Here are 5 ways to get through Thanksgiving without gaining weight. Typically, people gain 10-20lbs during the holiday season
Real quick though!! If you’re coming from my email newsletter, you already have tip #1 read. You can click this button to skip ahead
If you’re NOT part of my email newsletter, but want the best tips to thrive sent right to your email inbox twice a week, click the button below.
Now that the email business is outta the way, let’s get down to Turkey day and how to avoid gaining weight during the holidays!
The first thing we need to do is be clear about what we mean by gaining weight during Thanksgiving. Full honesty, if you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday night, then you will weigh more on Friday morning than you did on Wednesday morning 99% of the time. This is because of increased food inside your body (pre-bowel movements) and the increased water retention from more carbs and salt.
I’m okay with that. The only way to avoid that is to be lame and skip Holidays, which is NOT one of the tips on the list. I believe healthy habits should ultimately ADD to your life, not take away through excess sacrifice.
So when I saw we won’t gain weight this Thanksgiving, I mea that these are tips to ensure you weight the same Wednesday, December 4th as you did on Wednesday, November 27th. Thanksgiving will come and go with no lasting impact on your weight or waistline.
Tip #1: Take a Weekly Average
You are ultimately the average of the habits you’ve had up until this point. Your habits are your destiny, and we’re wise to focus on healthy habits.
We oftentimes get a little hyper focused on daily habits though. We live and die by each individual day, when that’s not necessarily accurate when we take a larger time perspective. Sometimes we expect the first salad we ate today to offset the months of junk food we had, and sometimes we think the extra slice of cake will undo the week of healthy eating.
Individual days do matter, but they are wildly offset by the average of weeks and months. We can take advantage of that by having the week of Thanksgiving average and cancel out the day of Thanksgiving.
Below, I give a general example of what that would look like. But ultimately, a massive feast in the middle can be offset by trimming a bit before and after. For example, a 2,000 Calorie day, each day, will result in 14,000 Calories in a week. If you went hog-wild and more than doubled that at the Thanksgiving feast and had 4,200 Calories, by trimming a small 700 calories for a few days before and after, your weekly total can still end in 14,000 Calories.
Tip #2: Keep NEPA High by Tracking Steps
Thanksgiving and holidays hit us in the gut in two different ways. The food intake is super high around feasts, but family time also leads to a decrease in physical activity.
We spend time huddled on the couch, going to movies, playing board games, etc. We stay in with loved ones. (It’s also colder outside this time of year)
And that crushes our NEPA (Non-Exercise Physical Activity). When NEPA gets low, waistlines grow.
A simple counter to this is simply to track and monitor your daily steps. Although Steps aren’t the end-all, be-all for NEPA, it is an easy way to notice trends.
Keep tracking steps and hit your step goals, even during the holidays like Thanksgiving to prevent excess weight gain.
Tip #3: Keep Holiday Feasts to ONE day
Why cut off your whole arm just because a fingernail got chipped?
1 day in a month is only 3% of the entire month.
If you had healthy habits that worked towards your goals and your wellness 97% of the time, how much harm do you think 1 day could possibly cause?
Not a lot, right?
The issue is when a holiday becomes a week, or 25% of the month. Now you’re only left with 75% of your results? Not amazing.
Or worse, what most people do, is let the feast take over the whole month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Or even Halloween to New Years… Then you have a huge chunk of the entire year working against you.
You don’t need to be perfect (100%) to be successful, but if you can keep the holiday to a day or two (3-6% of the month), then you will still have a high level of success.
Honestly, of all the tips on this list, this is the one I’m going to use the most. I don’t care about eating well on a holiday because I know I did well 90% of the month. A day won’t hurt me or my waistline.
Tip #4: Create a Backup Plan
Holidays throw off our mojo. We travel, we host, we have different foods, gyms close…
Our routines go to shit and our waistlines pay the price.
This is where backup plans come in handy! My CLIENTS get travel workout guides. A few no-equipment options that allow them to stay active even when life throws them a curveball. I also teach about backup meals to make in a jiffy when life continues to throw curveballs.
By having a “next best” option or even “eh, good enough” options when life gets chaotic, we can ensure we keep doing small things that move us at least a little towards our goals instead of the exact opposite direction.
Tip #5: Drink plenty of water to aid digestion
So you’re gonna eat a lot of foods in both types and amounts you’re not used to. It’s gonna shock the gut.
Sometimes we get excess bloating and indigestion because of that. Which, apart from being uncomfortable, also expands the waist and adds some weight to the scale.
One tip that’s effective at helping prevent this and help food run its course through the body and out is by simply drinking plenty of water.
Added bonus to this tip, staying hydrated will help you feel full sooner in the feast decreasing the amount you want to eat without actually asking you to sacrifice the meal.
Enjoy Thanksgiving!! Fully
I will never poo-poo on a holiday or tell people to sacrifice happy time with loved ones just to stay skinny or be fit. I love food and laughter WAY too much for that kinda bullshit.
That being said, we also don’t need to let Thanksgiving ruin our waist and weight. These 5 tips will help you stay on track and on goal this season.
!!Black Friday Sneak Peek!!
Hey! While you’re here, just want to encourage you to support small businesses this Black Friday. Corporate CEOs don’t need another Yacht with your christmas gift money, but small business owners often do more good especially in your local area with that same gift money.
If you’re curious about my small business black Friday special, I’ll give you a sneak peek before talking about it widely on Social Media
This year, I’m selling gift certificates to my group coaching program at 90% OFF
That means my 6-month coaching program that’s normally $600, you can gift to someone else and only spend $60.
Here are the rules though… Gift Certificates have to be gifted to someone else (not you to yourself) and you can only buy two.
If you’d like to buy someone the gift of health and look like a rockstar handing out $600 gifts this year (for only $60), please email me Steven@ThrivingBody.Fit for more details. You can also message me on Facebook if that’s easier too.
