Let’s talk about how to recover from the holidays. Holidays tend to be full of tradition surrounded with fun food and drink, so having a plan before hand at how you are going to approach it is important.
We always tell our clients to focus their plan around their goals and how what they choose to do will affect those goals. There is no right or wrong way to do it, you just have to be realistic about what action you take and how it affects your body. If it’s just one event for the weekend – ask yourself if it’s a memories over macros (MOM) moment and a worthy miss. This can be based on the company you are seeing, frequency of events you have going on, and/or your short term goals. If it’s multiple events, one suggestion is to pick one miss and then offer to bring food or pre-eating for the event that will be the easiest to stay on track for. It isn’t realistic to hit 3 events in a weekend taking in 500+ extra calories of Aunt Susan’s famous cookies, BBQ and adult beverages, and not have it affect the progess for the next week or more. If it’s a MOM moment, and you are going to miss with food and drink, I recommend front loading your day with protein, hydrating adequately and saving those carbs and fats for the party. Stay on track the first few meals of the day and then enjoy the event. The next few days, do not be a slave to the scale and get back on the clean food with lots of water train. Take accountability for the choice you made and how it will affect your progress. Real life is about give and take vs 110% or nothing. I always like to offer to bring a side dish or veggie tray/salad so that I know that I’ll be getting something “healthy-ish” in for that block of time.The coaches put together a list of tips for drinking when it comes to drinking at these events.
Alcohol Holiday Tips:
- Drink 16oz of water minimum between drinks.
- Choose wisely- margaritas are full of sugar, a spiked seltzer or vodka soda is a better option. Don’t use drinking as an excuse to mindlessly eat. Read Tracking Macros and Alcohol for more suggestions.
- Pick a number of drinks and stick to it. Don’t let “I’ll have 2” turn into 4 or 5. Leave the all or nothing mentality. Just because you’re enjoying drinks on the holiday day doesn’t mean you have to be an idiot with your nutrition/choices.
- Just because everyone else is drinking doesn’t mean you have to. Stand your ground. Nobody cares about your personal nutrition choices.
All of this will depend on your season of life, and you’re the only one that can decide if drinking is worth it or not. We’re all in different areas of our journey so if you think drinking is worth it over the holiday weekend, you need to own it and move forward. This program takes a lot of critical self reflection and as coaches we are here to be your mirror. We hold you accountable and support you through your choices.
In closing, keep these words form an SFM client in mind. “I don’t regret any of the alcohol I’ve passed up in the past. There isn’t one instance I can look back on and think I wish I would have had another beer or cocktail. I’m thankful for all of the “in the moment sacrifices” I made because I feel so good now.” -SFM Ninja Chelsea
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