How To Stay On Track During The Holidays!

...SIIIIKE!

I won't be telling you how to stick to your stupid diet on Thanksgiving.

I will not be giving you tips on how to stick to your workouts and squeeze in weird at-home workouts when you're visiting family.

I certainly won't be telling you how long you need to run to burn off that slice of pie, or how to balance your Thanksgiving dinner plate with 90% vegetables and 10% "fun" food.

Nope.

I'm here to tell you to eat whatever you want and enjoy it. Take off a week from the gym to spend time with loved ones and forget about the way your body looks for like five seconds.

Last year, I was that person feeling immense guilt over not exercising while I was home seeing family. 

Thanksgiving morning I didn't eat breakfast so that I "could" eat a lot at dinner. And then I inevitably binged on all of the amazing food and then some when in reality, I could have eaten what I wanted and not been sick for three days.

The whole holiday season I stressed about not getting to work out while visiting family and conspired about how I would avoid eating all of the food that I so desperately wanted. (And I failed at avoiding it, because food.)

Whether you come from a past with an eating disorder, you currently struggle with one, or you simply are just influenced by all of the disordered eating patterns and advice in our society right now--the holidays can be tricky.

A time that is supposed to be spent focusing on loved ones, blessings, and enjoying meals and treats turns into a huge struggle.

This year, I don't care.

I'm taking a week off of the gym.

I'm eating whatever the heck I want.

I'm enjoying time with my loved ones and trying my best not to focus on what I look like as a result of not caring what I put into my body.

Don't listen to those plans for detoxing after Thanksgiving or restricting your food intake--don't buy into the notion that you MUST over-exercise or even exercise at all to compensate for the food.

The holidays are fantastic. They're a time to be a little lazy, eat a lot of food, spend time with those who matter, and celebrate life. Enjoy them and move on.

If you're trapped in the mindset that they should be anything other than that--I'm sorry.

If your mind is consumed with calories and burpees and GUILT--I'm sorry. I've been there.

So, how do you stay on track during the holidays?

You don't. You enjoy them. You don't make them ABOUT food, but you do ENJOY food when it's there. 

You don't insist on doing crazy workouts because you feel like you have to. You move if it feels good and you don't force yourself.

You accept that you might gain some weight and move on.

I fully intend on gaining at least five pounds by the end of the year, and I 'aint even mad about it.

I don't agree with "balance." I believe in being happy and carefree and not being self-focused throughout the holiday season.

Think about how great it was when you were little! You ate what you wanted with no guilt or repercussion. 

Food babies are normal. Food comas are to be expected. And embraced.

If you ONLY indulge on the one day of the holiday, that's not going to make you gain 29 pounds. Certainly not. Neither will indulging for the entire week or even the entire winter season.

Your body is a smart cookie. So eat the cookie. Or mashed potatoes and gravy. Eat all the food.