Quick Tips for Getting your Weight Loss Back on Track Before the Holidays   

Is this you? You pull on your jeans from last winter and wonder, “Why are these so snug — it must be the dryer.” While that could be true, the more likely culprits are the little habits you fell back into during the lazy days of summer. Here are a few tips to help take the pinch out of those jeans in time for holiday party season.

Eat Your Meals off a Salad Plate. Play tricks with your mind by eating off a salad plate instead of a dinner plate. Mentally you’ll feel like you’re getting a big meal since your plate is full, but you’ll definitely be eating less.

Fill Half of that Plate with Vegetables. Eating your vegetables does not have to mean eating a salad every day. Try out some new vegetables to see which ones you can add to your rotation. In the summer, try out different varieties of tomatoes, or take a batch of vegetables and put them all on the grill with a little olive oil. In the fall, there are a lot of different squash varieties to try, and despite being hard to cut when they’re raw (putting the whole squash in the microwave for a few minutes makes it easier), they are filling and easy to add to recipes.

Control the “Fly-by Eating.” You tell yourself you’re just going to the office pantry to refill your water bottle, but you know you’re going to swing by the bowl of communal M&Ms on the way. Beware of this habit; if you’re not careful, those bites can add up to a lot of calories. Common fly-by traps are the leftovers from a meeting left in the office pantry, your kids’ leftovers or snacks (those Goldfish and pretzels can add up!), or the samples at your local grocery store.

Just Don’t Bring it Home. It goes without saying that grocery shopping when you’re hungry can lead to buying indulgent snacks, so make sure you plan your weekly trip after a meal. It will make you a lot less likely to buy that giant tub of animal crackers from Trader Joe’s – you know, the one you told yourself you bought for your daughter, but you know you’ll be the one eating them, fly-by style.

Prep on Sundays. Take some time on a Sunday and prepare some ready-to-eat healthy foods for the week, so when you open the fridge to make your lunch or get a snack, you have some good choices in front of you. Turn on some music and get your prep going: cut up raw vegetables, make a few hard-boiled eggs, and put a batch of root vegetables in the oven to roast. Within an hour you can have a good assortment ready to use for the week.

Keep Track. One of the best ways to find out why your weight is creeping up is to keep track (either online or on paper) of all the food you eat for a few days. As the old Weight Watchers saying goes, “You bite it, you write it.” There are quite a few free online tools to do this, such as MyFitnessPal, which will tally up your calories for the day and tell you how much of each nutrient you’re eating. You may be surprised at how calories can add up fast, particularly for calorically-dense foods, such as nuts and cheese. Then, once you’ve tracked your food for a few days, take a look at your journal and see where you can make small changes, such as cutting down on nut butter or switching from cream cheese to apple butter on your morning bagel.

Be Patient. With weight loss and changes in body composition, the motto to live by is, “The check is in the mail.” The general rule for seeing results of your newfound diligence is approximately ten days to two weeks. In other words, what you do this week won’t show up on the scale or on your belt for a couple of weeks, so be patient. The same is true, unfortunately, for weight gain – you often won’t see the results of your vacation indulgence until after you get home.

Think of Food Like your Budget. Apply the same principals to your diet as you do with your home budget, and think of your daily caloric intake goal as the amount of money you have in your pocket for the day. If, for example, you’re aiming to eat about 1500 calories a day, and you know that scone you’re eyeing in the Starbucks pastry case has nearly 500 calories, is it worth using up a third of your food budget? 

By making a few changes now, you may be surprised at how easily those jeans slide on by the holidays!