Christmas Excess - ONE thing to get you through it while still having FUN!
Christmas Excess and Doing Just One Thing
Woo hoo! Christmas is almost here and I confess I’ve been binge-listening to Mariah Carey...don’t judge me!! But that’s not the Christmas excess I’m talking about here...
According to the song, ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year’ and I really do hope that whatever you are doing, there’s time to relax, unwind and do your favourite things over Christmas and New Year, whether that’s with others or on your own.
For many of my clients (and me) the run up to the festive feasting can become a stress fest of worrying about how to cope with being surrounded by lots of treats they try hard to stay away from. In fact I did a blog about Christmas eating a couple of weeks ago.
Believe me, I’ve been there with the Christmas excess...
Before you can say “but it’s Christmas” you’ve spent two weeks eating and drinking way more than usual and doing a brilliant job of demolishing healthy habits carefully built up over the year.
And for me, it’s not the ‘big meals’ over the key dates, it’s the drip-drip of cheese and crackers here, an extra drink there that undo my good work.
Christmas Excess - It’s Not Your Fault!
The good news is… if you’re wondering why it’s SO difficult to eat healthily and stay focused right now, it’s really not your fault.
Think about it - you’re being forced to make hundreds of decisions every day and it gets really tiring.
I talked about last week the difficulties surrounding whether or not to drink alcohol, not to mention how to navigate the mountain of extra food in the house and feeling the pressure of being called a party pooper if you don’t overeat and overdrink at every opportunity. Peer pressure is real, guys!
Let’s face it - Christmas is great, but it really is a big challenge. If you want LOADS of ideas for a fab festive time, grab your copy of the Festive Guide below:
Even if you’ve thought through the big day itself, I find that it’s the Twixmas week between Christmas and New Year which can really catch me out. Willpower only lasts so long when there’s half finished boxes of cheese biscuits and bags of crisps or nuts lying around. If you find someone snuffling around in the corner of the kitchen with her head in the bag of salted peanuts, that will be me!
My blog post on decision fatigue explains just how easy it is for your best intentions (and mine!) to go off track.
When you realise just how exhausting making decisions can be, it’s not a surprise that giving yourself unrealistic expectations of being perfect over the festive season is going to lead to a rollercoaster of misery - overindulgence, followed by feeling guilty starvation tactics, followed by New Year’s resolutions which are just not going to work.
I don’t want to add to your stress at this time of year so I’m going to keep this post really simple and give you a simple strategy for this tricky time of year.
Pick ONE Thing to Minimise Christmas Excess
Quite simply, pick ONE healthy thing, just one, that you know you can do over this coming week … and stick to it.
It could be keeping your exercise routine going or drinking water every day or having a healthy breakfast (see here for plenty of tasty ideas).
The only rule is that you’ve got to be 8 or 9 out of 10 confident that you can keep it going otherwise you’re going to feel disappointed and beat yourself if you don’t do it. Have a look at my just ONE thing Facebook video for inspiration!
Just putting in place a tiny bit of structure amid the chaos of Christmas excess can help you keep control and know that you’re doing something positive to make it easier after the holidays are over.
There’s more ideas for navigating the Christmas excess in this festive guide. Along with how to get back on track if it all goes to pot! Get FREE access below.
Thanks for reading and - above all - enjoy the festive season!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!
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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