Are you feeling sluggish and frustrated after all the festive overeating?

Don’t worry. You are not alone.

My work as a coach has revealed one important trend – most women, typically fall off the “health wagon” over holidays and gain weight.

Overeating can leave you feeling far from festive, especially if you have gained weight. 

If you are craving to restart your health engine in 2020, READ ON…

Possible Causes of Weight Gain during the Holiday Period.

Many people throw all rationality out the window over the festive season and just go with the flow and think to themselves, “I am on holidays and I deserve this”.

And typically, at this time people have a more carefree lifestyle, meals at parties are prepared, and social gatherings are more frequent, which exposes them to situations that increase food intake: 

• Greater variety of foods.
• High-energy dense foods.
• Bigger portion sizes.
• Eating in company.
• Plus less physical activity during holidays.

So where to from here?

When you fall off the “health wagon”, you have two choices:

• You can choose to forgive yourself and summon up the courage to get back on again. This will bring you success in the long term.

OR

• Your other choice is wallowing in self-pity and regret. Regret keeps you in the “victim” mentality and takes away your power!

Which path will you choose?

Today is a NEW beginning so dust off your festive shoes….

In this article, I will help you step away from the chocolate by getting started on achievable steps that will have you feeling healthy — starting now.

Step 1 – Accept your current reality 

Begin with forgiving yourself and letting go of guilt.

Acknowledge and accept your current reality and get ready to move on. 

• Use your “set back” as an opportunity to reflect on how you will move forward.
• Use the way you feel to fuel your progress and start taking specific actions to get back in control and get your power back
• Write a commitment letter to yourself:

Here is an example: “Dear body: “I’m sorry I’ve treated you this way, feeding you unhealthy foods and not taking good care of you. I promise to do better and get you back to the best condition you can be, together we can do it!”

Step 2 – Create an easy-to-follow plan.

The key to your success is creating a plan that is easy to follow.

Your plan should have the right goals and incentives to make you feel motivated.

Is the plan you currently follow leaving you exhausted and requires ill power and discipline?

If it is, simplify it and make it achievable. 

Remind yourself WHY you are doing this.

Here are some examples:

• You may want to lose weight.
• You may want to have more energy.
• You may want to feel slim and sexy. 
• Or you may want to be more productive.

A. Planning ahead.

One key to achieving goals is creating habits and routines that make success inevitable. If you are taking the right steps, the results will follow.

Planning ahead allows you to be deliberate with your food choices.

Here are some examples:

• Plan your meals
• Create a shopping list.
• Decide what you will be eating on a daily basis, including snacks.
• Decide on food prep days.

B. Focus on healthy eating.

What you eat daily has an impact on your energy and mood.

To improve your daily energy and mood reduce consumption of the following: 

• Processed foods.
• Sugar.
• High glycaemic foods.
• Avoid trans-fats.

Step 3 – Consistency

Consistency is the key to your long-term success! – Do less but do it consistently.

Create systems that allow you to be more consistent with whatever behaviour you’re trying to implement. 

Pick the things you enjoy and you are more likely to be consistent with these with.  

Here are some examples: 

• Create one habit/behaviour at a time and be consistent with it. It will become second nature after a while.
• Set a goal for practicing that particular behaviour.   
• You can use a calendar to track your behaviour over 1 month.
• Reward yourself for being consistent.

And lastly, celebrate your success and achievements on a regular basis, maybe even daily!

When you notice and celebrate your successes you will develop an “I Can Do This” mindset and start to see yourself as someone who is successful rather than someone who’s trying to become successful.

So, go on and celebrate today!

What does this mean for you?

The key to achieving goals is by creating habits and routines that make success inevitable. If you are taking the right steps, the results will follow.

Now I have a question for you…. 

• What small step can you take today to get started with healthy eating?

I would love to hear your feedback, thoughts and any questions you have on this article.  

Please tell me in the comments below.

Does Food Numb Emotional Pain? Here’s How to Find Out