Enjoy Treats WITHOUT Guilt During the Holidays

If you are anything like me, the holidays are full of foods that only get made once a year.  We look forward to these foods because they likely remind us of someone we love and the joy of the holiday season.  For me, it is my aunt’s chocolate cake with candy cane frosting, my great uncle’s roasted almonds, my Mom’s spinach dip with Fritos, and my grandmother’s super thin and crispy sugar cookies.  I could go on, but you get the idea. There are many foods I look forward to eating every year.

However, back when I was a chronic dieter, I always felt guilty when I indulged.  I still ate everything, but I would literally think about how “bad” I had been and then start the I’ll get back on track after the holidays mantra to make myself feel better.

Now when I indulge in my favorite holiday treats, I enjoy them guilt free because I have decided ahead of time that I am going to eat them. (I also have a plan to stop indulging)  I am going to share how you too can create a holiday treat plan, so that you can indulge guilt free too.

Step #1:  Holiday Treats List

Get out a piece of paper and brain dump all of the food that you enjoy over the holidays.  I shared four of my favorite foods above, but my list is so much longer. Make sure you think of all the activities, parties, gifts received and tempting grocery store displays when creating your list.  The value in writing down everything you love to eat is that you get the full picture of all of your holiday temptations.

Step #2:  Choose Non-Negotiable Treats

While looking at your holiday treats list, circle all the treats that you would feel deprived and or resentful if you decided to skip them.  Be honest with yourself, there is no limit to how many foods you can circle.

Step #3  Guilt Free Holiday Treat Plan

Now that you have been honest about what you will indulge in over the holidays, set up some limits and boundaries.  Fold a piece of paper in half and write “Holiday Treats” on one side and “Guilt Free Guidelines” on the other.

Let’s say you love eating candy canes.  Those are pretty easy to eat every day. That would be a good food to limit.  Choose how many times you will indulge from now until the New Year.

However, maybe you feel like your downfall is holiday cookies.  This might be easier to limit to specific days. I will only eat holiday cookies on the day that I make them.  I will only eat holiday cookies on these two days. I will only eat holiday cookies when I am at a party.

Do this for every non-negotiable treat you circled in step #2.

Step #4  Hang Your Holiday Treat Plan

Once you have created your Holiday Treat Plan, hang it where you can see it every day.  This will help you stay committed. If you are limiting treats, then you can track when you indulge so you stay honest about how many you have enjoyed it.  Remember, if it didn’t make it onto your list, then don’t let it make its way into your mouth.

When I did this for the first time, I was surprised by how many foods that I ate over the holidays that I didn’t really even like that much.  For example, we get a box of white chocolate covered toffees every year. They are good, and I like them, but I wouldn’t buy them myself. I only eat them because I am craving sugar and they are there.  This was an easy food to leave off my Treat List.

Step #5  Set an End Date

While having a holiday treat plan can help you indulge without guilt, it is important that it is a holiday treat plan and it doesn’t last into the New Year. Because I know first hand that once we start indulging, it is harder to stop and get back on track with our healthy eating. 

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