Well I officially feel like we are in the holiday season. Thanksgiving is next week and we actually broke a huge rule in our house and put up Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving was over. But in my defense thanksgiving is 1 week later than normal and I really want to enjoy the decorations for more than a few weeks! So the tree isn’t up yet but the house decorations are!
So with the holiday cheer comes the ho ho ho muffin top! With the holidays comes, wine, cocktails, pumpkin pie, sugar cookies, lattes, and more holiday goodness! While I will be completely honest I do allow myself a few holiday treats. I still try to make good choices 90% of the time. Honestly I enjoy sweets a little to much but I definitely have learned self control and focus. So what can you do to have a healthy holiday that doesn’t leave you with those extra pounds. I’m going to give you a few of my favorite tips!
1. Workout: I still get my workout in even when my amount of responsibilities and social calendar is jam packed. I don’t let the holiday hustle and bustle cause me to make excuses to sleep in and skip my workout. I still schedule my workout like a meeting with my boss that I wouldn’t cancel. It’s on my planner for 5:00 am every day. So for example if you are an evening workout woman and someone asks you to go out for dinner or an event. Decide if you legitimately have time to get that workout in somewhere else or do you really need to stay on track. If you can say to yourself, “I really should do my workout.” Then that is your answer. Go and do your workout and then meet up with friends later or another day! Taking to many unscheduled rest days during the week throws off your flow and progress. So don’t take unscheduled rest days unless its on the calendar for your workouts!
2. Thanksgiving day: Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean you can’t workout. Especially if you have been saving up for that feast why not get in a good sweat session? I still get up at the same time, maybe an hour later but I still do my workout. I know that I am about to have a great dinner and I want to get my metabolism fired up and my feel good endorphins in check so that I can confidently enjoy my meal. T25 is literally 25 minutes so I’m pretty sure we can all find 25 minutes to workout! Then, I still eat a normal breakfast which for me is Shakeology. Then, I have my typical snack 2 1/2 to 3 hours later followed by lunch. Then, I enjoy thanksgiving dinner! I don’t starve myself all morning to save calories for dinner I just follow proper portion sizes. That is also true for my Thanksgiving meal.
 |
| Proper serving sizes |
I still follow the palm size portion for lean protein (turkey), I have 1 cupped handful of potatoes (starchy carbs) and I pick between potatoes and corn since they are both starches. Then, load up on veggies (ask for no butter) and honestly I have a roll at dinner because my Aunt makes the best homemade rolls! But I stop there! I don’t have green bean casserole, scalloped potatoes, stuffing, corn, corn soufflé and pumpkin and apple pie. I honestly pick and choose what I want to spend my calories on! Choose the foods that you truly want vs the things that just taste ok but you eat them because they are in front of you! Make sense? Next, drink lots of water! Still aim to drink 1/2 your body weight in ounces each day so that you don’t confuse thirst with hunger and your metabolism is fired up!
 |
| Healthy corn soufflé |
3. If you are hosting or going to a Thanksgiving dinner bring a healthy dish. I am a little sneaky on this one. I always bring something that I can eat a lot of! So usually it has a protein in there like quinoa or beans so that just in case there is NOTHING healthy (which this happens to me a lot) I have a back up plan. Now I don’t go shouting it from the rooftops that there is nothing to eat. I just quietly get my plate, fill it with what I brought, grab some veggies and fruit and call it a day! Then, I always have my shakeology stashed in the car for afterwards if I need something more to eat. Remember it’s all about will power and balance. Just because there are no healthy options doesn’t mean you eat it anyways. You pick and choose what matters most.
A few of my fav recipes to take:
Quinoa Salad
My Holiday Party Recipes
My Thanksgiving Recipes
4. Traveling: Pack your cooler and healthy snacks for the road. Honestly, you would be surprised at how easy it is to take your snacks and food along with you. The company thirty-one makes some great insulated totes that can hold Shakeology, apples, almonds, protein bars, veggies, meatloaf muffins, and fruit. When I travel I even portion out little baggies of 1/2 cup servings of oatmeal mixed with 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and some dried fruit. Then anywhere you go you can find some hot water to mix it with! Voila instant oatmeal without the hidden sugars that you would get at Starbucks and McDonalds oatmeal. Trust me, it’s worth it because there are a lot of hidden stuff in there!!!
Clean Eating While Traveling tips
Traveling/Vacation Tips
Enjoy!!! Make sure to take time for yourself to kick back and relax! For relaxation I enjoy a nap! Honestly I love nothing more than snuggling up on the couch with a warm and fuzzy blankets and taking a snooze. You better believe I will be doing that this week. We all deserve time to kick back and just relax!!!
Enjoy your healthy holidays!!!
Lastly just in case you did blow it a little bit over the holiday you still have time to get it back in order before New Years!
I’m doing a 30 day clean eating and shakeology accountability group to keep you on track! I’ll teach you tips just like the ones above to help you stay focused with balance.
There is just something about having support that makes all the difference in the world!!!
