Holiday Lessons

I started writing this post earlier from the perspective that the holidays derail us…on our diets, on our budgets, on whatever it is we are working on. The holidays (from Thanksgiving through New Year’s) give us a license to eat, to shop and to well, just put our feet up. When I started writing however, I realized I was blaming the holidays for my errant behaviors this season.

And that’s not entirely fair. No one put the cookies in my mouth or tied me into my snuggly warm bed so I couldn’t get to the gym in the morning. No one held a gun to my head in the stores  to buy those extra presents when I had bills to pay, or to wait until January to get that important project started that’s going to make me my millions.

Nope. I did it all by myself. And I realized today that I let myself fall into the holiday hype trap. Tis the season to be merry and all that. And come January 1, it’s time to reset life so it’s ok to indulge during the holidays, right? Yeah, not so much.

Now, this year, I did put more thought into what I was and wasn’t doing most of the time. I was more careful with the present buying. And I watched what I ate on most of the days and got workouts in, even if they weren’t as regular as I would have liked. But I still indulged more than I needed to or should have.

I can hear you now… “So you indulged, you’ll get back on track.” “You’ve set your goals. You’ll be fine!” “It was the holidays. We all deserve a break, especially this year.” (I know because I have said all of these things to myself over the past couple of weeks.)

And while all of those things might be true, for someone like me where food is an issue, it’s not as easy to get back on track. I’m learning that this weekend. I wake up every morning with good intentions, but by the end of the day, well, let’s just say my follow-through hasn’t been stellar.

All along on my fitness/get healthy plan, I haven’t denied myself foods that I love. But I’ve learned portion control. And  I have found acceptable substitutes for some of my more triggery foods and I don’t keep the triggery foods in the house with the exception of special occasions. And this has kept me on track so far. In these last couple of weeks, however, I’ve given in to more of the trigger foods– in the supermarket as well as the kitchen– and I strayed some from my healthier alternatives. And now, the alternatives just don’t seem as appealing.

Pretty soon, I’ll have purged all of those cravings and indulgences from my system. This isn’t the first time I’ve strayed from my plan, although it might be the longest. The holiday foods are almost out of the house and have been replaced with healthy choices. I’ll get back to my regular exercise routine because race season will be here before we know it.

I will drop the now four pounds I’ve gained from holiday feasting, and hopefully get back on the fast track to my goal. I know I will because not doing so is no longer acceptable to me. I like feeling strong and healthy. Anything else is just not an option.

What did I learn?

I learned that the holidays didn’t derail my efforts as I had started to write in my original post. I did that and used the holidays as an excuse.

I learned that while I may not always make the exact right choices along the way, I do still have the control… over what I eat, how I move and how I feel.

I learned that I may slip once in a while, but I will always get back on the path to good health because I like the way it feels, much more so than not feeling healthy.

As the holidays start next year, I will re-read this post. I will remember how I felt on this day, and I will have a holiday season where I control the cookies (and all the other goodies), not the other way around.

Tags: Fitness, healthy eating, holiday indulgence, Weight Loss