Tasty Tuesday - Strategies for Success During the Holidays: Mindset

The holiday season is already upon us, and while for some this time of year is a fun and celebratory time, for many of us the holidays bring up all kinds of not-so-good feelings. Regardless of how the holidays make you feel, for most people this time of year is emotional and stressful, and as a result, our nutrition and fitness tend to fall by the wayside.

Nutrition especially seems to take the back seat between November and January, with food-focused parties and endless treats around us at home and at work. We often feel like being mindful of our nutrition just isn’t possible this time of year, so we fall off the rails, and then “restart” in the New Year.

    It is particularly important to pay attention to our mindset around this time of year, as it’s easy to fall into an all-or-nothing approach (well, I already had one cookie… I might as well have four) and let one day of indulgent eating turn into weeks. On the flipside, it’s also easy to become extremely restrictive and obsessive around our food choices during the holidays. Neither option is a recipe for success- it’s not having a black-and-white, “good food” vs. “bad food” mentality, but rather having a mindset of learning and growth and making the best choices we can on a daily basis, even during the holidays.

So, what is “mindset”?  

Mindset is the established set of attitudes we hold, a set of beliefs that shape how we make sense of the world and ourselves, influencing how we think, feel, and behave in any given situation. Mindset is a way of thinking (habitual or characteristic attitudes) that determines how we will interpret and respond to a situation.

Our mindset in regards to nutrition is going to impact how successful we are at sticking to our healthy eating goals during the holiday season. The idea is to shift our mindsets towards thinking about nutrition as a lifestyle change that can be maintained long term, even during the holidays. Having a mindset focused on growth means believing that we can reach our health goals through the nutrition choices we make daily. The way we view ourselves has a huge impact on the success and sustainability of our health and lifestyle changes. There are constant challenges we have to face and our mindset will determine whether or not we are successful in reaching our goals.

During the holiday season, our habits and nutrition choices are often reactive instead of proactive. We overindulge and binge, and then wait until the post-holiday guilt to hop on some extreme restrictive diet instead of incorporating healthy balanced strategies throughout the holiday season.

Sticking to your nutrition goals means making a ton of choices on a daily basis. One choice is not going to make or break your progress- one cookie won’t sabotage your nutrition goals and doing one workout isn’t an excuse to binge for four days in a row. Our mindset, along with the collection of choices we make daily should help move us towards our health goals and, ultimately, add up to progress.

You do not have to be on a “diet” to stay in control of your nutrition during the holiday season (and you really shouldn’t be, anyway). Instead, focus on your mindset and a balanced approach to food choices to make the best decisions possible daily while also enjoying yourself.

Life is short- enjoy yourself, eat the stuffing and the pie, and let go of the guilt, but don’t let a day or two of indulging turn into two months of off balanced nutrition.

 Next week we’ll discuss some practical strategies to help us keep our nutrition balanced during the holiday season.