10 Tips For Tackling Your Nutrition This December

It’s the final month of the year.

4 and a bit weeks remaining, and guess what? You can still work on your nutrition.

It doesn’t need to be a write off.

You don’t need to wait until 2022 to make changes.

Whether you’re looking to get started, restart, or maintain habits you’ve built, this blog will provide you with 10 tips for how to approach your nutrition this December.

But before we dive into the tips, you might be asking: 

Why should I focus on my nutrition this month? 

Why can’t I just wait until 2022 to get started?

Well my counter-question is… Why wait?

If you wait until the start of 2022, you might then push it back until after holidays or school goes back. Then it’s Australia day, then there’s Easter.

There are plenty of events that pop up that could provide you with a potential road block.

If you’ve been following along with FNC for a while, you know that we are big advocates of habit building and the mantra of “always something, rather than all or nothing”.

That is exactly what the following tips are attempting to help you do.

Focus on some of the big rocks of nutrition.

Shift your focus to what you can do.

Give yourself a headstart in 2022. 

Set Realistic Expectations

December may not be the best time to get shredded, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still set yourself some goals in nutrition.

There are a few more social occasions, indulgent meals, and the weekend calories might be higher than normal. And that’s ok.

Rather than setting yourself a goal of losing 5 kilos, you might set yourself a goal of maintaining your body weight. (and remember that weight maintenance is ~3% of your body weight). 

Maintaining body weight is a goal many struggle with, so this might be worth aiming for. 

You may also shift your focus or methods from tracking to mindful eating, or calories to habit tracking. 

If you set yourself a goal or a standard this month, ask yourself is this realistic based on the circumstances presented? 

Lower the bar a little.

If you exceed expectations that’s going to build your confidence going into 2022.

That’s far better than falling short of an unrealistic target and starting 2022 feeling deflated.

The Dimmer Knob

Remember that mantra of “always something, nor all or nothing”. 

This is what the dimmer knob is all about.

Nutrition and lifestyle habits aren’t an on or off switch.

You can turn them up or down depending on what life presents you with.

December may not be the time to track everything, prepare your meals for the week, and sleep 9 hours per night. But that doesn’t mean you need to write the month off.

Focus on what you can do.

Scale things back.

Can you aim for a portion of protein at each meal?

Can you aim to have plants at each meal?

Can you still eat at least 2 serves of fruit per day?

Can you still try to focus on your water intake (even on the days when you’re having a few bevvies)? 

Reverse Engineer

One of my favourite concepts I’ve heard this year from FNC’s own Mackenzie Baker.

This helps you think about how you want to reflect upon your social occasions and helps you create some guidelines to tackle it.

How do you want to wake up the day after an event?

Do you want to feel like you enjoyed yourself without restriction and without overdoing it?

Or do you want to wake up feeling guilty, bloated, and annoyed at yourself?

If it was the former, then what kinds of things do you need to do in order to feel that way?

Does it look like x number of drinks?

Does it include eating mindfully?

Do you give yourself permission to enjoy some indulgent foods?

Do you focus on protein and plants in the meals surrounding the events rather than skipping meals?

Think about your future self in this regard and try to act in a way that is in alignment with that ideal identity.

Think About Your Future Self

Very similar to the above.

Think about how you want to feel when you start 2022.

Do you want to wake up frustrated, deflated, defeated, bloated, unhappy, and feeling like you’re on the backfoot?

I doubt it.

Do you want to feel fresh, healthy, energetic, comfortable and confident?

If yes, then what are some of the key nutrition and lifestyle habits you can focus on in December.

(Hint: protein, plants, hydration, sleep, regular exercise/movement).

The Plate Model / Protein and Plants

A great strategy to practice any time and especially to take some time of tracking, weighing and measuring your food.

This helps you continue to focus on the big rocks for health, satisfying hunger, and weight management.

• ½ a plate of plants

• 1 palm of protein (¼ plate)

• 1 cupped handful of carbs (¼ plate)

• 1-2 thumbs of fats

Put The Baseball Bat Away (What the hell effect)

If you are reversing your car and accidentally scratch it, do you then get a baseball bat and beat the shit out of your car?

If you have a poor night sleep do you then say “fuck it, I’m not sleeping again until Monday?”

If you miss a lift at the gym, do you leave straight away? 

No you don’t. Well I hope not. 

So why do it with your nutrition?

1 meal, 1 day, or even a few days where you’ve been a bit more indulgent doesn’t mean you need to say “what the hell, I’ve stuffed up, let’s just keep going”.

Focus on your next meal and how it can be aligned with your goals.

You’re probably going to have at least 90 meals in December.

Not all 90 will be blowouts. Even if you have 10, that’s still 80 that you can focus on doing something with.

You’re The Boss 

You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.

You don’t have to eat or drink anything you don’t want to.

This month, really think about your values. 

Think about what you want and how you want to live.

If someone says: “oh come on, you’ve been good all year” or “just have another drink” or “you’re always eating healthy, you can afford to let your hair down” - you don’t have to succumb to that.

You also don’t have to eat protein and plants if you don’t want to.

You’re in control.

You call the shots.

If someone is pressuring you into doing something you don’t really want to, that’s where the next point comes in.

Tips To Saying No

I understand saying no, especially to those close to us, can be hard.

You might feel like you are being rude, ungrateful or boring.

However, if you keep saying yes to others, you may end up saying no to yourself, your future-self, and your goals.

Here are a few tips for saying no.

• Know your no. Identify what’s important to you and acknowledge what’s not. Before you can say no with confidence, you have to be clear that you want to say no. Be clear what you’re saying no to, why you’re saying no and ultimately what you want to say yes to (yourself).

• Be appreciative. Thank someone for the invitation. Remember, you don’t need to say yes to show appreciation.

• Say no to the request, not the person. You’re not rejecting the person, just declining their invitation/offer. Make that clear, let them know you respect them. Saying no to the request doesn’t mean you care for the other person any less.

• Explain why, if you want to.

• Be unwavering if they persist. If they push, push back stronger.

• Practice saying no. Choose some low-risk situations to practice saying no. Treat it like a skill or a muscle that will develop the more you do it.

• Be brave, be prepared.

Mindful Eating

Whether you’re in control of your meals or not, practicing mindful eating is a fantastic skill to develop. 

But it comes in especially handy at social occasions when you’re not in control of your food environment.

Tune into your internal hunger and fullness cues.

• Eat until 80% full. Rather than eating until you’re completely stuffed and overfull, tune into your fullness levels during a meal. Pause between bites and ask yourself are you still hungry or could you have a few more bites. You don’t have to clear the plate if it means you’re going to feel bloated, uncomfortable and risk chundering on the backyard cricket pitch when you run in from the back fence.

• Eat slowly. Aim to be the slowest eater at the table. It takes time for the brain to receive signals of feeling full so you can imagine if you smash a plateful in 5 minutes, there’s still a while there before your brain has registered it and you’re at risk of over eating. 

• Put your cutlery down between bites. This helps you to eat slowly and tune into your fullness level. Enjoy the experience with others. Get involved in conversations rather than just pilling in the food.

Enjoy yourself.

We never want you to feel deprived, but especially not this time of the year.

You can enjoy yourself whilst satisfying your social, emotional and physical health.

Find the sweet spot between enjoyment without overdoing it.

We’d love to say don’t feel guilty but you may experience that at some point, we all do! 

Acknowledge it and remember the purpose of your meals.

Food isn’t just about macros and calories.

Food can be used to celebrate with loved ones.

Think about memories over macros.

In closing, there are a few ways you can enjoy your festivities and give yourself the best chance of starting 2022 on the front foot. 

It just takes a bit of thought, awareness and reflection.

Be realistic in your expectations.

Doing something is better than nothing.

You can also enjoy yourself without overdoing it.

There’s over 90 meals going to be consumed in December.

Just because 5-10 might be indulgent doesn’t mean you have to write off the other 80.

80 out of 90 is still a damn good score.

If you want some guidance over the festive season, we can support you with that.

You don’t have to wait until 2022 to start working with a nutritionist or a dietitian.

Beat the rush and secure a spot working with FNC today.

1 on 1 Nutrition Coaching with Fortitude Nutrition Coaching

Are you looking for an understanding and supportive human to talk with, to help with advice and guidance? An objective set of eyes to see what you could improve to move towards your goal in the easiest possible way?

We work with real people and get real results. Sign up for 1 on 1 Nutrition Coaching today and get the support, guidance and accountability of a Fortitude Nutrition Coach.