5 (Surprising) Tips to Help Beat the Holiday Bulge

Before I get into the “meat” (mincemeat?) of this article, first, allow me to provide a primer on how to get the most out of it. First, identify yourself as, primarily, a member of one of three groups:

1. You’re dedicated follower of a fitness and clean-eating lifestyle.

2. You’re mildly curious about what habits the people in group #1 engage in regularly. However, you’re unlikely to actually adopt any of those habits in the foreseeable future.

3. You are committed to the idea of exercising and eating healthfully and manage to do both most of the time. But you struggle to get clarity, direction and to employ a consistent strategy to integrate both fitness and nutrition into your uniquely busy lifestyle.

Groups 1 and 2, I’m warning you now, you may be disappointed. Why? Because the information in this article will be neither a revelation to group 1, nor a life-changing catalyst to push members of group 2 into group 3.

Group 3? I’m going to rock your world! Perhaps not in a way that you’re expecting, but more importantly, in a way that can nudge you into group 1 – if you’re serious about making these priorities a core value in your life. How am I going to do that? By challenging you to take actions that will reinforce or solidify your commitment to a healthful lifestyle. I’m going to not only offer ideas that will help you navigate the holidays unscathed by additional fat, which is the “what”, but tell you why you should do them and, most importantly, how they can strengthen your long-term devotion to the fitness lifestyle.

Here we go: Five Tips to Keep the Holiday Pounds at Bay

1. Hire a personal trainer for December.

Why? Engaging the services of a well-qualified and experienced trainer will clarify and align your actions with your intended results, eliminating wasted time and removing plateaus that have stunted your progress. It’s a great gift to yourself (or a hint to drop to a loved one who needs some ideas of what to get you) that will pay for itself long into the future and start your new year off with a more focused and effective framework for your program.

How can it strengthen your long-term commitment to a healthful lifestyle? A “teaching” trainer will give you a clear set of criteria to guide your own program in the future. And if you commit to training regularly through the toughest month of the year to start, you’ll know that you can continue your training regardless of the season or other life situation demands.

2. Drink tea or water before every meal or snack.

Why? Water or tea will have a dramatically positive effect on your blood sugar fluctuations, which is the primary physiological reason for impulse and over-eating. It’s also the most underused method to improve metabolism (energy usage), especially for protein and fat. This mobilizes the protein to preserve and build muscle while making fat more readily available to burn as fuel. Why don’t you already do it? That’s too boring and simple. You want some glamorous flash-in-the-pan unproven solution that’s exciting and new but doesn’t work or is unhealthy. You know how I know that? It’s because the weight loss industry is rife with snake oil financial successes. While athletes and trainers use this reliable and dirt-cheap method to manage the appetite curve you consider largely unmanageable. No matter what seasonal goodies abound, drinking water or tea before indulging will make you much more resistant to spontaneous cravings or periodic gorging. You just won’t feel like doing that nearly as much anymore.

How can it strengthen your long-term commitment to a healthful lifestyle? There’s no more powerful continual motivation than consistent success. With this one simple practice you can open the door to mastering every aspect of life-long clean eating, giving you a waistline your friends would steal your car to have.

3. Eat an apple or a banana before indulging in a sweet treat.

Why? If you are hungry when a sugary temptation crosses your path your body needs real food. If you’re not hungry, eating a piece of fruit will give you a chance to reconsider how much you really want the candy, cookie or slice of pie. And the volume in your stomach afterward might have something to say about squeezing even more into those tight quarters.

How can it strengthen your long-term commitment to a healthful lifestyle? Like drinking tea before meals or snacks, eating a filling but nutrient-dense piece of fruit not only curbs your blood sugar dip and fills your belly, it also continues to reinforce your deliberate choice to prioritize health over impulsive behavior that would detract from that goal. The sense of self-esteem and goal-oriented self-efficacy that grows from consistently choosing these options will deepen your investment in your sense of identity as a disciplined, in-control person. The rewards of that knowledge are indescribable and self-perpetuating.

4. Eat half as much in the last third of the waking day as you did in the first third.

Why? Holidays are notorious for amplifying the tendency to “backload” calories, which basically means eating a whole lot more calories towards the end of the day as the opportunity to burn them off dwindles. Eating more early in the day is the best defense against that pattern. And while this may sound like high math, it’s really not difficult to estimate the calorie total and redistribute. Let’s say you get up at 6:00am and go to sleep at 10:00pm. That means the volume you eat before noon should dwarf the volume you eat after 6:00pm. And considering that most holiday treats and alcohol are consumed in the evening, driving that ratio even further down in the evening, especially regarding empty calories, is a very effective and smart strategy.

How can it strengthen your long-term commitment to a healthful lifestyle? See items 2 and 3 above. It’s true to an even greater extent here. And I want you to notice this was the first (and will be the only) measure I have endorsed in this piece that advocates a specific restriction of any kind as the central idea. Wasn’t that nice of me?

5. Notice, as you gain steam practicing the behaviors listed in items 1-4, how you feel about yourself, your holiday experience, and your sense of self-mastery.

Why? Really? You know why. This one is pure reward. It’s about enjoying the sense of overcoming a weakness you believed was out of your control. It’s an acknowledgement of your personal power you thought you’d lost but have emphatically reclaimed. And it’s a renewal of your appreciation of this magnificent miracle you walk around and live your life within through the profound gesture of self-care. That may well be the greatest gift you give or receive this year.

Dan Taylor, ACE, NASM-CPT, is owner and head trainer at Pleasanton-based Tri Valley Trainer. They offer personal training and small group fitness solutions and an innovative, medically endorsed web-based group healthy eating coaching program.