The holiday season should be an enjoyable time of year.  Lots of parties, friends and family gatherings, and tons of food.  Essentially endless amounts of socializing for the last 45 days of the year.  If you’re not careful, you can be like one of the many millions of Americans that gains 10-15 pounds during this time of year.  So how can we strategize to enjoy the holidays, while still living a super healthy and balanced life? Simply put, if you average 3 meals per day for the next 45 days that would equate to 135 meals remaining in 2022.   If we follow the 80/20 rule, that means that you can be “off track” with 27 meals and still be super balanced and living that 80/20 lifestyle.  Let’s dive in.

Step 1
Pick 3-5 days over the next 45 days where anything goes. No diet, no counting calories, just enjoy yourself and your family.  For me I generally stick to 4 days: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.

Step 2
Pick 2-3 days where your diet is on point up until “X” event. Think in terms of Friendsgiving, Holiday parties etc.  On these days you’re essentially living your normal life, and then going out for a singular event where you don’t think about macros or your diet.

Step 3
During the remainder of the 45 days stick to your normal 80/20 lifestyle. Focus on getting 7-8 hours of sleep.  Keep consistent rhythms with movement and exercise, and make sure to stay hydrated.

With the above scenario, picking 5 days with “no diet restrictions” and 3 days with one event, this equates to a total of 18 meals.  Based on the math above you’d still have around 9 meals during the 45 days where things don’t have to be perfect.  You see!  There is plenty of wiggle room to eat and enjoy yourself. When you plan in advance, the likelihood of failure drops significantly.  Pull out your planner and get to work mapping out these days.

You can have the best of both worlds. The holidays are already a stressful time of year for many people, by implementing the above strategy you can take food/health anxiety out of the equation and be sure to stay on track. If you need help with diet and or accountability, please feel free to book a call with me.  I’m happy to help.