Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays

One idea for an after-core class is to offer a series of sessions related to the holidays or one holiday session as part of a winter class on several additional topics.  You may want to add some fun by having a holiday contest (e.g., give everyone a paper Christmas tree with gold stars to put on it whenever they do certain targeted behaviors, then have the participants bring in their completed trees at the end of the class for a prize).  You may want to work as a group on a project related to the spirit of giving (e.g., a charitable volunteer project or earning points toward a group donation to charity).

Here are some ideas for sessions:

Session 1.	Planning for the Holidays  (Review the attached handout, Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays, according to the instructions.  Have participants complete Lifestyle Balance During the Holiday: Problem Solving and, depending on the timing of the holiday, try their action plan before the next session.  Also have participants name key foods they prepare during the holidays and ask them to bring a favorite recipe they’d like to modify to Session 4 and any low-fat/low-calorie holiday recipes they’d like to share with the group.)	

Session 2.	Stress and Time Management During the Holidays   (First discuss how the  participants’ action plans went since the last session and revise if necessary.  Then ask participants to name various sources of stress during the holidays.  How do these sources of stress and time pressures affect their eating and activity during the holidays?  What strategies have they already used to cope with stress and manage their time during the holidays?  Ask participants to individually complete the attached handout, What Is Most Important About the Holidays? and then discuss their answers.  Emphasize that staying healthy is fundamental to everything else, which is why participants have joined the DPP and committed themselves to losing weight and being physically active.  Ask participants to name some things they need to do in order to adhere to their DPP goals but may neglect during the holidays.  Then use an example from the group to demonstrate how to complete the worksheet, Saving Time for a Healthy Lifestyle During the Holidays.  Finally have participants complete the worksheet individually, discuss their answers, and then try their action plans, if possible before the next session, depending on the timing of the holiday.  To help participants answer item 2 on the worksheet, you may want to distribute the handouts, Quick and Healthy Eating and Streamline Physical Activity from the Time Management class.  Remind participants that the next session includes physical activity and to come dressed appropriately.)  

Session 3.	Being Active During the Holidays  (First discuss how the participants’ action plans went since the last session and revise if necessary.  Then distribute information about local opportunities for holiday activities that involve physical activity, such as a list of local ice skating rinks, places to rent cross country skiing equipment, etc., with phone numbers, locations, and hours.  If possible, do something active as a group (e.g., hike, ice skating or cross country skiing lesson) during the session.  You may want to distribute and discuss the handout, Staying Active on Holidays.  Using an example barrier to physical activity from the group, demonstrate completing the worksheet Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays: Problem Solving.  Then have participants complete the worksheet individually and discuss their action plans.  Remind participants to bring in recipes to makeover at the next session.)

Session 4.	Holiday Make-Over, Including Recipes  (First discuss how the participants’action plans went since the last session and revise if necessary.  Then ask participants to share some favorite holiday recipes they’d like to makeover.  Discuss several of the recipes as a group, making suggestions for ingredient substitutions and alternative cooking methods to lower the fat/calories.  For example, you may want to discuss cooking methods and provide recipes for a lower-fat pastry crust and filling for a pumpkin pie, a defatted gravy, low-fat stuffing, low-fat cookies and quick bread made with a fruit puree as a fat substitute, etc.  You may also want to do a make-over of a Thanksgiving menu or even an entire Thanksgiving day as a group.  Include strategies in addition to recipe modification, such as eating smaller portions, budgeting fat grams/calories and activity, etc.  A sample menu and menu makeover answer sheet are attached.  One option for this session would be to demonstrate preparing a modified holiday recipe or tasting one that has already been prepared.  For homework, ask participants to modify and test at least one holiday recipe and plan to bring samples of a successfull recipe to share at the next session, the potluck party.  You may want to coordinate which types of recipes participants test so that among everyone, an entire menu is tested (i.e., one participant would test an appetizer or soup, one a main course, one a side dish, one a dessert, and so on).  Ask participants to give you the written recipes, with fat grams and calories per serving, before the party if possible so you can make copies to distribute at the party. )

Session 5.	Holiday Party Potluck  (First ask participants how their recipe testing went.  Then have the potluck and distribute copies of the recipes for low-fat/calorie holiday foods.  As part of the party, have participants role-play the situations on the after-core handout Solving the Problem of Buffets and Receptions (CU1) and discuss their experience as a group.  Review the after-core handout If You Drink Alcohol (ON2).  Complete the worksheet Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays: Problem Solving as a group and then individually about problems related to handling holiday parties and celebrations.)

Be sure to review Section 6 in the Manual for Contacts After Core:  Guidelines for Conducting Lifestyle Classes after Core, before conducting this or other after-core classes.  Note:  All after-core classes should be considered a time for participants to “restart” (resume behavior changes toward their weight loss and physical activity goals).  To accomplish this, all classes should include weigh-ins, encouragement to self-monitor, and collection and review of self-monitoring records.  At Session 1, participants should set goals for fat grams/calories, exercise, and weight loss to achieve during the course.

How to Use “Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays”

The attached optional participant handouts, Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays and Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays: Problem Solving, are based on the similar handouts on vacations.  They may be given to participants during an individual In-Person visit or may be used to support a group discussion during an after-core class. 

Note:  The following instructions assume the handouts will be used with a group but can be adapted for use with an individual participant as well.

1.	Ask the participants to close their eyes for a few moments and think about the holidays.  “Try to imagine the scenes you remember from previous holidays.”  After a few minutes, ask them to share their images.  If there’s a chalkboard, write down the themes.  Notice aloud how many of them have to do with eating and drinking or being inactive.

2.	Ask the participants why there are special difficulties about eating and inactivity during the holidays. Get their ideas, and then summarize the following points:
1.	For most of us, the holidays mean traditional forms of celebration with family and friends and many food and social cues.  There may be feasts and parties, often additional time pressures and stress to prepare for these sometimes elaborate celebrations, and for many of us, eating and drinking too much.  For others, memories, loneliness and separation from family and friends add their own pressures which can lead to eating and drinking too much.
2.	Eating is a form of pleasure, so we may mis-eat as a way to cope with stress and find pleasure if we don’t have other sources of pleasure available during the holidays.  
3.	We associate eating (and often inactivity) with pleasure, so when we are having pleasure, we believe that eating or being inactive will make that pleasurable time even better.  During the holidays, this can get out of hand if we relax and let down control (“after all, it’s a holiday.”).
4.	If things go wrong during the holidays (and most holidays don’t live up to our fantasies), or if we are workaholics and have great difficulty relaxing when not at work, we might get tense and eat to relieve the added tension on a holiday.
5.	Eating and drinking are “social lubricants,” helping us to feel at ease, giving us something to talk about, even giving us an escape excuse (“Excuse me, I’m going to get more food”).  These factors may be especially important if our holiday is with a group of friends or family that we haven’t seen in a while.
6.	Holidays happen infrequently so we may be more willing to “excuse” overeating or being inactive.  
7.	During the holidays our routine changes, which may mean disruptions in our typical schedules for activity and eating meals and snacks.

3.	Distribute the handout, Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays.  Review the following strategies (summarized on the handout).  As you review each strategy, ask participants for examples and allow time for discussion:

1.	Plan pleasures other than food and drink.  
a.	Plan the kind of holiday you want.  One way to think about this is to ask yourself, What do I enjoy about the holiday?  What traditions are most meaningful for me and my family and friends?  What traditions are not so meaningful?  What things do I enjoy doing versus what things have I felt obligated to do?  For example, you may love going to concerts of holiday music and not enjoy sending holiday cards.
 		b.	Think about what you like to do for physical activity.  Can you find a way to make that part of your holiday?
c.	Be prepared to be assertive with others about what you want to do during the holidays.  Negotiate a compromise if necessary.   
2.	Some of us spend the holidays alone but most of have some arranging to do with family and friends.  Have a family talk well before the holidays to discuss such issues as:
a.	What did we like about the holidays last year?  What were the problems?  Make a specific plan for what you will do this year, including pleasures other than food and drink. 
b.	Discuss how you will handle food and eating out.  
	If we prepare a holiday feast, what special foods will be included?  If our traditional foods are high in calories and fat, can the recipes be modified?  Can we add some new low-fat/calorie items to the menus as options (e.g., fruit salad as well as cookies and pie)?  [This may be a good time to distribute some low-fat recipes and an example of a high-fat recipe that has been modified.]
	How often will we eat out (e.g., during the weeks before the holidays when time is scarce)? What types of restaurants will we choose?  Are there low-fat/calorie options for you?  Can we split entrees or desserts?
	Will we have tempting high-fat/calorie foods like cookies, candy and cake in the house?  If so, can they be stored out of sight and separate from other foods?   Can family members agree to eat these foods only when eating out?  
	How will gifts of high calorie/fat foods be handled (e.g., Christmas cookies brought by your aunt)?  Can we agree to take food gifts to school or work to distribute?  Can we ask friends and relatives before the holidays to bring a fruit basket or a nonfood gift instead of cookies, nuts, or other rich foods?
		c.	Can we find a fun way to all be physically active?  Examples: sledding, ice skating, winter hiking, bird watching, cross country skiing? 
d.	Get the family to agree not to nag you about what you eat or your activity plan.
e.	Talk about positive ways your family can help (for example, praising you when you are sticking to your low fat food plan, going on walks with you, helping you with holiday preparations so you don’t get too tired or stressed).

3.	Have reasonable expectations for the holidays.
a.	Keep track of your eating and activity as much as possible.  (Summarize the study described in the attached Health Psychology article, “How Can Obese Weight Controllers Minimize Weight Gain During the High-Risk Holiday Season?  By Self-Monitoring Very Consistently.” Emphasize that in the intervention group, a decrease in weight was significantly associated with an increase in self-monitoring.  Ask participants what they think would help them to self-monitor very consistently during the upcoming holiday season.  Depending on the group, you may want to ask the participants if they’d like to establish a buddy system among themselves and call one another during the holiday season to reinforce self-monitoring.  If so, those who volunteer to participate might exchange phone numbers or e-mail addresses.  Or the Lifestyle Coaches at your center may decide to increase phone and mail contact with the participants in the class to reinforce self-monitoring, as was done in the study described in the articles.)  
b.	Weigh yourself often, but remember that scales differ.
c.	Plan to maintain your weight; don’t expect weight loss.  Figure fat and calorie goals for maintenance.
d.	Let go a little.  For example, eat something special.  Choose the best and leave the rest.  That is, when you decide to eat a special high fat food, choose quality, not quantity.  Choose the best thing available, take a small portion, eat slowly, and enjoy every mouthful.
e.	Get extra activity.  If you slip with eating a little, this will often compensate.

4.	If you tend to be tense during the holidays, ask why and what you can do about it.
a.	Avoid extended periods when you are doing what others want and not what you want.  Be assertive about what you want to do.  Let go of traditions that are no longer meaningful to you or that you do not enjoy.
b.	Plan daily times to relax.  Try not to get overtired (e.g., by doing too much shopping for gifts in a short period of time).

5.	Decide what you want to do about alcohol.  Alcohol may lower self-control.  If you drink, are you aware of the calories involved?

6.	Build in activity.  For example, make it a habit to park further away and walk a little longer to get to the shopping mall or to a holiday concert.  Look for seasonal ways to be active that can become traditions (e.g., go sledding or ice skating, take a winter nature hike at a local park, or go cross country skiing).

7.	Prepare for old friends or relatives you haven’t seen in a while.  Decide how and when you will want to be assertive with them about eating and activity.  Consider talking with them in advance.

8.	Plan for pleasures after the holidays.  Many people experience a let-down after the holidays.  Try to get back to regular activities gradually and plan some extra pleasures to offset post-holiday blues.  Consider allowing an easy day at home before getting back to work full-steam.	

5.	(Note:  The next handout, Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays: Problem Solving, is for problem solving issues related to a specific holiday plan, whereas the previous one provides general guidelines.  So this handout may or may not be appropriate for participants at this point, depending on whether or not they know their holiday plans.)  
Distribute the handout, Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays: Problem Solving.  First review a general problem solving strategy for holidays (analyze, write, plan, reward) and provide examples:
1.	Take time to think about the problems in advance.  For example, you normally walk every morning before work, but you plan to sleep in during the holidays.  
2.	Write out the problem and list some possible solutions.  Could you plan some special activities such as ice skating and sledding? 
3.	Decide on your best solution and write it out.  
4.	Agree with yourself in advance that if you are able to carry out the plan, you will somehow reward yourself afterwards.  Be specific about the goal and the reward.
Ask the participant(s) for some examples of problems and work together on a couple of specific plans to be recorded on the handout.

6.	Summarize main points, answer questions, and wish participants a happy holiday.   

Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays 

Ways to Handle the Holidays	
1.	Plan pleasures other than food or drink.
C	Plan the kind of holiday you want.  
C		Think about what you like to do for physical activity.  Can you make that a part of your holiday?   	
2.	Hold a family meeting ahead of time.  
C	What did we like or dislike about our last holiday?  What will we do this time?
C	How will we handle food and eating out?
C	Can we find a fun way to all be physically active this year?
C	Get the family to agree not to nag you about your eating or activity.
C	Talk about ways your family can help.	
3.	Have reasonable expectations for the holiday.
C	Keep track of your eating and activity.  
C	Weigh yourself often.  But remember, scales differ.
C	Plan to maintain your weight.
C	Let go a little.  Eat something special.  (Choose the best.  Have a small portion.)
C	Get extra activity.  	
4.	If you tend to be tense during the holidays:
C	Avoid long periods when you’re doing what others want and not what you want.
C	Plan daily times to relax. 	
5.	Decide what you want to do about alcohol.  
Alcohol may lower self-control.  
If you drink, be aware of the calories.  	
6.	Build in activity.  
Park further away and walk.
Look for seasonal ways to be active that can become traditions.	
7.	Prepare for friends or relatives you haven’t seen in a while.	
8.	Plan for pleasures after the holidays.	

Lifestyle Balance During the Holidays:
Problem Solving 

Healthy eating and being active are possible during the holidays.  
The key is to plan ahead:

1.	What problems might come up?  

                                                                                                 
                                                                                                  
2.	Choose one problem.  List some possible solutions.  

                                                                                                 
                                                                                                 
3.	Choose the best solution.  What will you need to do to make that happen?  How will you handle things that might get in the way?

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                 
4.	Plan to reward yourself.  What will the reward be?  What will you need to do to earn that reward?

                                                                                                

What Is Most Important
About the Holidays?

Important

U

1.	Imagine it is ten years from now, and you are remembering how you spent the holidays during those ten years.  What would your most cherished memories be?  What activities and traditions were the most meaningful and enjoyable? (Remember, there are no right answers.  What is most meaningful to you may be less so for someone else.)

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                

2.	List some other activities and traditions that are not so meaningful or enjoyable.  (For example, you may send Christmas cards every year but not find much meaning or enjoyment in doing so.)                                                       

                                                                                                

                                                                                                  
3.	How important is staying healthy and preventing diabetes in terms of being able to enjoy your future holidays?

                                                                                                

Saving Time for a Healthy Lifestyle 
During the Holidays

When I get busy during the holidays, I tend to neglect the following behaviors:

9	Self-monitoring what I eat
9	Self-monitoring my activity
9	Doing physical activity
9	Preparing low-fat/calorie foods 
9	Planning ahead for when I eat out 
9	Talking back to negative thoughts 

9	Changing problem cues (food, social, or activity cues) 
9	Adding helpful cues (food, social, or activity cues)   
9	Problem solving what gets in the way of my healthy lifestyle goals
9	Other (specify                                                                                           

Some possible ways to make time to do the above things during the holidays:

1.	Cut back on these activities/traditions that are less important to me: 

                                                                                                  
2.	Streamline healthy eating/physical activity by:                                     
                                                                                                  
Choose the best solution:                                                                       

	What might get in the way? 			        I will handle this by:

                                                          	 	                                                                    
                                                          	 	                                                                      
I will do this to make my success more likely:                                                              
Did it work?  If not, what went wrong?                                                                       
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving doesn't have to be a nutrition disaster.  

What are some healthier alternatives to the traditional menu items on the left?  Write your ideas in the right-hand column.  

Traditional 
Menu	
Calories	Fat (grams)	Healthy 
Changes	
		
Fresh raw veggies (1/2 c.)	50	0	
			
			Vegetable dip (2 TBSP)	60	4				
Dark turkey (5 oz.) 	262	10				
Gravy (1/2 cup)	58	4				
Stuffing (1 cup)	340	18				
Cranberry sauce (1/4 cup)	90	0				
Potatoes, mashed with butter and whole milk 
(1/2 cup)	130	6				
Vegetable casserole
(3/4 cup)	135	7.5				
Dinner roll with butter	100	6				
Sweet potatoes, candied with brown sugar and butter (1/2 cup)	164	3.4				
Pumpkin pie with whipped cream	350	20				
Traditional Total:	1739	79				
This meal is 41% fat.  						

			

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some simple suggestions for making your traditional dinner healthier.

Traditional 
Menu	
Calories	Fat (grams)	Healthy 
Changes	
Calories	Fat 
(grams)	
Fresh raw veggies (1/2 c.)	50	0	No change	50	0	
Vegetable dip (2 TBSP)	60	4	Made with low-fat sour cream	35	2	
Dark turkey (5 oz.) 	262	10	White turkey (3 oz.)	129	3	
Gravy (1/2 cup)	58	4	Use only 1/4 cup	29	2	
Stuffing (1 cup)	340	18	1/2 cup serving	170	9	
Cranberry sauce (1/4 cup)	90	0	No change	90	0	
Potatoes, mashed with butter and whole milk 
(1/2 cup)	130	6	Mashed with non-fat sour cream 	82	0	
Vegetable casserole
(3/4 cup)	135	7.5	Steamed veggies (1/2 c.)	25	0	
Dinner roll with butter	100	6	Don't add butter	60	2	
Sweet potatoes, candied with brown sugar and butter (1/2 cup)	164	3.4	Mashed with syrup 
(no butter)	106	0	
Pumpkin pie with whipped cream	350	20	No whipped cream	320	17	
Traditional Total:	1739	79	Healthier Total:	1126	35	
This meal is 41% fat.  			This meal is 28% fat. 			

You save 643 calories and 44 grams of fat by making these small changes!

TIPS FOR A 

      HEALTHY THANKSGIVING

Use Low-Fat Products

Try skim milk, reduced-calorie margarine, fat-free sour cream and reduced fat cheese.  These products are much healthier for everyone and taste just as good!

Eat Smaller Portions

There are so many good foods! Take smaller portions (1/2 cup or less) of several different things!

Pick Your Favorites

You don't have to eat everything that is served. Pick the foods that are special and skip foods you eat regularly (like dinner rolls)!

Take a Walk After Dinner! 

Invite your friends and family to walk with you. Walking briskly will burn off extra calories.