Holiday meal planning is at the top of everyone’s list to keep us accountable through these next two weeks. Being busy is one reason we fail to plan and start to go off the program. Over the next few days, it is important to make a meal/event plan to help you stay as close to your program as possible, while still enjoying time within your bubble and not feeling left out!
Click on the link to download EWYN’s handy weekly meal prep. I would print a couple of copies so we can see how the upcoming week looks. Look at your week, do you do something special for Christmas Eve or Boxing Day? Christmas Dinner is easy if we prepare for it, but sometimes it is the extra baking and goodies that can cause challenges. Now that you can see which days are going to be the biggest hurdles plan your cheat meal day! Try to keep this to one meal and follow the Christmas survival guide your coaches prepared for you to help you through the day!
Your personal health coach has handy “eat this instead” recipes that may help you through the next few weeks. For example, egg nog and gingerbread treats that are not as high in calories or fat as traditional recipes. These recipes will help you be a part of the festivities without jeopardizing your progress. Ask your coach to help you with how to get through the challenging days, they have lots of great ideas, so do not be afraid to be honest and tell them where you are going to struggle the most.
Keeping everyone busy and not just eating for the next few weeks is crucial! Plan some fun crafts, (check out Dollarama and DIY crafts on Facebook) Include the kids in some healthy snack prep, for example, grape Santa’s, a festive fruit tray and cookie cutter pizzas.
The holidays are always a challenge and this year we have the added stress of the pandemic. You may start to feel overwhelmed knowing the next two weeks are going to be tough. There is always going to be something that will stand in your way of success, the secret is not to let these things derail you We can all come up with lots of excuses as to why we cannot eat healthy, exercise or meal prep. I think if we just take some time to plan out how we are going to tackle these situations we can all come out unscathed! Will we mess up, sure, will we be perfect, of course not. At the end of the day you are going to be so proud of yourself for keeping your eye on the prize, don’t be one of the statistics that gain 7-10 pounds over the holiday. Most people do not lose that weight until April, if ever!
Take some time this weekend to have a look at the next two weeks and see how you are going to come out of this. The reality is, if you plan, even if you are not able to follow that plan 100%, you will still manage to do better than you would without a plan. There is a saying: “Reach for the moon, even if you miss you will land among the stars” Each and everyone of you are stars in our eyes!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, we are proud of you for how far you have come this year, you lost weight in a pandemic! Pat yourselves on the backs and go into 2021 crushing goals and being the strong, amazing people that you have proven that you are this year!
Your EWYN Family