Thanksgiving marks the start of all of the holiday festivities. December is packed with Christmas parties, dinners, yummy holiday treats, like peanut brittle and fudge. What if, instead of doing damage control at the end of the year, we stay on top of it throughout the holiday season.
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The busier people get, the more likely their food choices, will be quick and easy.  Busyness creates a snowball effect of healthy choices going out the window. Instead of waiting until January to make healthy changes, let’s take a preventive approach to the holiday season.
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As a coach, addressing the obstacles that my clients foresee coming in the future, is a big part of my job. There are always going to be obstacles and challenges. Having a plan for an obstacle ahead of time is crucial for success. This allows the rational part of our brain to help us come up with a plan, instead of being hijacked by emotions.
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The holiday season is incredibly fun, yet stressful. For those of us working on our fitness goals, it is an easy time to lose valuable progress. Instead of waiting until January to lose weight, work out, or get healthier in general... why not start now? Â This approach will make our fitness goals more achievable.
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I am not a coach that loves using the scale, but it does have a purpose. I do, however, push my clients to pick one way to track progress, as well as their starting point. Using a tool to track progress helps give a nonbiased response. Studies have shown that people misremember how much they eat up to 1000 calories per day. It isn’t that people lie, it’s just that we don’t always remember.
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My suggestion is to pick away to track you progress.  This will give a sense of accountability; it also will help prevent overindulgence. What method you choose to track doesn’t really matter. What’s important, is that you pre decide how you are going to combat the holidays.
Examples of this:
1.    Weigh yourself every week
2.    Utilize the inbody test (track bf, muscle mass, weight, water in body)
3.    Use a pair of jeans as a guide
4.    Take photos of yourself week (front/back/side)
5.    Set a goal of hitting x amount of workout every week
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Once you decide what method you want to use for accountability, make an if than plan. If I am more than five pounds heavier than I will skip on dessert for the next two weeks. If I miss more then 3 workouts this week, then I will preschedule my work and go first thing in the morning. Preplanning goes along way not only in life but with our fitness goals too 😊.
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