Often when people are on holidays, the first thing they do is throw in the towel and use holidays as a reason to let go and eat and drink whatever they like. If you have been dieting and restricting, you might be seeking the first reason to let go and go for it with unhealthy options. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t allow yourself to have some time out from your healthy lifestyle but remember the 80/20 rule where you are healthy 80% of the time and your results are 80% what you eat and drink. So, if you are going on holidays or you have times of celebration, think about what you want and how you can let go a little but stay on track for your health. With these 3 strategies, you will be able to find an approach that can help you during these times:

Be prepared and do some prior planning.

It can be so easy to go off the rails if you are on holidays and if you do, just forgive yourself and know that it can happen sometimes while doing your best by being prepared. While there may be temptation everywhere, if you have healthy options available you will feel better about yourself and your choices. You might be dining out a lot so call ahead or check the menu online to make sure that you have choices and if they don’t, ask them to prepare something for you. When you are prepared, it takes away the stress as you have planned ahead to avoid temptation too much and you are able to find some reprieve. This doesn’t mean you are on a diet contrary to popular belief. It means you are committed, and dieting is a mindset and negatively driven approach to your eating. Being prepared is about being comfortable in being healthy and not caring what others think because your health is important to you.

Allow yourself a treat while limiting it to 20% of the time.

Being fully restrictive won’t last and you will want to let loose if you are restricting yourself all of the time. So many women fear letting go a little because of restrictive diets and what is deemed lack of control if you were to let your guard down when it comes to food. You must learn to be able to give yourself 20% of the time off so you aren’t on a restrictive diet and you are able to feel you have choice and aren’t on a diet. It is important to be able to live with moderation and manage your thoughts, feelings and emotions when it comes to food. By allowing yourself some leeway and a chance to treat yourself, you are less likely to feel restricted and more likely to be able to reach your goals. It may take longer but you will be able to sustain your results.

Watch out for the inner rebel and become the queen of your eating and drinking habits.

The inner rebel will cut loose when you are on holidays because many women have severely or moderately restricted themselves dieting feeling they can’t have any food that is outside of their diet. The inner rebel wants to prove that you aren’t on a diet and you can eat whatever you like while forgoing health in binges and an approach to food that is very unhealthy. I believe to adopt an 80/20 approach you have some structure to go by where you are able to sometimes have whatever you like and that can tame the inner rebel who wants to prove you don’t care what others think or you think about your approach to food. You must become the queen of your health habits and be discerning and decisive about the choices you make from a powerful abundant place. By doing this, you are the one who is in charge and you are the one who creates your results in the most effective and powerful ways.