Written by Kathleen Hayden

It’s the end of the year. Did you write your goals down for this year? Did you make a mental note of them? Do you have a general idea of what you wanted to accomplish? What about your weight loss goals?

Over the next few weeks, it’s the ‘holiday season’. We are tempted with high calorie high sugar, really yummy tasty food every single day. Every event that we go to, every time we meet with friends, there’s always treats being pulled out. People hand out cookies as gifts and they decorate them in fancy reindeer faces. There’s alcohol and huge meals. It’s exposure overload.

I would argue that the reason you are giving me today as to why you can’t stay on course to your weight loss goals, you gave me all year round. The sentence was basically the same. Oh sure, a few of the words were different but it was always the same thing.

You told me it was Thanksgiving and you told me you were really stressed out because it was a busy time of the year for you. You told me, ‘not this weekend, I’m having a girl’s weekend away’. It was a special anniversary, a coworker that retired, your nieces first birthday, a baby shower, football tailgating. It was so many things, your graduation, a new job, an old job, a sick kid, the Fourth of July. It was also your vacation and your family get together.

The truth is those should never be excuses, because they are just plain regular life. And for every one of us, every day, every week, every month, there’s a reason why we are making excuses to not make the right choices regarding our food.

So instead, maybe we learn to navigate through this minefield of daily life and instead we make the best choice we can under the circumstances through all of those events. I’m sure that there were vegetables available for you to eat at all those parties. I’m also sure that no one forced you to eat dessert or drink that extra glass of wine. And there is nothing that stops you from calling it quits after you hit your calorie goal for the day, except your excuses.

Don’t let circumstances guide your choices. Let your choices guide your circumstances. Take control. All those events shouldn’t be about the food. Find the enjoyment from the event itself, from the people, not the food.

We have a new year coming right up. But why wait? Start crushing your goals now, there will be vegetables on every table at every party you go this holiday season.

And if by chance you really want to make some changes, send me a message, I’m here. I’ll help.

Kathleen Hayden is a Coach at CrossFit Iron Legion in Ocala, Florida. She has her CrossFit Level – 2 Certification and has been helping athletes reach their physical potential for over 4 years. She can be reached at KathleenAnnHayden@gmail.com