It’s around the time of year where dietary indulgence becomes more of a rule and less of an exception. Beyond just the typical holiday smorgasbord, we often have friends or family in town, and they often bring their own dietary habits and influences that can bleed over into your own life. As a result, it may feel hard to maintain the same level of discipline you normally possess. What to do?
I’ve wanted to write this post for the past few years. I’ve wanted to write it because what I generally witness—even among strong, healthy athletes—is decidely unhealthy behavior. I don’t necessarily mean physically unhealthy (though that can happen as well), but emotionally unhealthy behavior where a person is being unrealistic about their own expectations or casting a shadow on their company.
There are better ways to approach the holidays—ways that do not mean sacrificing your own health (physical or emotional) or estranging loved ones. You have to be realistic, though, and realize that the holidays cannot easily defeat your habits!
#1: A Single Day of Indulgent Eating Is About as Bad as a Single Day of Exercise Is Good
There’s a strange disconnect in the human brain between the consequences of good behavior and bad behavior. Nobody expects a single day of exercise to significantly improve their overall fitness, yet we frequently believe that a single day of indulgent eating is capable of completely derailing months of careful dieting. Here’s the thing, though: a single day of almost any behavior cannot make a significant difference!
The sum total of who you are is defined by your habits. If you’re good at climbing, it’s not because you got on the wall once, it’s because you got on the wall repeatedly over the course of months to years. If you’re in good physical shape, it’s not because you did a week of P90x, it’s because you exercise consistently, and have for a long time. Whatever job you hold, the only reason you’re capable of doing it is because you spent the time to develop the skills to succeed at it. Habits take time, both to build and break.
A single day of indulgent eating cannot break your habits, and it’s not something to feel guilty about. You are your habits, and as long as you generally stick to your commitments you can afford to enjoy a pleasurable day with the people you love guilt-free. So indulge yourself, and don’t allow unnecessary and unhealthy dietary rigidity to cast a pall over your emotional health.
#2: Days Don’t Break Habits, but Weeks Do
Habits are not destroyed in a day; enjoying yourself over a holiday is both acceptable and emotionally healthy. Habits can be eroded over the course of many days, however, and it can be easy to give oneself an indefinite pass on indulgences at this time of year—especially if you have a constant flux of guests and vacations. When the routine of daily life abruptly changes, the habits you’ve built can suffer.
In a way, this is the flipside to the first holiday tip. You can should allow yourself to indulge on special days, but “special” by definition means different from the usual; when “usual” becomes decadent holiday foods, excess alcohol, and eggnog, then your habits can drift away and must then be rebuilt.
Depending on your own circumstances, there may be different solutions to this problem. If you’re staying in town, it could be as simple as shifting your workout schedule to accommodate your guests and sticking to your customary diet except for the feast days themselves. If you’re going on vacation, you could plan ahead to have a rest week during that time so you purposefully build in a change of routine (and thus are less likely to lose sight of your goals).
Regardless of the tactic you ultimately take, enjoy the holidays and the foods they bring—but don’t let your habits fall by the wayside through the New Year!
#3: Habits Begin Today, not Tomorrow
I don’t mean this literally, but rather metaphorically—well, also kind of literally. With all the temptations of the holidays and the New Year just around the corner, many people decide just to make a New Year’s resolution when the time comes and not worry about their goals until then. I’m not going to tell you that you can’t do that—and certainly there are better and worse days to begin (beginning a dietary change on Thanksgiving day is prone to failure)—but you’ll almost certainly be more successful if you resolve not to procrastinate.
Yes, this is a tough time of year; it’s often stressful, and as we’ve already covered, it has more than its share of indulgences. It’s easy to make mistakes or get off track. But the thing is, that always happens with new goals. It takes time to get the habit-train rolling smoothly and for those habits to become ingrained and take over.
The bottom line is that if you have a goal and the motivation to begin, you shouldn’t wait until the New Year just because you’re worried you may fail. You’ll hit roadbumps no matter when you begin your goals, but if you begin today, then by the time the New Year rolls around you’ll already have something to feel accomplished about.
Enjoy the Holidays
The holiday season does not need also to be the destoyer of habits. You can indulge yourself and enjoy the company of friends and family and still keep yourself on track for your goals, whatever they may be.
The main thing to keep in mind is that habits are built over weeks and months, and habits are also broken over weeks and months. Individual days, no matter how “good” or “bad”, do not form the core of who you are; they are the outliers. Your core is your habits, and if your habits are generally healthy, then overindulging every now and again is not going to throw you off course.
Enjoy the holiday season. Enjoy the delicious foods and beverages it brings. Enjoy your guests and your vacations, and do what you can not to lose track of your goals.
Happy Holidays!
