How to Survive the Holidays Without Gaining Weight

Every year, the talking heads, magazines, and fitness gurus say that you’d better eat skinless turkey breast out of tupperware if you don’t want to pack on the pounds during the holidays.

“Control your portions… dodge desserts… and eat low-fat gravy products!” they chirp.

That doesn’t sound like any fun. I say go out and enjoy yourself.

In fact, I insist. Pour some gravy out for me.

In this blog post, I’m going to explain how you can have your cake (and eat it, too).

“But the holidays always make me fat!”

Research, rumor, and anecdotal evidence predicts that we’ll each gain between 1-10 pounds over the holidays.

And we believe it, given the nutmeggy amazingness wafting in from the kitchen, the Christmas cookies, the cocktails, the pies… mmm pie.

We promise ourselves to be “disciplined this year” and vow to dodge all the desserts… then we drink a couple cocktails, polish off the pumpkin pie, and feel guilty and fat for the rest of the month.

Why? Instead of being proactive about holiday decision-making we react after the damage has been done.

Why do we overeat during the holidays?

When family is close, drama isn’t far behind, and suddenly that jug of eggnog looks especially cuddly. Emotional eating ensues.

Food gets personal. Many a family member and friend will question your decisions if ancestral, Wild, or paleo eating isn’t “normal” or “healthy” in their worldview. In most cases, our family members want what’s best for us. They also think they know what’s best for us.

“What’s wrong with you? You’ve always loved fruitcake!”

(No, you didn’t.)

You’ll take some flack for politely declining your Aunt Nelly’s fruitcake – bless her heart for making it for you – but if you don’t want to eat it, you don’t have to.

Really.

Remember, you always have a choice – you have 100% free agency over every morsel that crosses your lips.

If you don’t enjoy the heck out of what you eat, there’s no point in stuffing it down your gullet.

How to enjoy the holidays without getting a Santa-belly

• Focus on satiety: During the big meals focus on eating to get full, not stuffed. You don’t need to be counting calories or analyzing the ingredients, just chill out and load your plate up with 80-90% meats and veggies – foods that will satisfy you – then leave a little room to have a treat or two. If your meal satisfies you, you’ll be much less likely to overeat.
• Know your trigger foods: acknowledge which foods might trigger a binge episode and eat something else instead.
• Plan to indulge, but not to the point of sickness: Plan to indulge and eat your favorite foods, but dedicate yourself to enjoying the process, not fearing what might happen. Plan to eat a cookie or two, savor them, then move on. Planning to indulge eliminates anxiety, reduces guilt, and allows for a balanced to eating and drinking.
• Separate your emotions from food: The holidays are stressful. Don’t use food to cope. In your plan, figure out what you’re going to do when something stresses you out. How about a relaxing walk? A spot o’ tea? A Will Ferrell movie? Whatever you do, don’t impulse-grab at a plate of cookies and shove them in your face. Not worth it.
• Relax and enjoy yourself: Be merry. Good vibes are contagious.

Here’s the best way to plan your holiday meals

Eat the best healthy real, Wild, wholesome foods you can find, and leave some wiggle room for a few of your favorite treats.

Fill up in this order:

• Fibrous, colorful veggies
• Formidable portions of protein (it won’t make you fat, I promise)
• Whole-food fats
• Everything else (even a treat or two)

With a proactive approach – a plan and the right mindset – I bet you won’t gain a pound.

And remember, if you do overeat or “accidentally” binge on cookies, use that food energy to fuel a killer workout. You may even build some muscle.

Play outside, get your pump on, or hit the slopes and ride your sugar high down the mountain.

Be active and use the cookie calories for good, not evil.

Be active and use the cookie calories for good. Share on X

But even if you do gain a pound or two, never fear! You know where to find me. 🙂

Need Delicious Holiday Recipes That Will Help You Stay Lean?

If you want Paleo-friendly, low-sugar, low-carb and truly delicious fat-burning holiday recipes, check out our Ultimate Wild Cookbook Bundle packed with 10 Wild cookbooks to help you shed fat and feel great while enjoying satisfying feasts and delectable treats.

Here’s what you have to look forward to…

Fat-Burning Holiday Feasts Meal Plan

30 days of done-for-you meal plans featuring fat-burning strategies to help you stay lean during the holidays while enjoying ridiculously tasty feasts, snacks and treats.

With over 70+ recipes for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Dessert, you’ll be feasting like a rock star this holiday.

Looking for foolproof holiday feasts that are perfectly put together and filled with heavenly healthy goodness? We are talking about no gluten, low sugar, real food recipes that will have everyone coming back for seconds.

This is the ultimate holiday meal plan to help you stay lean while enjoying real food feasts that you can share with family and friends.

You get weekly and daily menu overviews, shopping lists, quick and easy recipes with beautiful color photographs, defrost and prep ahead instructions—everything has been planned out for you!

Here’s a taste of some of the recipes in the Holiday Feasts Meal Plan…

Wild Holiday Desserts

20+ Wild holiday desserts that feature low-sugar, gluten-free, and many dairy-free recipes made with real food.

At the holiday dessert table, the best defense is a good offense. So, instead of fighting it, run with it.

You can enjoy a big slice of pie during the holidays with one of our super-easy, gluten-free, Wild recipes that will have everyone coming back for seconds.

Pie, cookies, cheesecake, brownies, holiday dessert breads, ice cream, donuts and more await you.

Feast your eyes on a few of the recipes in the Wild Holiday Desserts Cookbook…

Fat-Burning Chef

150+ ridiculously good recipes from 28 of the top kitchens in Paleo and beyond.

Allergy-friendly recipes, including quick links to dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sugar-free, raw vegan and vegetarian recipes.

Check out this sampling of the recipes you’ll find in the Fat-Burning Chef Cookbook…

You’ll get a total of 10 cookbooks when you grab the Ultimate Wild Cookbook Bundle today, plus I’m also including 3 surprise bonuses.

And since it’s the holidays we’ve slashed the price and are knocking 75% off the price when you enter this promo code at checkout: HOLIDAYS75

But hurry! This HUGE discount on our holiday bundle will be over soon.

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What do you do to stay lean during the holidays? Leave your comment below.