CHRISTMAS is supposed to be a fun time of year, full of cheer. But it can also be full of stress! So many people find Christmas challenging for all sorts of reasons.

It’s a time when the best eating and exercise habits can fall by the wayside because there’s wall to wall food, parties and booze!Exercise and self-care often put on the back burner through lack of time.

Then the inevitable happens, we feel rubbish, the guilt sets in and we start beating ourselves up!

But we really shouldn’t do that because a weight loss journey is full of obstacles, whether they be seasonal stress, Christmas parties, comfort eating or a million other things!

Debbie O’Connor posted a great message in Slimpod Club the other day in which she associated losing weight with being a toddler – especially at this time of year.

Debbie’s Slimpod Club post

When you’re starting to walk, you come up against all sorts of obstacles. You fall down and you get back up again – but you keep going until you can walk.

Even when you get hurt you get back up and carry on!

This time of year is one big obstacle for those of us aiming to get into smaller clothes. And sometimes we just have to accept it as it is, because it’s only a short time.

If you deviate from your plan, that’s absolutely fine. Just think like a toddler.

Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, know it’s only temporary and move on. Don’t throw your toys out of the pram and give up!

Another thing about Christmas is that it can be really hard to stay motivated to keep the exercise going, especially if your default position is to eat more and do less.

Before you realise it, the winter blues kick in because you’re not getting the same level of nature’s happy drugs (like sunshine, exercise and fresh air) to keep you balanced.
So let’s deal with this right now!

As I’ve said many times, it’s SO important to be aware that you’re being less active but unless you have solid habits in place it’s really easy to let life take over.

Did you know that the average person puts on up to 8lbs over the winter? Incredible isn’t it?

But if you adjust things a little and keep moving you’ll stay happy and help keep the weight off too.

Part four of my mini-series on beating winter comfort eating is below. In previous weeks we’ve looked at how you can tell if emotional eating is happening; why your hunger signal becomes disabled; and the art of recognising your eating triggers.

Now watch this week’s video and comment below if it’s helped you. I love hearing from you.

Plus, subscribe to my YouTube channel and connect with me on Instagram. I’m also going to be on a Facebook Live video talking about this very subject tonight (Wednesday December 11) at 7.30 UK time. Join me!

Click on the picture to start this week’s video and please feel free to share it with friends who might also find it helpful.

Please leave a comment below. I read every single one and I know from feedback I get that other people find them very inspiring.

SUMMARY

** Humans can easily go into hibernation at this time of year. Be aware when you start eating more and doing less because that’s the warning sign.

** If it’s too nasty to go outside, find some YouTube exercise videos you can do inside. Restore your get-up-and-go and you’ll feel a whole lot better about yourself.

** Turn indoor exercise into a habit by doing it regularly and you’ll train your brain to get the same buzz from exercise as it does from food and sugar.

MINI-SERIES CATCH-UP

Part One: Stop comfort eating in its tracks

Part Two: Why your hunger signal goes off

Part Three: Recognise your eating triggers

USEFUL LINKS

Would you feed a baby like this?

Accountability buddies

Healthy stroganoff recipe

All about fun exercise

PODCAST

Here’s a podcast of this week’s video so you can listen as well as watch!

LAST WORD

I hope you enjoyed my video mini-series.  I’m on a mission to help stop people from becoming pre-diabetic and I’d love you to share the help and advice on my videos.

Diabetes is a big, big worldwide problem but it can be reversed.  If you prevent yourself from becoming pre-diabetic your blood can be perfectly normal and you stop the terrible health risks associated with this terrible condition.

If I can stop just one person becoming pre-diabetic because you’ve shared this info, I’ll be a really very happy!

I have a massive free resource of over 50 videos on The Slimpod Channel on YouTube. Here’s a link that will take you there – hit the red subscribe button when you’re there and you’ll get priority notification every time a new video goes up.

Please Hit the Like and Share buttons on the channel as well because that way you’ll be helping me share my important mission to conquer obesity and type 2 diabetes. Thank you so much!