Surviving the Christmas Eating Out

How to navigate the Christmas Eating Out fest

How many Christmas eating out events are on your calendar this year? 

Do you think it’s not worth trying to eat healthily/lose weight...in fact you might just as well blow it this December?

If so, read on, there is another way…

I think I’ve got five meals out and two meetups with friends that will probably involve food and drink too. And that’s before Christmas eating ‘proper’!

Now, I really enjoy catching up with family and friends but sometimes feel awkward because I also want to try and keep on track with healthy eating ... without being seen as a party pooper. We all like to fit in, right?

And I know many of my clients feel there’s a real temptation to quit before they’ve started in December. 

Over the next few weeks it’s going to be an endless round of Christmas eating out - office parties, Prosecco catch ups, and the annual food feast on Christmas and Boxing Day. 

Is there any point in trying at all? Should you just accept your eating is going to go out the window big time and get back to it in January?

The trouble is, that way of thinking feeds into a reward and punishment mindset that I just don’t agree with. Christmas is a time to enjoy meals out, not feel that you need to ‘make up’ for it somehow by starving yourself afterwards.

Plus, it’s much easier to get back to it, if you haven’t got way of track during December. 

Want to know how to keep on track through December without feeling deprived or cooking separate meals? The Ultimate Festive Guide - 3 ways to avoid Christmas weight gain includes 40 delicious and easy recipes, 7 tips for getting back on track if it all goes wrong and it's 100% FREE!

Grab your FREE copy below:

Thinking differently about Christmas eating

Here’s something to think about…

If we take my five meals out and two catch ups that I mentioned before. Plus all the meals on Christmas Day and Boxing Day and, let’s say New Year’s Eve evening, what percentage of my meals will this be?

I’m going to assume three meals a day over the course of the month = 93 meals in total

My Christmas eating out meals = 14 meals

This is actually only 15% of my December meals that are going to be eaten out which means I’m still in charge of 85% of my Christmas eating.

Now, that’s something we can work with...  

I’m often quoting the 80/20 rule and will say to clients, stick with it for 80% of the time and don’t worry if 20% is off plan. But when you look at December as a whole MONTH, my Christmas eating is coming in at 85/15, which actually is great! 

There’s a middle ground to stop yourself going down the rabbit hole of beating yourself up about ‘bad’ eating. 

Rather than the ‘all or nothing’ mindset to Christmas eating, try a different strategy which I would call my  ‘imperfect perfect’ approach.

Managing the Christmas eating season

Pick one or two of the following to put into place - don't try doing all of them otherwise you'll feel overwhelmed and stressed, which often leads to....eating! :(

• You could make sure you do some exercise on the day before and the day after a big night out, make sure to drink loads of water and try to eat really well in between times. Actually me and Mark (my husband) get a short run done on Christmas morning with our Santa’s hats on! :)

• Ask yourself if you’re going to have a blowout on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, eat well for the next week and then have a blowout for New Year? It depends on whether you’re an everything in moderation person or an all or nothing person. I’m a bit more all or nothing - so knowing that helps me cope.

• Think about the whole month ahead, not just the few days of Christmas eating which we all tend to focus on. I know for me that I can handle Christmas Day quite well because I’m quite conscious of the things I need to do to stay on track. I make sure I’ve eaten well at home, I’ve decided if I’m going to have a drink and whether I’m going to have a dessert or not.

• But to be honest, I can find the week between Christmas and New Year the hardest for eating well. It’s like I’ve put all my effort into the main days and get decision fatigue afterwards especially when there’s all the leftovers in the house.

• Getting all of this sorted is one of the key steps in the Ultimate Festive Guide: 3 steps to avoid the Christmas weight gain.

• But I’ll be honest - like a lot of my clients the wheels tend to come off at home because suddenly there’s mince pies in the kitchen and a box of chocolates in the lounge - in other words temptation is all around! So have a game plan for getting your home environment supporting you.

• I find that trying to go with some kind of game plan to a festive event helps but I also try to remind myself - it’s just one night.

• Why not pace yourself a bit and maybe take it in turns to drive so you’re not doing the whole drinking and eating together? Look at the whole festive season as a month and think ‘I don’t need to go all out tonight because I’ve got another 4 weeks of this’.

• There’s also an argument for not going to a party starving hungry because all that means is you will dive headlong in towards whatever food and drink is there. But please don’t get sucked into feeling bad about enjoying yourself!

• So, get planning for the Christmas eating by thinking about the main events, the social occasions, what you’re eating at home plus how to set up your home environment to support you. While eating fab food and enjoying yourself! If you want help with this, including menu ideas and make ahead recipes, then grab the FREE Festive Guide - 3 ways to avoid Christmas weight gain because it’s all covered in there!

Getting real about Christmas eating

As I have said before, you should feel 9/10 confident that you can do something to make it realistic and achievable. That’s much better than setting yourself up to fail or trying to wing it by relying on willpower and then having the food and drink hangover from hell in January.

What this time of year comes down to is a bit of honesty - what can YOU manage? When you’re in a party situation you can control, do your best and when you’re somewhere that’s a bit out of your control, just enjoy it!

Want help navigating the Christmas eating?

Grab your free copy of The Ultimate Festive Guide - 3 ways to avoid Christmas weight gain so that you can avoid the weight gain without feeling deprived, make delicious and easy meals the whole family will love and feel in control of your eating over Christmas. 

Grab your FREE copy below:

Content Disclaimer

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this blog. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this blog. Midlife Menu Ltd disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this blog.

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