30 days & 30 Ways to Stick With Your Meal Plan (During the Holidays or Anytime)

Whether you are trying to lose weight or train for an athletic event, holidays, birthdays and “special” events seem to interfere with even the most dedicated dieters.  There are 30 days ’til Christmas and even longer until New Years and Valentine’s Day. Utilize this month to get over holiday humps.
30 Ways to prevent diet damage 
1. Honesty is the best policy. Be honest with yourself about your ability to stick to a personally created strategy that you can stick to during times of temptation.
2. Create a practical plan. It is up to you. Will you stay the course? Plan cheats that you can manage and maintain your weight? Allow yourself to gain a couple of pounds knowing that you will get right back on track?
3. Enlist support. If you have supporters, you will feel more comfortable and less stress when eating with family or friends during meals
4. Stick to your guns. This is where numbers 1, 2, and 3 come together because unless you decide to stick to your plan, none of the above will work.
5. Stay well hydrated. Drink enough water and tea so your body has fluid on board help metabolism and side track false hunger signals.
6. Be Active.
7. Rest and de-stress
8. Pay attention to every little thing you put into your mouth.
9. Convenience. Make healthy eating convenient. If it means eating salads from McDonald’s instead of french fries or keeping cut veggies in the fridge. Just do it. Make unhealthy eating as inconvenient as possible. Do not buy any food that is not on your plan, walk away from a cafeteria filled with junk and vending machines.
10. Avoid hunger. Being hungry is the perfect excuse to eat what you shouldn’t.
11. Daily motivation. What motivates you? A dress, a person. Identify what motivates you and get your daily dose no matter what.
12. Just say, “No, thank you” and practice avoiding foods or situations that you know are goal deterrents. Rehearse the scene in your mind. Practice saying, “No”, out loud and in comfortable situations. You will prove to yourself it can be done.
13. Enjoy the smell of food, flowers or any scent. Smells may be more satisfying than eating the actual food sometimes.
14. It’s all about attitude. Positive attitude weighs heavily on success. You are not depriving yourself but feeding yourself delicious foods you choose.
15. Choices, your choices, to be honest with yourself, to maintain a positive attitude, to stick with the plan will make you or break you when trying to attain your goals.
16. Prioritize, #1, upfront and in the center of your mind all the time, never let your goal out of sight or mind.
17. Identify and categorize foods into the “must-have” or “have-nots”.
18. Maintain control, here are a few quick tips: valeriegoldstein.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/three-holiday-tips-to-maintain-control-of-your-goal/.
19. Stay away from negative people who sabotage your plan.
20. Do not sabotage yourself, make everyday count. No excuses. Yes, one day off plan does not mean much but too much of that excuse, or any excuse, gets you absolutely no where.
21. Follow your feelings. Do not eat as a result of feeling sad or emotionally drained, there will only be  negative consequences as a result. But, allow positive feelings like feelings of fullness, happiness, improved energy and controlled eating to guide your food choices.
22. Review what strategies worked or did not work in the past and why if your strategy last year was to eat before a party so you were not hungry and you ate anyway change the strategy. If you did not eat before a party and you were ravenous and ate everything in sight during the party, strategy adjustments are necessary.
23. Make the changes mentioned in from #22 into habits so you adopt
24. Boast and brag all you want. Make sure you do something positive each day so that you can talk about how well you are doing. It will get you positive feedback and support from your friends and it will help you reinforce all the hard work and positive results for yourself.
25.  Watch the clock and set specific eating times when you will allow yourself to eat. Try taking what you want to eat and holding on to it until the end of a specified eating to time. Or, allow the  hors d’oeuvres to pass 2-3 times before taking your next.
26. Chat up a storm…it is difficult to talk and eat at the same time.
27. If you think you might go for seconds take 1/2 your portion to start with.
28. Food appearance is as important as anything else in the decision-making process of what to eat so pick different colors  and a variety of colorful foods to make your plate look so good no one would pass it up.
29. Revisit the true spirit of the holidays which is spending time with family and friends, giving to others. It is not about over consumption and gluttony.
30. Any mistake you make is a learning opportunity! Check out Jimmy Moore, www.carbsmart.com/critique-of-nutritional-ketosis-by-valerie-berkowitz.html/comment-page-1#comment-19904.