Have you ever woken up on January 1st feeling frustrated because you could no longer squeeze into your favorite pair of jeans? Or just feeling tired, bloated, and heavy from all of the junk that you’ve been eating over the past 5 or so weeks?

I know I have definitely felt that way in the past, but I’m here to tell you that it IS possible to wake up on January 1st feeling healthy, happy, and light!

The first step is to become aware of the top 4 mistakes that many people make during the holidays that lead to holiday weight gain so that you know exactly what to do to avoid it.

4 Mistakes that Lead to Holiday Weight Gain

1) Expecting Perfection

During the holidays, some people decide that they will strictly maintain their healthy eating and exercising habits.

Unfortunately, most people are surrounded by delicious holiday food from Thanksgiving until Christmas, testing even the strongest person’s willpower. Eventually, most people will give in and enjoy a holiday treat.

What happens next? Well, researchers who study willpower discovered an interesting phenomenon that happens when we severely restrict ourselves and expect perfection. This restriction leads to what researchers have coined the “what-the-hell-effect”.

Here’s how it works. After we stray even slightly from our “diet” or our high expectations of ourselves, we start to feel guilty for slipping up. We then think, “What the hell…I’ve already blown my diet, so I’m just going to keep eating.” This feeling that we failed to meet our expectations causes that one Christmas cookie to quickly lead to 2…or 3…or more. All because we feel guilty that we didn’t live up to the extremely high (and unrealistic) expectations that we set for ourselves!

Interestingly, people who do not expect perfection and who do not severely restrict what they eat tend to be better equipped to avoid this “what-the-hell effect”. These people are able to eat one or two holiday treats, without guilt, and stop there.

ACTION STEP: Set realistic expectations for yourself over the holidays. You will most likely enjoy some holiday treats, so the key is to decide in advance when, where, and how many of these indulgences you will have. By planning in advance and giving yourself permission to have a treat, you can avoid feeling the guilt that often leads to bingeing or overeating.

2) Decide You “Deserve” to Splurge All Throughout the Holidays

Now we have the opposite end of the spectrum…women who feel like they “deserve” to indulge during the holidays. These women often feel like they don’t want to miss out on anything during the holidays, so they tell themselves that they will just enjoy the holidays and then worry about getting back on track in January.

Obviously, this approach often leads to holiday weight gain. But it also leads to developing bad habits, increasing sugar cravings, and feeling addicted to junk food.

Thus, when January rolls around, you probably weigh a few pounds heavier, but you also have a much more difficult time getting back on track.

In order to navigate through the holidays in a healthy way, a balance needs to be achieved. Yes, plan on eating treats occasionally throughout the holidays, but don’t give yourself free reign to eat whatever you want, whenever you want.

ACTION STEP: Once again, a possible solution would be to plan in advance how many times throughout the holidays you will allow yourself a holiday treat. This will allow your mind to relax knowing that you will not be completely deprived, but you won’t be out of control either. Be sure to keep track of when you eat those treats that you decided to allow yourself and stick to the limit you set.

3) Saving Up Calories for a Big Meal

Another mistake that I often hear women make happens when they know they will be going to a party or a holiday meal filled with lots of delicious foods. To make up for all of that food they will be eating later in the day, they decide to skimp on what they eat until the time comes for that big meal.

But here’s the problem. When you don’t eat much during the day, your glucose levels go down. And surprisingly, one thing that fuels your willpower is…glucose! So if you don’t eat much and then lower your glucose as a result, your willpower is going to be much lower when you finally get to eat that big meal.

Has this ever happened to you? You get to the point where you are so hungry that any thought of eating rationally or in moderation just flies out the window?

ACTION STEP: Instead, fill up during the day with protein, healthy fats, and lots of vegetables. Then, when you do get to that smorgasbord of holiday treats, you will be much more likely to stick with just one or two instead of letting all rational thoughts fly out the window.

4) Eating Too Many Carbs for Breakfast

The typical American breakfast consists of primarily carbohydrates: cereal, oatmeal, fruit juice, toast, bagels, English muffins, yogurt, granola bars…

While we think of many of these options as “healthy”, all carbs are sugar. So when we eat these high carb breakfasts, we are quickly spiking our blood sugar. Unfortunately, our blood sugar will then also quickly drop an hour or two later.

What happens then? Well, we start to feel hungry again fairly quickly, we might feel tired, and we start to crave sugar to perk ourselves up. A high carb breakfast sets you up for an energy and sugar-craving rollercoaster all day long.

A key to making healthy eating choices is to keep our blood sugar stable to minimize those sugar cravings. A great way to start balancing your blood sugar is to eat a healthy breakfast.

ACTION STEP: Click here to download my FREE guide: “The Top 10 Foods that Make It Easier to Lose Weight & Get Rid of Cravings”. 

I’d love to hear from you! Let me know in the comments below if you can relate to any of these common mistakes.