6 Holiday Temptation Tactics

Previously I indicated that it is perfectly normal to feel anxious about the holidays with respect to your fitness and weight loss goals. For most of us, the days preceding the holidays are filled with a sense of impending diet doom.

Below is a two pronged approach for sticking to your food and fitness plan while still enjoying all of the sights, sounds, smell, and tastes that the holiday season has to offer.

The first important factor is to rely on your skills, rather than your willpower. The Healthy Weights willpower principle states that it is not your lack of willpower that causes weight gain but your response to very specific situations. I would argue that the situations experienced over the holidays are similar to others that you have navigated (sometimes successfully) throughout the rest of the year.

In other words, the main food obstacles faced during the festive season are not much different from the challenges that you face year round. The main difference is the increased frequency and intensity of the tempting food situations.  You likely need little convincing that there is more chocolate, more cake, more treats and more social gatherings where food and drink is the high light of the event.

It is only natural to blame your willpower when your usual eating and physical activity rules begin to break more frequently. However, the problem with blaming your willpower is that it does nothing as far as improving your holiday food actions.

A far better way to look at festive food challenges is to understand human restraint. Psychologists’ that study restrained behavior suggest that even those who have a high level of food restraint (the people we often dislike) have a breaking point.

I like to use the example of a mother and her small children in the grocery store. Despite making a mental commitment not to purchase candy for her children, the repeated screams of “mom can we have some” finally reaches her candy buying breaking point.

The frequency and intensity of food tempting situations this holiday season will inevitably overwhelm your normal ability to say ‘no’. Here are some strategies to avoid the all or nothing temptations of strict dieting and over indulging.

1. Limit your restraint by allowing yourself to enjoy small amounts of treat foods.
2. Ask your friends and family not to tempt you.
3. Minimize the tempting qualities (imagining the fat content clogging your arteries or the belly ache that might ensue instead of the foods brief but savory flavor).
4. When tempted, distract yourself either mentally or physically.
5. When tempted, remind yourself of your long term goals.
6. Ask other people to remind you of your long term goals.

The second component for holiday success is to build your confidence. It is natural to lack confidence in any task or situation that has previously been fraught with failure.

Unfortunately, overwhelming fear of failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Indeed, your confidence will increase with every accomplishment but it will only do so if you acknowledge these successes. If you are like most dieters, you likely focus on the things you do wrong or ‘blowing it’ rather than the host of healthy choices you make each day. The next time you feel that you’ve ‘blown it’, ask yourself if it could have been worse?

In other words, building confidence not only requires mounting successes but also requires proud acknowledgment of your successes. Celebrating small victories and patting yourself on the back regularly is the only way to maintain a healthy and happy sense of being motivated.

Interestingly enough, skills and confidence are the cornerstones to reach any goal. So this holiday season, eat, drink and be merry in a manner that improves your confidence and hones your food and fitness skills.