For many people, December is the month of abundant food, coziness and celebration. We let ourselves go completely wild: we start December by eating peppercorns, marzipan and chocolate letters, then we move on to Christmas wreaths and pastry bars. Not to mention all the dinners, get-togethers and parties. The result of this "letting go" is that we get out of balance: at the turn of the year we feel bloated, drained, tired and unhealthy. This is a terrible shame, because it certainly doesn't have to be this way!
In fact, we can simply enjoy this month and maintain our balance at the same time. We can join in the cozy dinners without the pounds flying off. We can celebrate, shine in our Christmas outfits, and then go into 2022 energized and balanced. But how do we do that?
Staying balanced
Being fully balanced means being constantly filled with contentment and health, like a Buddhist monk meditating all day. For most Westerners, being constantly and completely balanced is not realistic. Nor is it the natural state of human beings. We experience bumps in our lives such as stress, illness and grief that may cause us to lose balance. But regardless of the circumstances, how can we still maintain balance?
Look at a balance artist, one of those guys balancing over a tightrope with a stick. He is not in complete balance, but he keeps himself in a necessary state of balance by swerve to the left and then again to the right and by always returning to the center: the point of balance. The state of balance that we can always find again as long as we keep our goal in mind. This is how he stays balanced on the rope, and that takes a lot of practice.
Staying balanced with nutrition
What applies to the balance artist also applies to losing weight and maintaining your target weight. With losing weight, you have a focus point, a goal you wish to achieve with a nutrition plan and a healthy lifestyle. You don't have to stay in complete balance all the time. You can deviate from your plan, one time you eat something unhealthy, the next time you eat too much and the next time you eat less. It is important not to deviate too far from your plan, to keep your goal in sight and to return to your balance point in time.
Such a balanced lifestyle is not achieved overnight. Just as the balance artist practiced vigorously to maintain his necessary balance, so too when losing weight, you take steps every day and become wiser every day. Where in the beginning you might have white bread and cheese for breakfast you now choose more fiber and less fat. Earlier you ate oatmeal with long teeth, and now you actually quite like it.
Despite the progress, there remain times when you still like to eat something less healthy. For some this is chocolate, for others a pizza or a glass of wine.
December is pre-eminently the month when cravings increase. There are lots of goodies around with all those drinks and dinners. Moreover, coziness is often associated with lots of and less healthy food.
It's totally okay to enjoy that once in a while, especially during the holiday season. But how do we make sure the pounds don't fly off and how do we keep that necessary balance with all the temptations in sight?
The 80/20 rule
During the month of December, you can use the 80/20 rule to keep yourself in balance.
This rule means eating high-quality foods 80 percent of the time. This is mostly unprocessed food: vegetables, whole grain products and high-quality protein with excellent building blocks, fiber and vitamins. The remaining 20 percent you are free to fill in yourself. These can be products that you really like but are less healthy. In other words, you can use that 20 percent for carefree enjoyment!
A nice side effect of this rule is that when you have consumed that 80 percent high-quality food, you automatically feel satisfied, energetic and "balanced. As a result, you have less need to fill in that remaining 20 percent with unhealthy foods. In other words, you can more easily ignore the unhealthy snacks and sweets that are now no longer "forbidden.
Try it, you will see that it works!
The mental effect of the 80/20 rule
People usually do not keep good intentions simply because they are too strict. There will always be times when you are tempted or suffer from cravings; after all, you are a human being with emotions and desires. When you think according to the 80/20 rule, you maintain a greater sense of freedom. You no longer feel the pressure to eat healthy 100 percent of the time; this very fact increases the likelihood that you will maintain your healthy lifestyle. Being too strict with yourself leads to you completely losing yourself once you have succumbed once to a less healthy choice. Consequence of this is having great feelings of guilt and possibly giving up on your end goal.
The 80/20 rule in action
There are several ways you can apply the 80/20 rule in the month of December. Here are some examples. You can pick one that you feel comfortable with:
- Make a balance plan for yourself with healthy and less healthy days. For example, eat healthy for 5 to 6 days prior to a holiday where you can indulge deliberately. After that, eat healthy for another 5 or 6 days until the next party.
- You can also make a balance distribution during your meals. For example, you can choose that your main course is healthy but that you allow yourself that delicious dessert or glass of wine at Christmas dinner.
- Make a healthy version of a less healthy dish. Like this NewFysic dip plate, for example. Check out these other delicious Christmas recipes for more inspiration.
- Finally, during the month of December, you can choose to always eat healthy at home, but outside the door, watch what you feel like eating at that time.
