Shed For the Holidays Tip #1

Goooood Monday morning!

I hope you all had lovely weekend!  I’m sure you did something holiday-related; it’s hard to deny the fact that things are pretty much in full holiday swing!

Given that the next six weeks are going to involve a lot of eating, drinking, and merrymaking for most of us, I decided to start posting my best tips for staying healthy, so you can be bubbly and sparkly like the little ornament (or star of David) that you are!

My first tip is one that you can put into practice this Thursday when you celebrate Thanksgiving: wear your favorite jeans!

Many of us know we are going to leave Thanksgiving dinner pregnant with a massive food baby, so we plan ahead and wear leggings with long, forgiving sweaters or tunics. When our head says, “I think I’m full,” our elastic waistband says, “What?! Bring on more mashed potatoes and gravy, there’s plenty of room in here!” Yep. Been there, done that. When leggings got trendy, we all got really, really lucky. Suddenly, we could essentially wear sweatpants to dinner. It totally made it seem like we were dressed up, when in reality, we were ignoring our expanding waistlines in the name of fashion.

This year, I’m planning to enjoy my food, but I want to make sure the turkey is the only one at the table who is stuffed. And I’ll do that by wearing jeans (or dress pants or a skirt with a zipper)! That fly pressing against your tummy just serves a little reminder that actually your stomach isn’t meant to hold three types of pie on any given night.

So pick a pair that fits comfortably — you don’t have to squeeze into skinny jeans, but do yourself a favor and leave your PMS pants in the closet — and wear them any time you know you might be tempted. Going out for dinner and drinks with your cousins Wednesday night? Doing a Black Friday brunch? Wear the jeans! It’s a good way to make sure you don’t become the Octomom of food babies and keep yourself in check throughout the season. Do I want to step on the scale when I’m regularly ingesting carbs and white sugar? Um, ya know, I’d rather not…but I can commit to slipping into the same pair of jeans once a week.

Is it fun to face reality? Not always. But sometimes the only thing that will get me to put down the gingerbread latte and pick up some dumbbells is knowing my jeans are getting snug. And the way I see it, the more I get into those pants, the more likely someone else is going to want to on New Year’s Eve.

Have a great day!

Tagged as: Christmas, denim, Diet, fashion, food baby, holidays, mindful eating, moderation, overeating, Thanksgiving