Boo! The holidays are over!
January brings so many different emotions and challenges with it. Part of us is missing the holidays with family, friends, and festivities and part of us is glad to be back to our normal routine. Very often we find that not only have we taken some great memories back to that normal routine, but also some leftover pounds around our middle.
I bet I know which ones you think about more often.
Those negative feelings around the higher number on the scale can make some of us do some pretty drastic things–detoxes, not eating, and over exercising are a few examples of this. I know. I used to do those things every year.
I don’t anymore.
You see, I used to constantly under-eat. I don’t mean consistently–I mean constantly. My goal each day was to have a negative caloric intake of between 500 and 800 calories per day. That was based off eating around 1200 calories per day and running at least 5 miles (on low mileage days) while being a teacher.
With a caloric intake of 1200, which is too low for anyone, and burning a ton of calories while working and running, my body was just trying to survive each day. My body was fighting to keep my organs working each day. When the holidays came around and there was a ton of amazing food to eat, I couldn’t hold back.
It had nothing to do with willpower and everything to do with my body needing food! Then, of course, after over-eating, I felt guilty/embarrassed/sad as well as physically sick/tired/sluggish. This pattern happened every time there was a holiday, birthday, etc.
This vicious cycle finally came to an end after I learned to feed my body appropriately, and by that I mean giving it the macro and micro nutrients it needs to thrive!
Now, I eat the treats I want while still feeding my body what it needs. The scale ticks up around the holidays, and a couple days or a week after I get back to my routine, my body returns right back to where it was because it knows what to do with the extra!
This is the experience we all deserve to have, not only during the holidays, but all year round. We deserve to nourish ourselves in a way the makes us THRIVE during the holidays and every day not just survive.
Part of my mission is to help people to live their lives this way. Let’s kick off 2020 thriving!
Your biggest fan, Coach Laura
