What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

By Kelly Clark / Client Questions

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  • Do you skip meals before Christmas Dinner?
  • Learn how to boost your metabolism on Christmas Day
  • Example breakfast, lunch or brunch and dinner to eat on Christmas Day that helps you lose weight

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

That’s a question ↑ my 1:1 clients always ask.

For instance, Daniel said:

Our Christmas meal is really big so I’m going to either eat a very light lunch
or skip lunch, so I don’t feel guilty eating dinner and dessert…
What do you think?
– Daniel

What to eat on Christmas day is something I wondered too

For 10 years I had a lot of stress around what to eat at:
Easter
Thanksgiving
Christmas
a birthday party, restaurant
or any social gathering.

Every special occasion was overshadowed by:

  • my fear of gaining weight
  • eating in public (I always covered my mouth with my hand when I chewed)
  • & wanting to make the perfect food choice.

But I had no idea what the perfect choice was!

Also, I was uncomfortable in my own skin. My fashion choices were based on what would best camouflage my extra weight. And, uh, sorry Oprah, but I wasn’t showing up anywhere, a-n-y-w-h-e-r-e near “the best version of myself”.

So I guess you could say the holidays were an emotionally charged chunk of the calendar year due to all the food situations.

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

Let’s keep this simple.

The first step is to avoid the #1 BIGGEST mistake people make when it comes to eating on Christmas.

The number one thing I did wrong over the 10 years I was 30 pounds overweight and had a complicated relationship with food was…

skip meals

Or skimp on meals.

Why skipping meals on Christmas Day sets you up to fail

Here’s 3 reasons WHY you shouldn’t skip meals.

And what to do instead.

So you can easily answer:

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight? LESSON #1

1. Don’t skip meals because it messes around with your metabolism

Just like the sun rises and sets and summer comes after spring…

Your body ❤️ LOVES routine.

LIVING THINGS CRAVE routine.

Living things thrive in routine!

That’s why your metabolism works at it’s best when you’re in a solid breakfast, lunch and dinner routine.

Stick to your routine the best you can!

Even on Christmas Day.

…which means don’t skip meals OR do extra workouts after your holiday meal!

Here's my foster dog Rocky

A brisk dog walk will do.

That’s my dog, Rocky ↑ when he was 16 years old!

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight? LESSON #2:

2. Don’t skip meals because under-eating leads to overeating

Boom!

It’s a fact.

One extreme leads to another.

eating chocolate - Starve binge purge cycle

Meeting your body’s needs with food from every food group at each meal prevents picking at food all day and takes away the desire to emotionally eat or binge on sugary foods.

As one of my clients said:

Since I stopped dieting I don’t crave all that sugary stuff.
— Andrea, USA

And another:

I thought I had a lifetime ahead of me trying to unsuccessfully deal with ‘addiction’ to sugar and junk food. Now that I’m in a healthy routine, I’m not fixated on treats.
— Erin, England

And it’s exactly what I experienced too.

In fact, just this week 3 of the Type A over-achieving women I work with each said separately, and in their own words, that:

feeding myself properly actually cuts down my bingeing by 90%.

90%!

They actually all gave a percentage.

And they all live in different countries and have never met.

You can stop overeating and bingeing too!

And the BEST part?

When you feed yourself properly you aren’t preoccupied by hunger pains.

Then you can enjoy all the people you love ❤️ and totally be in the room when your nephew is robbing the bank during your annual Boxing Day Monopoly marathon.

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight? LESSON #3:

3. Don’t skip meals because one indulgent meal won’t break you

(And one healthy meal won’t make you.)

If you’re in a routine vs. say, skipping lunch before Christmas dinner and/or skipping breakfast the morning after… your body will:

Naturally flush out the extra calories
you don’t normally eat.

Amazing, right?!

But… why?

When you’re in a ROUTINE, your body’s relaxed and confident you’ll keep fueling it.

So your body stops grabbing onto every bit of food you eat for dear life.

For 10 years I trained my body to sloooooooooooooooooooooooow down my metabolism because I jerked it around with extremes.

I did things like:

No wonder our bodies slow down our metabolisms when our energy intake is all over the map!

(Take a moment to marvel at how smart our bodies are and how hard they work to keep us alive.)

So when our bodies are in that state… that state of survival, it’s so easy to gain weight and difficult to lose it.

But getting right back to your healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner routine after eating more than usual for your Christmas dinner, keeps your metabolism boosted. And makes a decadent dessert made with chocolate, like coconut pie or a chocolate Yule Log, No. Big. Deal.

The “Don’t Skip Meals” Principle applies to any time you eat more than usual

Whether it’s a holiday meal or you’ve eaten more than you normally eat on your friend’s boat on a random Tuesday.

When I went to get help for my eating disorder during my first year of university that’s the first thing my doctor told me!

I thought having a Sundae meant all the calories would go straight to my thighs.

My doctor explained the 3 “don’t skip meals” points above.

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

And the day after Christmas?

Set yourself up for success!

Sticking to breakfast, lunch and dinner is the masterstroke of holiday eating (and everyday eating).

In fact, enjoying 3 ROUGHLY balanced meals made MOSTLY of whole foods:

  • shut down my bulimia & fear of food and… made eating a complete non-issue
  • unlocked my H 🙂 PPY weight (I lost 30 pounds without going hungry 25+ years ago)
  • gives me TONS of energy

And best of all I’m never walking around feeling hungry so I’m super productive between meals.

Fill up on natural food!

And enjoy the occasional indulgent meal and dessert.

So…

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

Here’s a great breakfast or lunch idea:

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

Here’s some breakfast, lunch or brunch ideas (if you get up late and have dinner early… and love avocados on toast):

Gourmet Avocado Toast Christmas Brunch Recipe

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

In short, stick to your healthy meal routine and don’t be afraid to eat your holiday feast.

Here’s what mine looked like at Thanksgiving:

Here's what mine looked like at Thanksgiving

My “holiday feast” is packed with MOSTLY whole foods that are ROUGHLY balanced.

Balanced meals made of whole foods
have a rainbow of nutrients
your body needs.
Whole foods are also FULL of fiber.
And fiber helps you lose weight.

And if you have your Christmas Day Dinner at noon, be sure to make yourself a sandwich at night. Put another meal together rather than picking at food throughout the evening.

So that’s the answer to:

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight?

If you have any holiday eating questions…

Or any other questions, pop them in the comments below.

What should I eat on Christmas Day to lose weight? - Happy Holidays

Wishing you and yours a safe holiday that’s full of vitamins and minerals from every food group.

Cheers to counting all your blessings—instead of calories.

(Calories don’t keep track of nutrients… and you’ll stay hungry until you eat something from every food group.)

Lots of love,

Kelly Clark

 

 

  Work with me - 1:1 Coaching Buy Now - It took me 10 years to lose 10 pounds What the F do I eat?

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Sharing what I learned makes the 10 years I STRUGGLED worth it

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