What if there was just one tiny daily habit that can mean the difference between gaining weight over the holidays OR starting January the same as you are now? The goods news is there is! Tune in to Joyful Eating this week to discover how this 6-second habit will help you enjoy the holidays without the usual regret. So you start the new year feeling good in your clothes.
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Video Version
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Before I became a naturally healthy person who knew about intuitive eating and how to listen to my body, I used to approach the holiday season with excitement mixed with dread.
But these days?
I actually only approach it with joy.
I’m genuinely looking forward to all the treats we get to have at this time of year.
And I want to offer you this idea that it’s actually possible for you to have a different experience of holiday eating – one where you enjoy things, don’t miss out on any of the fun,
AND don’t suffer from the usual overeating aftermath.
The One Tiny Habit That Changes Everything
So here’s the one thing – It’ll take you six seconds a day.
Weigh yourself every single day.
In the morning, before you have anything to eat or drink, just jump on the scale.
That’s it.
This one tiny habit has the power to radically change your weight gain over the holidays.
There’s actually some fascinating research from the University of Georgia that backs this up.
They took adults and tracked them for 14 weeks – from mid-November to the end of January. One group just enjoyed the holidays as usual. The other group was given wifi-enabled scales and told to weigh themselves every day and try not to gain weight. That was the only instruction they had – no other guidance about how to do that.
Here’s what happened:
- The group who weighed themselves daily showed no weight change over the holidays
- The control group gained 2.65 kilos (over 5 pounds)
- Even crazier: People in the overweight category who weighed daily actually lost 3 pounds over the holidays
And here’s the kicker – 14 weeks after the holidays, the control group had only lost about half their holiday weight. They retained 57% of their holiday weight gain. Meanwhile, the daily weighers didn’t have any weight hanging around.
But What If I Don’t Want to Obsess About My Weight?
I know what you’re thinking. But here’s the thing – if you’re fearing and avoiding the scale, that doesn’t make you any less of a slave to it.
It’s kind of counterintuitive, but when you’re weighing yourself every day, it just becomes data. Just a number. It doesn’t have that meaning of like, “I’m a good person, I’m a bad person,” or whatever.
It actually helps you avoid obsessing.
It stops you from always wondering: Am I gaining weight? Did I gain weight? Did I eat too much yesterday?
All those crazy thoughts that go on in our heads. When you have that data and visibility, it actually calms down a lot of that obsessiveness.
How to Make This Work (With Kindness and Curiosity)
The key is approaching it from a place of kindness and curiosity. Every morning when you’re getting on the scales, think: “I wonder what this will be today?”
Before you step on, remind yourself that even if it’s gone up, you can change it. It can come back down. Rather than freaking out and going into meltdown mode, just go, “Oh yeah, I can change this.”
And here’s what I encourage you to do: Use it to observe that your weight fluctuates from day to day. It goes up and down, but your value as a person doesn’t change when the number fluctuates. If the weight goes up, you’re still the same person. If it goes down, you’re not suddenly more valuable.
Make It an Experiment
Just treat it as an experiment, right? Say, “I’m just going to try this for the holidays, just for a few weeks, and see how it feels. If it doesn’t feel good, I can always stop.”
But just remember those people in the study. I bet the group that weighed themselves every day were pretty happy when January 1st came around.
Bonus Tip: Track Your Data
It can be really helpful to actually track and enter the data into an app. You can get wifi scales that automatically track, or you can use an app and manually enter it every day. I use Happy Scale (iOS), but Simple Weight Tracker works great for Android users.
Having that ability to see the graph can be really helpful. Otherwise, our brain tends to just remember yesterday’s number and we miss the visibility of the big picture.
Your Holiday Challenge
So that’s it. Do this experiment – weigh yourself every day. What do you have to lose? (Pun intended!)
This year, you can enjoy all the holiday treats AND start January feeling great. No guilt, no desperate detox, no “I need to lose my holiday weight” resolution.
Just six seconds a day and a shift in perspective. The scale isn’t your enemy – avoiding it is.
Give it a try. I think you’ll be surprised at how liberating it feels.
In your corner,
Jules xx
Next week I’m going to be sharing an announcement about a very special celebration that is happening at Stonesoup headquarters.
Make sure you signup to me email list to be the first to know. Oh and when you signup you’ll also get a copy of my Worlds Easiest 5-Ingredient Meal plan.
Learn more here: https://stonesoup.lpages.co/app/
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