Why Waiting to Start on Your Health Goals Until After the Holidays is a Horrible Idea (Like the Worst Ever)

Wow, can you believe it’s already basically November???

With the holidays around the corner, many of you are probably considering putting off your health goals until the New Year.  Reason being, you think it’s a waste of time to try to get started on a health program with all of the holiday food, travel, and distractions in the way.

Let me tell you why starting your health and fitness goals NOW, and not in January, is actually your best bet.

The Holidays Are a Small Fraction of the Next 2 Months

For one, let’s be completely honest here.  The holidays include Halloween (if you celebrate), Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.  New Year’s Day if you celebrate that too.  That’s 6 days.  Out of 61.  That’s 53 more days you could be using to get ahead of your goals.  

Disclaimer: I have to admit that I am not familiar with how the other holidays that occur around this time celebrate.  Maybe you do celebrate for more than 6 days.  I will argue that if you are celebrating for more than 6 days, I really hope you aren’t going balls to the wall crazy with food on all those days.

Even if you eat like trash for 6 days, you still have 53 other days to get on point with your nutrition.  And it will make a difference.  You are going to enjoy those 6 days whether you spend the other 53 working on your health or not.  As a healthcare professional, I personally feel that people use the holidays as an excuse to eat whatever they want for 2 months straight.  And to not care.  And to pretend that it doesn’t matter because it’s the holidays and life goes back to normal in January.  It’s quite frankly an excuse to be lazy.  It’s unnecessary and it’s unhealthy.

And the harsh truth is come January 1st, you’re either closer to your goals or starting farther away from them.

Having a Plan Helps Calm Anxiety During Busy Stressful Times

There’s nothing that eases the overwhelmed mind like having a good plan in place.  When it comes to your health and nutrition, having a solid game plan removes the burden of “What do I eat?  Is this enough?  Too much?  Should I have that third brownie?  Which appetizers can I have?  Which entree should I choose? I have to cook Christmas dinner and I have no idea what I should make?  Are any of these cocktail drinks low cal?  What should I even look for in a cocktail drink? Should I go for a run this morning?”  What to eat, when, what to do for exercise, how to structure meals, portion sizes.  These are all pieces that your healthcare provider should be able to direct you on when helping you create your game plan, goals, and holiday strategy.  And just eliminating all those questions in your head should help ease anxiety and allow you to actually enjoy yourself more this holiday season.

If You Can Follow a Plan During Holiday Season, You Can Follow a Plan All Year

And building these habits my friends, takes training yourself to do. It takes effort.  It takes discipline.  And above all else, it takes making a decision.  But once you've made the decision to get healthy, avoiding temptation gets easier. How serious are you about taking control of your health?  Weight loss is not any easier physiologically during the rest of the year than it is during  holiday season.  I think people get overwhelmed mentally at this time of the year and any extra “task” becomes an “I’ll deal with it in the New Year.”  And hey, I get it!  The holidays can be a lot!  But this is where a healthcare professional can come in to really help you.  They teach you what habits to adopt and help you figure out how to implement them into your life, once you've decided that this is what you want to do.  They basically take the thought work out of it for you and just guide you on what to do (with your input, feedback, and approval of course).  Which saves you time and mental energy.  You no longer have to think about it, you just do it. Isn’t that a stress relief?  If you take the 53 days where you aren’t celebrating, and implement the plan your provider creates with you, while there are temptations all around you, you are making progress on your goals, you are building your self control and discipline.  And you are choosing your path. And you will need this for forever moving forward as you continue on with your health goals.

Having a Nutrition Plan in Place During the Holidays Helps You Make Better Holiday Food Decisions, While STILL Enjoying in the Festivities

Here’s another really important piece of advice.  You can have holiday treats and still lose weight.  You can have holiday treats and still progress on your health goals.  You can enjoy the family dinners.  You can enjoy pumpkin spice lattes and peppermint mochas.  The key is knowing how to incorporate these foods into an overall healthy eating plan that takes into consideration your needs.  A registered dietitian like myself can help you with this.  And this is soooo important long term.  Because you want to live a life that allows you to enjoy the things you love, and you want to be healthy and see progress while doing so!  And, you 100% can.  And you should.  It all comes down to portion control for YOUR needs, and what types of foods you are including for the rest of your meal, your day, and your week.

What better time to learn how than the holidays.

And the best part?  Come January 1st, you will be so much closer to your goals than if you would have waited.  Who needs New Year’s resolutions?  Truth be told, science has proved that they don’t stick anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️♡.