This week, we’re refreshing our tried and true Margin in Christmas series! Each day you can expect to see a blog post exploring a different way to peacefully practice Christmas. Don’t want to miss a post? Sign up for notifications here.
Here’s a fun stat Caroline from Fit for His Glory shared the other day. Americans gain between 7-12 lbs in November and December! Ouch! I can’t help but think that as we make all these goals to live healthier and workout in January, we pretty much sabotage any momentum we could have before we even get started. I know for me personally, if I feel like I have a long way to go, I lose motivation to take the first step.
I think sometimes we expect ourselves to know to just “eat healthy” or “eat less sweets” but the holidays are like walking through a minefield of temptation. We need a better plan. And since I’m not a health expert, I won’t even pretend to give you a ton of advice.
Take it away Meredyth! 🙂
Hi!! I am Meredyth Fletcher and I live in Houston Texas. I am a full believer that how we fuel ourselves directly impacts our daily lives and our ministries. I love bringing people into that and teaching about the power behind fueling our bodies with nutrient dense whole foods as a way of ushering in whole health and full body healing in every area of our lives: mind, body and soul. Here are my favorite tips!
1. Choose when you are going to indulge. If you’re going out of town for five days, decide before you have to decide when you’re going to participate in a Christmas Feast with friends and family and then make your choice in advance to enjoy it and then let it go. You don’t have to eat like every day is Christmas.
2. There is a healthy version of any “indulgent” food that you love . . . try finding it on the internet and turning it into a fun family event over the holiday break. That way you can still feel like you’re indulging without the guilt.
3. Start every day with a nutrient-dense breakfast that includes a clean protein and a healthy fat, so that you’re immediately fueling your body with good, nutritious food and staying fuller longer so that you’re less tempted to graze on peanut butter balls at 10am.
4. Do not skip meals just in preparation for a feast. This will cause you to be more hungry, over-indulge and feel bad in general. Skipping meals also causes dips in blood sugar, which causes mood swings and unwanted hunger that can linger for hours and even an entire day.
5. Remember . . . Just because there is food in front of you, doesn’t mean you have to indulge. Pick your top few favorite foods and decide to indulge in only those and let the rest just be something you taste without inviting guilt and shame. It’s okay to enjoy food.
6. Consider what is on the table just because of tradition alone. If there is a meaningful side dish that has been in the family for years and you love it, it’s probably okay to enjoy it. If something is on the table for the sake of tradition and you don’t even really like it . . . you just eat it to eat it, stop and think about why you’re doing that to yourself and don’t. It’s not worth it and it causes unnecessary regret.
7. Remember that it’s important to continue your healthy daily habits in the middle of a Holiday break. Just because you’re fully enjoying one meal doesn’t mean you have to stop drinking water, and/or taking your supplements for 5 days and spend two weeks trying to get back to normal. Christmas is one day. Christmas vacation may last longer, but the food indulgence doesn’t have to.
8. After a big meal, throw out food that you know you won’t eat or don’t want to eat. It’s okay to throw half a pie away.
9. Wake up on Christmas day and move your body! Go for a run, or a walk . . . anything that gets your body moving. This will help you feel better all day long.
10. Drink lots and lots of water. This will help your body process the foods that you do eat.
Val again. 🙂 I love these tips. I asked for 5 or so and she sent more for me to pick from and I thought they were all important to share!! I would totally follow Meredyth if you need more consistent pep talks!
COMING NEXT: Margin in Giving
MISSED THESE?
Leave a Reply
Comments (0)