Weight Loss Tips #8: Losing Weight After the Holidays

Losing Weight After the Holidays

Christmas is Over.  Photos and videos will be posted in the next couple of days, but needless to say everyone in my family had a great Christmas.  The kids received pretty much every thing their little hearts desired.  My Hubby spoiled me with jewelry, which was so nice. 

So did you overindulge like I did over the Holidays?  I partook of too much of my sister-in-law's pumpkin caramel cheesecake.  I swear that is the best stuff in the entire world.  If you did, then it's time to start thinking about what you need to do to scale back.  Don't use the holidays as an excuse to fall off the wagon completely.  After all, you have made a lifestyle change, a commitment that should last you a lifetime. 

• First and foremost: Get moving again.  Go for a walk, go for a run, incorporate your exercise back into your life.  If your gym or dojang is closed, then find some other way to start moving again.  Get your whole family involved.  Exercising with your children shows them that it's a way of life, no matter what time of year it is.

• Amend your Eating Habits: Scale back.  Begin to eat three meals a day again.  Try not to snack so much, and try to cut back on the high calorie and high fat foods you've been eating through the holidays. 

• Throw out or Hide the Candy: If you received candy for Christmas, then indulge in it on Christmas day...and maybe the day afer.   Throw out the rest, hide it, or give it to the candy monsters in your life: your children!

• Spread the Love: Take your leftover pies to a neighbor who is feeling lonely.  You will be performing an act of kindness here and making sure your pants will still fit in the New Year.

• Don't get Discouraged:   If you gained a few pounds over the Holidays, remember that it could take a few months to take it off.  But, that's OK. Losing weight is not a race.  If you make amends to your eating habits and exercise then it should come off and stay off.

• Don't do a Crash Diet: Low carb diets, starvation diets, the Cabbage Soup diets...don't do them.  They simply do not work.  Once you start eating regularly again (and you will), you will gain every single pound back. 

• Remind Yourself Why You Wanted to Lose Weight in the First Place: I like to visually look back of a photo I took in Boston the summer of 2011 that made me want to lose weight in the first place. This visual reminder clues my brain into the fact that by losing weight I'm extending my life: guaranteeing more holidays to come, more joyful birthdays with my children, and maybe one day with their children.  Change your lifestyle to improve your quality of life and extend your lifespan. 

In order to lose weight, you must commit to making a lifestyle change.  Once you do it, other people around you will start doing it too, including your family members.  Don't use the Holidays as an opportunity to slip into your bad habits again.  Indulge a little bit, let yourself enjoy a piece of pie, or too many mashed potatoes, and wake up the next day prepared to work hard to maintain the weight loss that you have worked so hard to achieve!

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See Weight Loss Tips: Edition 7