It’s December and we all know what that means, extra treats delivered to the office, baked goods at home and of course gatherings with friends and family littered with calorie dense foods! 
People during the holidays generally fall into two categories.
One, the person who doesn’t care about what they eat, heck after all it is the holidays. This person will consume as much of everything and anything because they know January is right around the corner and a time for new beginnings.
Two, the person who is a burden to their family because they are stuck on a rigid diet plan that doesn’t allow them to eat sweets, gluten, anything that tastes good or looks like real food!
Don’t be either of these two people…
Instead follow my 5 rules to beat the holiday bulge and enjoy your holiday season to the fullest and keep your waistline in check this December.
1.) Drink more water!
You will obviously be eating more carbohydrates this month than normal. Water and carbohydrates have a strong affinity towards each other.
Studies show that it takes between 2 and 4 ounces of water to digest each gram of carbohydrates. This is why after a weekend of binge eating you can be 5 to 8 pounds heavier on the scale. You really didn’t gain that much in fat late but you did gain that much in water weight.
While this is gross and uncomfortable, you can also use this to your advantage…
Aim to drink at least 100 ounces of water daily. This will cause your carbohydrates to start digesting immediately once they enter your system and cause you to feel full way sooner than if you are dehydrated. This will ensure you eat much less than usual!
2. Eat your protein first
When making your plate before any meal, party or holiday gathering make sure you eat the protein on your plate first.
Protein is filling, stimulates your metabolism and keeps you full much longer than carbohydrates.
This will allow you to still preserve your muscle throughout the month, avoid overeating and keep your metabolism ready to burn those extra cookies 🙂
3. Greens before second helpings
If you do decide that you want an extra plate of something delicious, any type of green vegetables including leafy greens like spinach, romaine lettuce, kale or any variety you choose. This type of roughage will help keep your digestive system clean and also fill up space in your stomach.
The two most common causes of overeating is boredom and dehydration.
In your first three steps will help to increase the amount of food you’re eating and decrease your chance of dehydration.
Now for the best two tips…
4. Don’t waste taste
Just because someone at your office brought something as a treat, doesn’t mean you need to eat it.
Do you really enjoy their food?
Can you not live without it?
Same goes for a family member who makes the same dried cookies or unwanted fruitcake. You don’t need to eat it!
If you just follow this one step, and only ate the things that you really enjoy it this December you would be way better off than ever before.
We eat so many things that we really do not care for during the holidays just to make people feel better for because we rationalize that it’s just this month and we will get back on track in January.
Why make your goals even harder to achieve for something you didn’t even enjoy?
I would much rather save those calories for my moms Murder Cookies. They are called murder because they murder your diet!
(I will see if she’d be willing to share the recipe sometime this month on this blog!)
5. Tomorrow is a new day
This is the most important lesson to learn. I feel that most people understand the principle of momentum in terms of getting better and improving.
But, momentum can also work in the opposite effect. It starts with missing a workout or two, then eating an extra meal at a drive thru or restaurant for a week, then it’s keeping snacks in the pantry or freezer… 
Don’t let one bad meal or one bad day ruin an entire month.
This is your life and you need to enjoy every minute of it.
Live in the moment, enjoy the things you love and always work to develop a better you.
This is called never peaking!
You should continue to get better and better every single day. Yesterday means absolutely nothing to today. Today is your chance to make good on the things that went bad. It’s your chance to get better and better and better.
Have a confidence in yourself to make all the right decisions and be happy with the person you see in the mirror.
I hope these 5 tips help you enjoy the holidays a little more and with a little less guilt.
Committed to your fitness success,
Derek Kuryliw, Fitness & Nutrition Coach
www.LiveFitBootcamps.com
