Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are upon us. Now is the time to dig deep and stay the course. Weight loss motivation, in particular, is about DESIRE not willpower. Ask yourself, honestly, how much do you want to lose weight compared to how much do you want to binge the minute you hear the first notes of Jingle Bells. 

List your reasons for wanting to change. List everything from stress and cholesterol reduction to increasing endorphins and energy to staving off diabetes to sitting comfortably in one airplane seat and tucking in your shirts and shopping in any clothing store to hiking with family to living longer. Keep this list visible in your bedroom bathroom and kitchen and add to it every time you think of a new reason.

Sustain your drive by making getting to your target weight believable. Visualize success. Failure is not an option. How will you look when you lose weight? How will you feel? What will you be wearing? How will your clothes feel on you? What will people be saying to you? What will you be saying to them? What will you be doing? Spend time everyday fantasizing about the new you.

When you have a significant amount of weight to lose plan milestones–your birthday, Valentine’s Day, a week-end get away with a friend six months and 50 lbs less down the road. Remember that it takes your metabolism a couple of months to regulate and get used to shedding weight. Losing 8 pounds a month is a realistic goal.

Plan rewards. When I lose ten pounds I’ll treat myself to a massage. When I lose twenty pounds I’ll get a facial and a massage. At thirty pounds a manicure, pedicure, facial, and a massage. By the time you lose that hundred pounds you will be luxuriating at a spa in Fiji or Bali or Negril for a week!

Most important: remind yourself that the holidays are about sharing moments with family and friends not about gingerbread houses, cookies, egg nog and stuffing. Be a healthy lifestyle ambassador by inviting your loved ones out for a hike or long walk after the Thanksgiving turkey and the Christmas ham. Enjoy the food of the holidays on the day itself rather than the entire month.  On Black Friday and December 26 get right back to clean eating and training and there will be no need to beat yourself up.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Double Eagle Fitness wishes you all a very healthy and Happy Thanksgiving!!!