Nine tips for for surviving the holidays and holiday parties

These are not recommended holiday party snacks

You decided you wanted to get back in shape, but the holiday season is here and that means holiday parties. The holidays are busy with family, friends and usually lots of food. Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute, most of the food you will find at parties are not the types you want to be consuming if you are looking to get back in shape or looking to stay there.

These challenges do not mean you cannot have successful weight loss during the holidays. The holidays also should not be used as an excuse to wait to start your weight loss program. Here are ten of my favorite tips if you are looking to get back in shape and rediscover your toes during the holiday seasons.

1. Make it a competition

Want to get motivated to get back in shape during the holidays? Why not make a competition out of it. Creating competitions is one of my favorite ways to accomplish any goal. Why not create a weight loss competition now with some of your friends and colleagues. A friendly wager among friends who can encourage and help motivate each other, or a little trash talking is always healthy too. Another suggestion is have everyone put in money and the winner gets to pick the charity all the money is donated to.

2. Exercise first thing in the morning

Let’s face it, the holidays are busy for everyone. If you are looking to get back in shape or working to stay there during the holiday season there is a good chance your planned nightly workout is going to be interrupted. The easiest way to make sure you get your workout in during he holidays is do the workout first thing in the morning. Starting tomorrow each Monday you can see the See Your Toes home workout of the week. Each workout will take less than 30 minutes, most will be under 20.

3. Have an extra intensive workout day before a splurge

The best way to stay on track with weight loss during the holidays is to avoid splurging at a party. Some people though really want to splurge at their company or family Christmas party so this advice is for them. If you know you are going to be binging, then the day before do an extra hard workout. Two terms to become familiar with are glycogen which are carbs stored in your muscles and intracelluar triglycerides which are fats stored in your muscles. An extra intense workout the day before your party will work towards depleting your glycogen and intracellular triglycerides in your body and the new energy you eat will be stored to refill the deleted supplies.

4. Plan ahead – Eat before you go

One of the best ways to not be tempted to splurge is fill yourself up before you head to the party. There is a good chance your party will have some foods that you can eat, but there will still be lots of temptations. Take some time to eat before you go and it will decrease your appetite and cravings.

5. Use a smaller plate

Part of weight loss is psychology. Most of us were taught as a kid to clear your plate. Horrible advice by the way. When you arrive at the party and start filling up your plate there is a good chance you are going to eat everything on your plate. So grab a smaller plate.

6. Do not drink your calories

Stay away from the soda and load up on water. If you are drinking alcohol look at wine which is a much healthier selection than a margarita or other mixed drink. Your calories are going to add up quickly, do not make the matter worse by downing a huge glass of calories. I can assure you they are not on any weight loss program.

7. Go heavy on protein and veggies

I went to my first Christmas party of the season and as much as I planned ahead to eat before I went, work got in the way and I arrived home just in time to leave for the party. So when I arrived at the party and it was time to eat, I surveyed the surroundings and knew my options were very limited. Luckily there was two large plates of turkey and a very large pan of ham. My plate was about 1/2 ham and turkey and the other half was filled with cauliflower tomato bake and squash. So when in doubt go with hearty helpings of protein and vegetables.

8. Sample small

If you are in the weight loss phase of your life and trying to get back in shape resist the sweets at all costs. If you are in a staying in shape phase and you really want to try some of those sweets, sample small pieces. You do not need to drink the eggnog, snack on M&M’s then try the cherry pie and cake. Just going for one small piece of your favorite treat will satisfy the craving and not cause your body too much damage.

9. Blog – Facebook – Google+ it

Maybe you need some help from your friends and family. They can help hold you accountable if you ask them for help. Tell your friends what you are doing and then continue to update them with a blog, Facebook updates or Google+, whichever is your preferred method.

10. Bonus tip

Go ahead in the comments below and let me know your favorite tips. What do you recommend to get through the holidays without gaining weight?

Lisa Johnson, one of my favorite fitness bloggers also has a list, some similar, some much different