The problem with holiday weight gain isn’t necessarily the extra three or five pounds.
It’s that most people who gain weight every holiday season never lose it.
Or if they do lose it, it comes right back on within a few months.
And when you repeat that common cycle for a few years or a decade, you’re looking down at a number on the scale that seems impossible to overcome.
On Wednesday, I mentioned how my current situation has me primed to gain weight that I don’t want.
Fewer steps + Fewer workouts with less volume means I’ll be burning a lot fewer calories every week.
If I keep eating the same number of calories I have been, I’ll gain weight.
If I keep eating the same number of calories I have been, and add a bunch of holiday treats on top of that, I’ll really gain some weight.
Here’s my 3-Goal Step to avoid that nonsense, without counting calories or missing out on holiday fun.
Step 1 - I’m going to weigh myself every morning when I wake up.
When someone hires us for fat loss, one of the metrics we track is their weekly average weight.
Your average weight smooths out all of the annoying daily fluctuations and gives you a more accurate picture of whether you’re gaining or losing from week to week.
Weighing every morning also gives me a micro dose of accountability to myself, since I’m going at this alone.
If you avoid weighing yourself this time of year, I’d encourage you to weigh daily and calculate the weekly average.
Step 2 - I’m cutting out my mid-morning snack.
Sometimes it’s hunger, but oftentimes it’s habit.
10:30 AM hits, and I grab a snack. Many times, it’s something like a snack bar that packs between 200 and 250 calories.
As it turns out, a little bit of hunger isn’t an emergency situation.
So far, if I drink some water or a diet root beer and get back to work, I can make it just fine until lunch.
If we decide to push lunch back a bit and train before we eat a real meal, I've been mixing up a “clear protein” shake to get me through.
HERE is the protein I’ve been using lately.
Step 3 - No pre-dinner tortilla chips.
Hi, I’m Jonathan, and I’m a recovering chip-a-holic. 🤣
H-E-B has the best and most addictive tortilla chips in Texas.
One chip casts a spell over you, and before you know it, you've eaten 500 calories worth.
It’s really easy for me to get in the habit of snacking on chips while we get dinner ready, so I’m just not going there at all.
What do you think?
Will my plan to maintain my weight through rehab and the holidays work?
Is it too simple?
I mean, I didn't say I'm not going to have pie.
I didn't say I'm going to do more cardio to burn extra calories.
I've been coaching people on their nutrition for 8 years now, and one thing I've learned is that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight doesn't have to be nearly as complicated as the fitness industry makes it seem.
You don't need hard-core restriction, eliminating entire food groups, counting every calorie, or a perfect diet.
Sometimes you just need to recognize a few habits that aren't serving you and stick with it.
That's what I'm going to do.
I'll report back over the next couple of months and let you know how it goes.
Jonathan
