How to navigate the holidays without sacrificing your Health Goals

Stay on Track This Holiday Season: Simple Tips for Enjoying the Festivities Without Derailing Your Health Goals

The holidays are a time for tradition, good food, community, and indulgence – but they can become a minefield for people working on health goals. From endless holiday parties to treats everywhere, it can be difficult to feel holiday cheer when your goals are being attacked from every direction.

Now imagine, you could enjoy the time with friends and family without feeling the guilt or shame of having a cookie or three. Let me show you how to enjoy the festivities without derailing your goals and aspirations.

1. Benjamin Franklin said this – If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. When it comes to preparing for onslaught of holiday food this is the truth! What are you going to do when someone offers you a cookie but you have don’t have room left in your meals for it?  What if you’re offered a treat, you want it, and you’re willing to work it into your day? Simply make a plan for the day! Do you want a treat today, yes or no? If no, practice how to say “No, thank you”. If you feel the need to add an excuse, “No thank you, I’m at my allotted treat consumption for the day” Or “No, thank you, I’m not in the mood.” But, I would like to remind you that “No” is a complete sentence and does not require explanation.

If you want to say yes, this is just as easy as saying No! Say yes to whatever it is that you planned for the day. Just like at halloween, where we pick how many pieces of candy we want to consume, we can use the same practice for the holiday treats. Pick how much, and of what we will say yes to, and then enjoy those choices guilt and shame free. Here is the surprising truth, when we plan for a treat, we are still pointing towards our goal. We are not derailing anything, we are simply taking control of how we show up for ourselves. We define the choice, not the other way around.


2. Don’t skip meals. Seriously, Don’t! This is one of the things that so many people do and think that it’s effective keeping the pounds off. But here is the dirty truth. You are more likely to over indulge when you are extra hungry than when you are eating regularly. When the body is hungry it begins to call for more energy. It will yell for quick energy things like cookies, cakes, and even pretzels, cheese, and peanut butter.

It is better to eat reasonably all day long and then have 1 or two treats for the day rather than skipping meals and eating all the cookies. You will feel better, have more self-control, and pick what you want rather than your stomach calling for things you wouldn’t normally choose.

** I would be remiss in leaving out my clients who have blood sugar issues. Eating every 2/3 hours daily like normal, will go a long way in preventing the blood sugar spikes that are seen when you bypass the fiber for straight sugar this time of year. So prioritize your veggies and proteins, then enjoy your desserts!

3. Savor your food mindfully. I find myself grabbing pieces of food that I love while I’m cooking and yet I never feel quite satisfied. I end up tasting, and tasting, and tasting what I’m making, only to sit down and finally “eat”. You can rack up some calories tasting your food the way most of us do! Several years ago I decided to take everything I picked up to “taste” and put it on a dinner plate to see how much I had consumed. Would you believe it was a whole meal worth of food? I sure couldn’t believe it. The wild part was, I would turn around and plate myself an entire dinner to eat with my family. If you asked me in the moment, I would tell you that I was still hungry!

When you want something delicious take a moment to sit down, slowly chew and savor the food you choose. You will not only connect with the food, but will feel satisfied, and might not even finish. Savoring your food can help you make the connection needed to not over indulge this holiday season. 

4. Give yourself some grace. Listen, we all make odd choices when we are stressed out, and the holidays are stressful. They aren’t bad/good choices they are just choices that point to or point away from our goals. In the holidays we have to work harder to keep our habits pointing towards our goals. So if you have an extra cookie, have grace. If you have an extra serving of your favorite dish have grace. One meal is not going to derail your goals. The best way to get back to pointing towards you goals is to NOT beat yourself up. In an all-or-nothing culture, one step away from the vision is often considered losing, so we jump right into the failure side of the all-or-nothing.

After all, failing perfectly is MUCH easier than sloppy success. So this season I suggest you try having a bit of grace with yourself to honor what you want to eat, and then trying to point to your goal 80% of the time. I think you will be surprised by the outcome! And remember not all goals are about weight loss. This season is about shoring up habits and flexing those choosing muscles not necessarily about seeing the scale dip. You might be surprised by what happens when you focus on the habits rather than the outcome.


No matter what the temptations is this holiday season, you can successfully keep up your healthy living goals by following these tips. For those who successfully navigate the Holiday Season, what’s your go-to healthy holiday tip? Share it in the comments below—I’d love to hear what works for you!