The holiday season can present a major challenge when we are working on making healthier food choices. Social gatherings are a fun way to enjoy this time of year, but it can make it difficult with all the high calorie foods and beverages. There are many ways in which you can strike a balance between maintaining a healthy diet and enjoying the festivities. Here are ten tips to help you through the holiday season – without gaining weight.
1. Savor your food. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you’ve had enough to eat. Rather than feeling uncomfortably stuffed, eat slowly and mindfully. It’s okay to leave food on your plate.
2. Be a picky eater. If you are going to indulge, choose the once a year slice of the home made pecan pie over the chips and store bought cookies.
3. Increase your water intake. We often mistake thirst for hunger, so before reaching for something to eat, try drinking some water. Don’t like plain water? Try flavored seltzer instead.
4. Watch the liquid calories. Alcohol, soda, juice and eggnog have a lot of calories, but no nutrition, and liquid calories are often easier and quicker to consume and will not satisfy hunger. The body does not feel the same fullness from a drink as it does from solid foods. Drinking alcohol also lowers inhibitions, making it more likely you’ll overindulge.
5. Eat regularly. If you are going to an event, don’t skip meals throughout the day to “save” calories, you’ll only end up very hungry and at risk of over-eating once you get to the party. Eat balanced meals beforehand, like a quinoa bowl with roasted veggies and chickpeas. If you do snack, make sure you include protein, fiber and healthy fat, like apple slices with a small amount of nut butter.
6. Make your plate healthy. Evaluate your options before you serve yourself. Make half your plate non-starchy vegetables.
7. Offer to bring a dish. Bring a healthy dish that you can share with the group. This will ensure that you’ll have something you can feel good about eating.
8. Refine your cooking. To save fat and calories, bake foods instead of frying them and sauté’ vegetables in vegetable broth. If you are making a dessert, reduce the amounts of fat and sugar, or find recipes that swap out unhealthy fat and refined sugar with healthier alternatives.
9. Connect. Focus on the people at the party – this is what the season is all about! With some sparking water in hand, enjoy the conversation. This will help you from eating mindlessly.
10. Refocus. If you slip from your plan for healthier eating and end up eating more than you had intended, don’t use it as an excuse to continue to overeat. At your next meal or snack, commit to make a healthier choice that is aligned with your goals
A health coach can help you stay on track and create a healthy plan during the holiday season. Being proactive with a plan will help you avoid the need for making weight loss New Year’s resolutions (which I never recommend!).
Health isn’t just physical! It’s mental, emotional, and spiritual too. That’s why I recommend building new routines (and a positive mindset) using my Holistic Pillars for Healthy Living: Nourishment, Movement, Sleep, Stress Management, and Connection.
The tips in this post are part of the what I teach clients through my 3 month coaching programs. Tips like these these work best you have the right steps, support and accountability.
When we work together, we create a sustainable plan that will help you reach your health, wellness and weight loss goals in a way that is in alignment with the vision you have for yourself.
If you’re ready to go from feeling stuck and hopeless to feeling confident and empowered, contact me for a free consultation.
We’ll use our time together to will look at what you’re doing now, what’s working and what’s not working, and recommendations for next steps.
You may have had trouble making changes in the past, and I want to show you that this time can be different – especially if you have someone to encourage you, support you, and show you what to do step-by-step.
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