Health

Staying Healthy Over the Holidays

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holidays, party and celebration concept - multiethnic group of happy friends having christmas dinner at home

Handling Challenging Situations: Staying Healthy Over

the Holidays

By Abby Kurth, MPH, MS

Clinical Nutritionist & Wellness Coach

There is one thing to know about situations that will challenge your attempts to stay healthy – they WILL happen, so let go of the idea that all will be smooth sailing. Celebrations, friends encouraging you to “eat more,” or eating when stressed are all situations to watch. Here are a few ideas to help you get through your challenging situation.

 

Know what you want

Mindset: Mindset is everything with any behavior change. Know your pros and cons. Why do you want to stay on your healthy eating/weight management plan? What is the vision of yourself that makes you happy? Research from Yale University found that focusing on your short -or long-term goals activates the rational part of the brain that can inhibit the reward center (the not-so-rational part of our brain that is longing for a double hot fudge sundae with extra whipped cream!). The more you practice using your rational brain, the more temptation-proof it will become. Mindset is SO important that many would say not to even try a new healthy behavior until you have made up your mind. A wishy-washy mindset often leads to giving up. If you rate yourself less than an “8” on a scale of “10” where 10 is, “I really want to try a new healthy behavior,” then keep thinking before doing.

 

Know your cons: Knowing your “cons’ is equally as important as the “pros.” If you are telling yourself, “I want to lose weight,” but are also telling yourself, “I don’t want to give up my favorite foods,” then your brain doesn’t know which to believe. You are being double-minded.

 

Turn Cons into Pros: The brain will believe what you tell it, so make sure that you are thinking supportive thoughts and turn the CONS into PROS. “I can still eat some favorite foods, I just need to limit how much,” or “I may find I don’t like the taste of some of those foods as I bring in healthier foods”. Here’s another example, “I have a special holiday coming up, so there is no use in trying be healthy.” How would it feel if you replaced that statement with “I can plan for the holiday by eating less the day before or after, or by exercising more the day after”.

 

Plan. Plan. Plan Speaking of planning, we already know that challenging situations will come up, so what is your plan for handling those challenging times?

 

The Best Offense is a Good Defense: You’ve heard the adage, “Don’t go to the grocery store hungry”. Well, that goes for the party, the movie, the restaurant, the out-of-town trip, or the (put your own challenging situation here). Plan to have a healthy snack before heading to the tempting situation.

 

Find Your Person and Fire the Others: Other people can help or hinder. Plan on finding a support person you can go to when you are feeling tempted. We all like to help one another, so let someone be your success tool. Practice how you will ask others for support. If another person is limiting your progress, you may need to practice how to say “NO” to that person. Know what you want for yourself and ask others to respect that. Some people like the accountability of an outside person. As a Health and Wellness Coach (and a person who also needs support to stay on track), I know that health coaching is very helpful in identifying and maintaining your health goals.

 

Manage Your Environment: Decide ahead of time how you will manage your environment

(and NOT your environment managing YOU).

  • Remove comfort foods from your pantry and write a reminder to exercise instead of eating when stressed.
  • Bring a healthy dish that you like to celebrations
  • Try a bit of that food so you don’t hurt a friend’s feelings, but fill your plate with healthier options.

 

Conclusion

If you handled a difficult situation better than the last time, give yourself credit for making forward progress. Each situation is an opportunity to learn something new and become stronger and more confident with each success. There, aren’t you glad for those challenging situations now??

 

Abby Kurth, MPH, MS, is a Clinical Nutritionist + Wellness Coach. She is the author of

Wellness is More Than Weight: Easy Steps to Change Your Health Habits and Your Life. The book helps people avoid the pain of preventable disease by taking simple steps to improve their health and feel successful. (Available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle). Other lifestyle information is available at abbykurthnutrition.coach and glutenfreegastronomy.blog