When you are attempting to lose some weight and be healthier during the holidays, those parties can be your downfall. You want to enjoy time with friends and family, but the temptation of treats and delicious cocktails can make it much more difficult. 

I put together a complete guide on how to eat clean during the holidays which you can grab here.  Below are some more tips for handling parties and still losing weight.

Go For the Veggies First. Try to fill up on healthy fruits and veggies before going for other foods. If the holiday party doesn’t have a big meal, but just offers snacks and appetizers, there is probably a veggie plate and some type of fruit dish. Put these food items on a plate and eat them all with a bottle of water or whatever type of drink they are offering, then wait a few minutes before deciding to eat anything else. 

In many cases, this is enough to satiate your hunger and even feed those sugar cravings you are having.

When eating, be mindful of how much you are chewing your food. The more you chew your food, not only will your food be more digestible, but your body will absorb more nutrients. You’ll also notice that you become more satisfied sooner than you normally would.

Add Snacks to a Plate. One of the worst things you can do at a party when you are trying to lose weight is to stand next to the food. Grab a small plate if they are being offered and put some healthy food items on the plate. Walk away to another area of the party to socialize and have your snacks. 

If you stand by the food, you are not only more likely to start dipping chips in the dip, but it is a lot harder to keep track of exactly how much you are eating. 

You might be surprised how quickly you can down 20 chips and dip or eat several pieces of fudge without even realizing it.

Try to Avoid the Cocktails. Cocktails are often a bad idea when you are at a holiday party. If you want to drink at the party, try to wait and not have it immediately upon arriving. When you drink alcohol, it can increase your cravings and make you more inclined to go for all the bad stuff. 

Plus, if you start drinking early, it is probably not going to be your only drink of the night. Either nurse a drink all night or wait an hour or so before treating yourself to a cocktail.

There are many fun and satisfying mocktails that you can enjoy. If you are a guest at the party, you can bring the ingredients for the mocktail or bring it prepared in a pitcher.

Socialize Instead of Eating. A good plan for avoiding the food and not over-indulging is to socialize instead. Take this opportunity to talk to friends and family you haven’t seen in a while, mingle throughout the crowd, and meet new people.

How to Set Goals For Holiday Weight Loss

Holiday weight loss is not the easiest thing to do, but it is definitely something that is attainable. It helps to start by setting some goals for yourself that are realistic and give you something to work toward. You will feel more accomplished when you reach the goals, which motivates you to continue with your weight loss journey.

Many people like to start goal setting by remembering the SMART acronym. This stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Trackable. It is a way to measure each goal you are considering, such as for weight loss, and make sure it fits each letter of SMART. 

For example, if you want to lose a certain amount of pounds by Christmas Eve, then you want to be specific with the number of pounds, make sure you can measure your progress, be sure you can achieve this amount of weight loss, as well as ensuring it is realistic, and of course track the progress.

Make Sure You Stay Accountable, Being accountable for your goals is a big part of why you set them in the first place. If you just keep your goals to yourself, it is a lot easier to lose sight of them and get lazy about it. You don’t have anyone to answer to, so nobody would know any different if you stopped working toward the goal. 

With weight loss, it is really important that you are held accountable, because that is what helps you to keep moving forward. Start a journal with your goals so you are accountable every day and tell people about what you hope to achieve. 

You know they will ask questions about your progress, so this can be really good motivation for you.

Always Be Realistic With Your Goals.  A big part of the SMART goals is that you are realistic, especially when you are setting goals related to weight loss. Telling yourself you will lose 20 lbs in a month before Christmas is not realistic and probably not attainable. 

You need to be realistic and keep in mind that the average and healthy amount of weight to lose is 1-2 pounds a week. Try not to go over this amount when setting the goals and consider your starting weight to decide which way to lean. 

If you don’t have a lot of weight to lose, ½ to 1 pound a week is great for weight loss.

Tracking what you eat and how you exercise on a daily basis is an excellent way to know how you are doing and in what ways you might need to improve. It is a great way to lose weight or maintain our current weight during the holiday season. Here are some easy ways to track your daily exercise and eating habits.

Write in a Journal.  There is nothing wrong with basic ways of tracking your eating and exercise every day. Some people prefer being able to write it down as opposed to using a computer or mobile device. 

You might like keeping a journal during your weight loss journal to be able to write down what you eat, what workouts you do, and some other thoughts you are having each day of the weight loss journey. 

Journals can be really great for reducing stress from losing weight and identifying some triggers of emotional eating and other issues that might occur along the way.

If you are doing this for the first time, don’t worry about being perfect. If you eat something that makes you feel guilty or makes you feel like you are cheating, you may be tempted not to write it down in your journal. I know….because I’ve done that.

But what I learned is that writing it down anyways, helped me learn somethings about why I wanted that food. It was feedback for my brain and so helpful to move me forward in my goals. I gave myself permission not to judge what I wrote down.

Create a Spreadsheet  If you do prefer digital formats, then your computer is one thing you can use. You can make it simple by recording your food diary and exercise diary each day on a spreadsheet. 

You can use any spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel or any others that you have on your computer. 

Not only can you record what you eat and your activity, but you can record things like your weight and measurements.

Use Mobile Apps  A popular option for recording your eating and exercise diaries is to use mobile apps. There are quite a few of them, many of which are free. You can definitely find an app that works for you, regardless of what type of mobile phone you have. 

These are convenient since you probably always have your phone with you, and offer extra features like telling you how many calories were burned during your workout, chatting with others in groups and forums, and looking up the food you ate to see how many calories it had. 

Some good apps to use include MyFitnessPal, Calorific, and Lose It, though there are lots more to choose from. The method you use for tracking doesn’t matter quite as much as being consistent. 

Stick to tracking your food and exercise every day so that you know what your progress is and can be held accountable. This is going to help you keep up with your weight goals.

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I help health-minded women get to the bottom of their health issues with functional labs and coaching so they have a clear plan to achieve their goals that will save time and money. 

If you would like some additional support, schedule your free Ideal Health Discovery Call and let's chat about how to uncover the FULL picture of what’s going on with your body so that you are not wasting time and money trying to figure it out.