Holiday stress
We hear a lot around us (mostly complaining) that there are quite a few family obligations during the holidays. Do you recognize that? Fondue, Easter brunch, eating out, and the so-called “cozy” family obligations. All involving, of course, too much food.
A small calculation
You gain 1 kg of fat if you have eaten 7,000 calories too much. A holiday with cakes, cookies, candy, and high-calorie meals easily adds up to 2,000 kcal too much. In the days in between, the leftovers have to be finished, and because it is the holidays, a few extra treats aren't such a bad idea. Often, shops are already fully stocked with Sinterklaas sweets in September. As a result, you can easily gain 3 to 5 kilos in the weeks from Sinterklaas through New Year's Eve if you are not careful. Losing weight back to your old weight means that in the case of gaining 4 kilos, you have to burn an extra 4 x 7,000 kcal.
Someone weighing 70 kilos would have to walk for 154 hours, cycle for 116 hours, or run for 46 hours to lose the same weight. With a busy life and exercising for one or two hours a week, it takes a very long time to shed those kilos. That is demotivating, and sticking with it is difficult. How convenient it is if they don't come back on.
Of course, food reduction works many times better against excess weight, but realizing what needs to be done is motivating to resist temptations.
Crisis
A holiday can be a positive crisis. During a crisis, you often fall back into old habits of overeating and exercising too little. In itself, that is not a problem if it is temporary and as long as you quickly resume your new habits to live a healthier life again.
Step-by-step plan
Every crisis comes to an end. However, it is important that you are well prepared and use a step-by-step plan to get through it successfully. Examples you can include in your plan are:
- Make a good plan. You don't have to say yes to everything.
- Be original and come up with distraction activities such as playing games, walking, or a photo scavenger hunt.
- Practice mindfulness while you eat, so take your time and, above all, enjoy the people around you.
- Learn to say NO
Get coached
In preparation for all the upcoming holidays, I can help you with a fun workshop: “How to Survive the Holidays”. This workshop contains many useful tips for preparation, but also for during the holidays.
About Kitty Atsma
Kitty is a passionate nutrition specialist and vitality coach with a broad scientific basis in nutrition and exercise. As a member of the national examination committee of the TCI (Nutrition Specialist & GWC), she monitors the quality of the field at the highest level. As a professional blogger, Kitty combines her in-depth expertise with the possibilities of AI to make complex health topics accessible. She curates and controls the technology to get to the heart of the matter, where her own vision and years of practical experience always determine the course.
Nutrition Specialist Teacher | BGN Weight Consultant | Member TCI Examination Board | Vitality coach
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