, start with some of the bigger changes and add others when you feel ready.

Read on for some easy and effective holiday healthy eating tips:

Holiday Strategies for Eating Less

One of the most effective things you can do to avoid gaining weight and make losing weight a lot easier is to reduce the volume of food you eat. But that is sometimes easier said than done, right? Especially during the holiday season – there is so much food, so little time!

Believe it or not, it’s not all that hard to reduce how much you eat. Take a look at the tips below for some simple strategies that work:

Natural Appetite Control

One of the best ways to control your appetite without harmful drugs or stimulants is to eliminate sugar and simple carbohydrates from your diet and replace them with lean protein and fiber in the form of vegetables and whole grains. Drinking plenty of water also helps. The less hungry you feel, the easier it will be to resist temptation.

Keep Your Tummy Busy

Another great way to avoid overeating is by eating smaller meals and snacks frequently throughout the day. Eating more frequently seems like it would cause you to eat more calories, but not if you choose mostly low calorie fare like vegetables, fruit, small amounts of whole grains, and lean protein. You’ll feel like you’re eating a lot, and therefore feel satisfied and less tempted to munch on high calorie goodies.

Fill Up on Water

Drinking a glass of water before each meal, and also sipping water throughout the day is another great way to eat less because you’ll feel satisfied with much less food. This is also a great way to reduce persistent cravings for food! Did you know that very often when you have cravings for food, you are actually craving more water? Try a little experiment the next time you keep craving something – drink a full glass of water and watch the craving disappear.

Think Quality, Not Quantity

Whole, natural foods are so much better for you than refined, processed, chemical-laden foods! Even better, when you eat mostly natural, whole foods, you end up eating a lot less because you aren’t trying to satisfy phantom hunger brought on by chemical reactions and blood sugar fluctuations.

Smaller Portions . . . of Everything

Whether you are eating a salad at home, or a fancy dinner at a company Christmas party, keep in mind that smaller portions are better. Almost always, your eyes are bigger than your stomach and you don’t need as much food as you think you do to feel satisfied. Start with just a spoonful or so of the dishes you want to try.

If your meal is delivered to your table and you can’t control the portion sizes, at least split up the portions and eat half or one third of each food. This is one of the easiest ways to eat less without feeling deprived.

Be the One in Control

When you start craving something that you don’t want to eat, or you start craving more of something you’ve already sampled, ask yourself, “How badly do I really want that? Am I craving it because it’s there, or because other people are enjoying it? What would happen if I decided not to eat it?” Usually, questions like these will strengthen your awareness that YOU are the one in charge, not the food. And that is often enough to help you overcome cravings.

Stay Conscious When Eating

While you are eating, be sure you don’t slip into “mindless munching mode”. Stay conscious and aware of what’s going into your mouth, and how much of it you’ve consumed. This is also why taking smaller portions is helpful – you can’t overeat it if it’s not there on your plate! If you overindulge, at least make a conscious decision to do so and be willing to take responsibility for your choice.

Fill Up Before a Gathering

Before you leave for a party or dinner, eat something healthy yet filling, like a banana, or a small spinach salad with extra virgin olive oil drizzled over the top, or even a small protein shake. You’ll be ingesting a small amount of calories, but you’ll find it much easier to stay in control at the gathering.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

At home, be sure not to leave dishes of candy, chips, pretzels, cookies or any other foods out in the open. You’ll be much more tempted to grab some every time you pass by them. Put all foods out of sight and you won’t think about them nearly as often.

Don’t Sit Near Food Platters

Similarly, when you attend holiday gatherings, be sure not to sit right next to stations of food. Choose a spot that puts the appetizers and other goodies out of arm’s reach. If you have to stand up and walk across the room to eat, you’re less likely to overdo it.

Single Helpings Only

When eating meals, make a commitment to have a single serving only – no seconds! Take only one serving of each dish you want to try, and make even those single servings modest in size. This is a great way to control how much you eat without feeling like you’re being deprived.

Buffet Smarts

When eating at a buffet that features a wide array of delicious dishes, remember that you don’t have to sample everything. Choose a few of the items you REALLY want to try, and take just a sample of each (enough for 3 or 4 bites).

Don’t Skip Meals

Don’t be tempted to skip meals all day so you can eat more at an evening party. You’ll be so hungry by the time you get there that you’ll probably eat many more calories than you would by eating a few small, healthy meals and indulging just a little at the party.

Eat Sweet Treats Only at Parties

During the holiday season, make an agreement with yourself that you can enjoy dessert or the occasional cookie – but only while attending a party or gathering. Make them off-limits at home and at work. Considering that most people only attend a handful of events throughout the entire holiday season, this is an easy way to indulge occasionally without overindulging.

Take Your Vitamins

Nutritional deficiencies can trigger random cravings, so if you already take a multivitamin and mineral supplement, be sure to keep taking them. If you don’t already take one, you might want to consider starting. There are also supplements that can help control cravings for sugar, if this is a problem for you; chromium picolinate and gymnema sylvestre are two that are well-known.

Chew Slowly and Savor Every Bite

No matter what you are eating, get into the habit of chewing very slowly, taking your time, and enjoying every bite of food you put into your mouth. Pay attention to the flavor, the texture, the temperature, the spices and seasonings used in cooking, and other details. Really notice how good the food tastes, and how good you feel as you eat it.

Pause between bites, sip some water, and pay attention to how your stomach feels. Avoid eating past the point of comfort. It’s the best way to feel fully satisfied after every meal and snack, while also consuming fewer calories.

Brush Your Teeth

Brush your teeth after every meal so you won’t be tempted to keep eating. When you go out, bring one of those little disposable toothbrushes that don’t require water. After eating a meal at a party, slip into the restroom and brush your teeth. Besides making your breath smell fresh, you’ll be much less tempted to eat and drink more afterward.

Holiday Strategies for Cutting Calories

Not only is it important to eat less, it’s important to reduce the overall number of calories you consume each day. Does that mean you’re stuck eating lettuce salads while everyone else enjoys your favorite foods? Thankfully not. There are plenty of great ways to reduce calories without sacrificing flavor or giving up your favorite foods.

Eat Vegetables First

You can enjoy your favorite foods, but the trick in controlling calories is to eat less of them. One good way to do that is by getting into the habit of eating your vegetables first, before starting on the main course or higher calorie side dishes.

When eating at a buffet, fill half of your plate with low calorie, high fiber vegetables. When you sit down to eat, eat those first. The high fiber content of the vegetables helps fill you up so you end up eating less of the high calories foods, and you take in fewer calories overall.

Healthy Substitutions

When preparing and cooking food, substitute some healthier options, like these examples:

• Use two egg whites to replace one whole egg.

• Unsweetened applesauce to replace the oil in baked goods.

• Use other natural or artificial sweeteners to replace sugar, or simply reduce the amount of sugar you use.

• Use cocoa powder instead of unsweetened baking chocolate.

• Use stevia or artificial sweeteners in icing and for flavoring.

• Replace fatty cuts of meat with leaner cuts.

• Use low fat or skim dairy products instead of regular.

• Steam vegetables instead of frying or sautéing.

• Use brown rice instead of white.

• Replace salt with spices when cooking, and avoid adding extra salt to meals.

Watch the Extras

Every holiday table contains high calorie “extras” like cranberry sauce, gravy, salad dressing and biscuits or dinner rolls. Watch your intake of these and keep them to minimum if you want to avoid taking in too many calories.

Be a Healthy Host or Hostess

When hosting a holiday party at your home, create a large fruit and vegetable platter to serve in addition to the other typical holiday fare. Not only can you munch on it to avoid eating too many goodies, plenty of your guests will probably appreciate having healthier options too.

Make Healthy Contributions

When you attend a pot-luck or buffet dinner, ask the host or hostess if it’s okay for you to bring something. If so, create some healthy and delicious contributions that everyone will enjoy. A fruit and veggie platter is great; or a festive, colorful salad (fruit or vegetable); low calorie, high fiber soup; a bean dish – there are plenty of options that are healthy and still taste great.

There are thousands of great recipes online if you can’t think of anything – do some research on great low-calorie party foods and you’ll find tons of them.

Stay Ahead of the Game

Rather than overdoing it at parties and regretting it for days, you might want to plan ahead and put some strategies in place so that when you do overindulge a little bit, you’ll already be ahead of the game.

Some good example strategies:

• Getting a good workout in every morning so you burn more calories all day.

• Watch your diet carefully when you’re not at parties and gatherings.

• Having healthy food options ready to eat and strategically placed in your refrigerator and cupboards.

• Hiding the richer, more fattening foods far in the back so they won’t be in your face every time you want to eat.

Avoid Liquid Calories

It’s bad enough that we’re faced with rich holiday foods everywhere we go, but there is no shortage of high-calorie beverages either. Soda pop, sweet tea, Irish coffee, Grande lattes – oh, and don’t forget eggnog, which contains more than 300 calories and 19 grams of fat in one cup! (And that’s without alcohol added.)

Keeping your caloric intake down during the holiday season is much easier if you avoid drinking a lot of calories in beverages. Stick to water except for occasional treats here and there.

Holiday Strategies for Reducing Stress

Hopefully by now you see just how easy it can be to make a few simple changes and stay on track with your weight goals – while still enjoying yourself at parties, dinners, and other holiday gatherings. You don’t have to be a saint and you don’t have to feel deprived; you simply need to stay aware and make common-sense decisions moment to moment.

Now we’ll move on to stress management strategies. Stress is one of the most common triggers that make people overeat, and it only gets worse during the holiday season. Maybe your life is stressful already, or maybe you’re one of the lucky few who enjoy a calm life. Either way, you could experience elevated levels of stress before, during and after the holiday season.

Most of this stress is related to being busy. You’ve got shopping to do, gifts to buy, greeting cards to send, food to prepare, gifts to wrap, decorations that need to be put up. If you also host a dinner or party of some kind, you’ve got to create a menu, cook all of the food, and prepare your home for guests. You may also feel pressured financially, stressed by traffic on the streets and crowds of shoppers in stores . . . there are plenty of things that can leave you feeling exhausted and frazzled.

Unfortunately, many people respond to these stressful circumstances by eating more. If that has been a pattern for you too, definitely take a look at the strategies below. We’re going to show you plenty of ways to calm down, release stress, and feel great while keeping on track with your healthy eating goals.

Rest Well!

The very first thing to do is make sure you are getting enough sleep each night. You may be tempted to cut back on sleep so you have more time to accomplish everything on your “to-do” list, but don’t do it! Think about how you feel when you don’t get enough sleep: cranky, irritable, fatigued, and impatient. When you’re well rested, you feel energetic, alert, optimistic, and resilient. You will accomplish a lot more in less time if you’ve had enough sleep. This is one of the most important things you can do to manage stress!

Breathe Deeply

When you notice that you’re feeling stressed, rushed, or overwhelmed, stop for a few minutes and take several slow, deep breaths. Say to yourself mentally with each exhalation, “Relax, relax, relax”. Within just a couple of minutes you’ll start to feel calmer, reducing the temptation to drink alcohol or overeat to deal with the stress.

This is also a great technique for neutralizing cravings. If that plate of Christmas cookies keeps jumping up and waving to get your attention, close your eyes, take a few slow, deep breaths, and say to yourself, “I don’t need those; I’m not even hungry right now. I can have some later, but right now I choose not to eat them.” Doing this consistently helps you feel more in control, rather than battling constant cravings.

Keep Your Goals a Priority

With all of the holiday craziness and temptations, it’s easy to stop thinking about your weight loss goals (or weight maintenance goals). When you stop focusing on the importance of your goals, it gets much easier to do things that sabotage you – like overindulge on rich foods and drinks.

To combat this, start each day with a reminder that it’s important to you to stay on track with your weight goals. Keep reminding yourself each day, several times a day – and especially when you are faced with a temptation. You might ask yourself, “How important is it to me to keep my weight under control? Will eating this food help me accomplish that?” More often than not just reminding yourself that your goals are important is enough to put you firmly in control of what goes into your mouth.

Get Relaxed First

Before you go into situations that might be stressful for you, spend 10 minutes getting very relaxed. Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and breathe deeply. Listen to soothing music if you like. Focus on serene scenes in your mind, like walking along a beautiful beach, or strolling through a peaceful garden. Just 10 minutes of this is enough to make you feel very calm and centered, so when you get to the mall or your boss’s house or any other place that might make you feel pressured, you’ve already adopted the mind-set that will help you deal with it calmly.

Learn How to Detach

When you do find yourself in a situation where you feel stressed, angry, annoyed, impatient or any other negative emotion, take a mental step back and get your emotions under control. Usually this is as easy as recognizing that someone or something is upsetting you, and making a conscious choice not to let it bother you.

You can use this technique with strangers, coworkers, family members, and more. Simply notice that you’re feeling annoyed or upset in some way, and then let go of it. Decide that you aren’t going to let it get to you. It might be helpful to use a bit of positive self-talk, like this: “All right, this is really aggravating me right now, but I’m not going to keep focusing on that. What they do doesn’t matter to me. I’m letting go of my anger.”

It definitely takes practice, but it’s a priceless skill that can help you avoid “losing it” mentally.

Make Time for Exercise

Just like you may be tempted to skimp on sleep, you may be tempted to skip your workouts so you have more time for baking, shopping, decorating, and social activities. This is a bad idea because exercise is a great help in releasing stress. Remind yourself every day that your daily workouts help keep you feeling stronger, calmer, and more balanced. Then make the time to do them faithfully. Don’t see it as something you “have to do” – see it as something you CHOOSE to do as preventative medicine for the mind and body.

Get Organized

One major contributor to stress is disorganization. If you’ve got a lot of tasks that need to be done, being disorganized can create “logjams” of activities where you suddenly need to do several things in a short amount of time – which only makes you feel more stressed.

You can easily avoid this by thinking and planning ahead. Get yourself a calendar or day planner where you can write in important activities and schedule time for everything else. Do your best to schedule everything! Allot time for wrapping gifts, shopping, cooking and baking, writing out greeting cards, exercise, meditation, sleep – everything you need to do can be organized ahead of time so there are few surprises later.

You Time

Don’t forget to make time for yourself in between all of the tasks and chores you’re doing. Even if it’s just a few minutes to relax with a good book, watch a movie with your family after dinner, or take a hot bath before bed, it’s important to allow yourself to relax and do nothing for a little while.

Nix the Binges

Have you ever made a decision to eat as much as you wanted at a particular event and resume your diet the next day? How did that make you feel? Maybe you felt good at the time, but the next day you probably felt really guilty, maybe a little sick, and wishing you never did it at all. Binges only add to your stress. Rather than being tempted to do this, remind yourself that you’ll only feel badly about it tomorrow, so you’re going to be smart about your eating. Decide that you will indulge a little bit, but you can do that without ruining your healthy eating plan.

Don’t Expect Perfection

All of the previous tips in this guide might give the impression that no “slipping” is allowed, but that’s just not realistic. You know you’re going to slip up (unless you’ve got willpower stronger than titanium). But the slip-ups themselves aren’t what you need to be most concerned about. It’s your reaction to the slip-ups that matter most.

Many people react with strong negative emotion and proceed to “beat themselves up” for days. That makes them feel so bad that they could be prodded back into eating more, and maybe even giving up on their goals altogether. You are human – go easy on yourself! If you slip and eat something you shouldn’t, just do your best to compensate for it later. Drink a few extra glasses of water. Spend more time walking the next day. It’s not the end of the world.

Expect Temptations

Another thing that might add to your stress level is being unprepared for the temptations you will undoubtedly face throughout the holiday season. When you’re unprepared, you might be more likely to act without thinking and eat things you didn’t want to eat. Avoid this by thinking ahead and strengthening your resolve. Say to yourself, “There will be a lot of food at this dinner party. I’m going to enjoy myself, but I’m going to stick mostly to healthy foods. For any richer foods that I want to try, I will have just a taste.” Setting that intention before you get there will help you stick to your plan.

Strengthen Your Willpower

The stronger your willpower is, the less tempted you will be to fold in the face of temptation. Even when you aren’t attending parties and dinners, keep reminding yourself that food has no control over you. Say things like this: “I am always conscious of what goes into my mouth. I choose what I eat and don’t eat. I can easily turn down food if I want to.” The more you say things like that, you will eventually come to believe them and act accordingly.

Be Nice to Yourself

All of the tips in this guide will be much easier to follow if you make an effort to be nice to yourself. Rather than seeing your goals to be healthy and lose weight as a punishment (“I’m fat so I can’t enjoy myself”), see them as something good you are doing for yourself (“I feel better when I eat right, and I can still enjoy treats when I want them”).

Keep a Positive Attitude

Speaking of all this “feel good” stuff, developing a positive attitude goes a long way in managing stress. The more optimistic, enthusiastic, patient and kind you can be (toward yourself and others), the less stressed you will feel. If you currently have a negative mind-set, you will definitely want to start practicing building a positive attitude as often as possible. It takes time to stick, but it’s not hard to do.

Focus on the True “Treats” of the Holidays

Last but not least, the true blessings of the holiday season are not the food and drinks; they are spending time with people you care about and taking time to celebrate life and love. Focus on those things and let the joy of the season fill you up, rather than food.

It’s All About Balance

As you may realize by now, staying on track during the holiday season, or any time, is about balance. Balancing your eating and exercise habits, your obligations and responsibilities, social activities like parties and dinners, getting enough rest, and everything else you do. You don’t have to be perfect – you just need to do your best to make the right decisions. Do that and you’ll breeze through the holidays without a glitch.

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