How to Survive Holiday Cravings

Trying to get healthy is difficult enough - did they have to throw in the stresses of family and holiday and running around and ...and....and...oh my gosh, Grandma's cookies?!?? We miss her sooo much, and we LOVED those cookies.... So, what do we do to survive these cravings during the holidays? I mean it is the holidays, right?

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Water
• A support group or friend
• Shoes, bike, car, or other mode of transport
• An ounce of prevention
• A pound of perseverance
• A ton of forgiveness

1. 1. Have an emergency plan.
   When you can't avoid giving in to the cravings and do start to nibble on those things you want to avoid the most, activate this list of things to do: STOP AT 3 (3 cookies, 3 candied things) if you do indulge; CALL A FRIEND or check online with a support group who can give you encouragement to drink some water instead and wait 15 minutes to see if you can control the craving; LEAVE THE HOUSE: take a walk or a drive. A walk is good because it also increases your metabolism. Be gone for at least 15 minutes. If you go on a drive, drink water and go where there is no food - the gym or the library or a walk in a park/woods.

2. Increase your exercising during the week by 5-15 minutes a day. This will increase your weekly exercising by 30-45 minutes and help stoke the rate at which your metabolic rate burns off the bad stuff. Varying your exercise routine will also help with this, as will adding some form of strength (muscle) training, like lifting heavy cans of yams or 5 lb bags of sugar in smooth repetitive motions (like weights).

3. Increase your water - add 2-3 cups a day. Not only will this help you feel fuller when you eat, it helps hydrate your skin during these drier months and keeps your nostrils more lubricated as well.

4. Make extra portions for yourself of things you can have on your program and reward yourself by having more of those and limiting your other indulgences.

5. After the holidays end, it's time to stop indulging in the carbs and sweets you couldn't resist. But, with the added exercising and water, your body (and metabolism) will be kick-started for the upcoming swimsuit season and the exercising that precedes it in January and February, and the pounds will start pouring off. The extra work you did kept your weight at an even keel during the holidays. So forgive yourself any indulgences,and get back to your groove.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're short on time, take the 5 minutes to run up and down the stairs somewhere or dance like crazy in the kitchen when a great song comes on (they're only about 3 minutes - I did 3 different songs during the big bake-a-thon).
• To drink 2-3 more cups a day, drink another cup when you wake up, one while you dance or run the stairs (after you finish) and another before you go to bed, or wherever you can find the time to get another one down. Also, check out the link below to my other article on How to Drink More Water.
• I like veal sauteed with mushrooms and asparagus and maybe crab meat (veal oscar). I use chicken breasts usually for this, and parmesan and egg for the "breading" and maybe italian seasoning. Leftovers can go into an omelet for breakfast the next day and it's really a snap to whip up a one-person hollandaise sauce. Then again, I follow low-carb dieting. Find whatever fits your dietary plans.
• When going for a drive or walk, avoid the mall, Target, Wal-mart and any other store that has food in or around it - the smells won't help you even if you think you could kill two birds with one stone by getting some errands done.

Resources

• Personal blog on how the author lost 40 lbs through commitment, water, exercise, a diet program, and a support network
• How to Drink More Water (an eHow Article)

[xopinkdiamondz]

on 5/30/2009 Holiday food is definitely the best! Especially Thanksgiving! It's so yummy! Thanks for your great article! 5***** Good article on limiting your cravings!

[jenng]

on 4/22/2009 gREAT ARTICLE ON HOW TO SURVIVE HOLIDAY CRAVINGS 5*

[FrazzledNanny]

on 3/29/2009 Thanks for the great tips. I crave everything we're having for a holiday meal. I started getting a bite of everything and IF I go back for seconds, I only need a second bite of somethings. 5*

[sonni57]

on 3/17/2009 We all need this one holiday cravings are hard to overcome.

[mommyhen42]

on 3/17/2009 Great tips, it is so hard to behave when there is soooo much good food! Thank you for the reminders