The average person gains 7 lbs over the Christmas holidays.
Let me re-phrase that.
The average person treats Christmas like an all-you-can-eat buffet , assuming it wont impact their health or weight. So, how was your Christmas?
Call me harsh, but I take clean-eating seriously. It's not a "fad" , it's not an "extreme weight-loss" and it most certainly is not a "diet". I eat clean to take care of my body, period.
For the sake of my body, I ate clean at Christmas. I went into it with a plan so I wouldn't fail and I lost, weight that is. I walked out of the Christmas season with a 0.6lb loss on the scale , and here's how I did it.
Christmas Eve: Birthday Party for Jesus!
Every Christmas Eve my mom throws a birthday party for Jesus! We've done it since I was a kid and I look forward to it every year, and this year was no different. She serves appetizers, hot apple cider and an angel food cake complete with icing, sprinkles, whipped cream & fruit sauces to top.
But I had a plan!
My only option, don't eat it. I ate a | Luna Bar | before and drank water to make sure my brain had all it needed to think clearly. I ate a few low-cal appy's and ate slow so I knew when to stop. No apple cider and no cake. I was full anyways! It was a piece of cake.
Christmas Day!
My Plan for Breakfast:
1/2 C fruit
1/2 C protein
1 small cinnamon bun*
*I made these myself so I was ok having a small one, though they are still high carbs. I am just perfecting the clean-eating recipe and will hopefully post soon!
My Plan for Snacking:
My favourite | Luna Bar | Chocolate Peppermint Stick Flavour, and water of course!
My Plan for Dinner:
4oz lean turkey
unlimited salad, balsamic dressing only
1/4 C carrots (only because they had a sauce on them)
1/4 C of the lowest carb I could find at the table (it happened to be my mom's delicious spelt stuffing!)
1 plate only, no seconds.
Eat slow and stop when full.
I was informed after dinner, as the informant wanted to see me indulge in this unclean dish before they told me, that the yam dish (which everyone slathers in butter & brown sugar) was 600 calories a serving (about 1/4 C). Can you believe that? Most people have seconds, that's 1200 calories just in yams - my daily intake!
In case you were wondering, there is no nutritional value in yams slathered in butter & brown sugar, potatoes mixed with butter, cranberries boiled in sugar or vegetables/salads covered in sugary sauces.
Lucky for me, I have 2 standards I check before eating food I didn't make myself -
1) Do I know what is in it and if it is clean? If not, don't eat it.
2) Is it in it's truest form (ie no sauces)? If not, don't eat it.
All that to say, I knew not to touch the yams.
Dessert? Yup! No pie was my rule. I brought my own homemade clean-eating dessert.
Almond Crisp Treats. To. Die. For. I ate just one, and enjoyed every bite of my clean-eating homemade treat! (Will post recipe soon )
So, how did I feel after Christmas dinner? When everyone else was in a "turkey coma* " or as I call it, an "I chose to eat too much coma ", I felt great and indulged in a second glass of red wine :)
*Science has proven that turkey does not create a "turkey coma ". It is actually over-eating that causes people to get so tired after a turkey dinner. Is anyone surprised by this?
I wont bore you with the details of Boxing Day, but I think you've got the idea of my thinking and how I managed to lose weight on the holidays.
Normally I would be exercising as well through the holidays, but I got sick Friday before Christmas with a cold and can't really breathe, LOL! But imagine how well I could have done if I had been working out too.
Here's to starting the new year off right! Whose with me?
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