Thanksgiving is only two days away and Christmas is coming up quick. Is your stomach ready for the onslaught? The holidays inevitably mean party after party of eating and drinking festivities.
Fun times for sure, but at this jolly time of year we tend to say au revoir to our healthy eating and exercise habits and pack on unwanted pounds.
When you couple eggnog, with pie, stuffing, gravy, Irish coffees and any other holiday goodness you can muster up, and pack it into a one month time span, it’s no wonder our self-control goes out the window.
Here are 7 guilt-free holiday tips to help us all survive the festivities with our waistlines intact:
1. Work The Room: A great strategy to avoid mindless munching is to work the room instead of hovering over the buffet of temptation. Fill a small plate with what you want and then make your way around the room. Get your social butterfly on and hang with the talkers, not the eaters. For added bonus, keep something in your hand like an empty glass, since you might feel more comfortable when your hands our occupied.
2. Pinpoint Why You Indulge: Ask yourself if you use food and drink to cope with social anxiety, like that hottie in the corner you’ve been dying to talk to. Or maybe you view the holidays as a license to eat. Discover why your eating habits hit the skids and you’ll be better able to gain control again.
3. Take A Moment To Reflect: When your about to grab that fifth cookie, check in with how your body is feeling. Place your hand on your stomach and take a deep breath. This will shift your focus from your thoughts to what is actually going on in your stomach. A great trick is to rate your hunger level on a 1-5 point scale. Check in throughout your snacking or meals and pay attention to how you truly feel.
4. Nurse Your Drinks: Downing some bubbly and other holiday cocktails is a given at any holiday soiree. The hard part is managing how much you’re really drinking and paying attention to how often you wander over to the buffet to soak up that alcohol. After you’ve had a few it’s really easy to convince yourself that whipped cream could possibly, no most definitely, be an essential food group, or that one more piece of pie is only a few calories, which you’ll burn off tomorrow of course…been there!… You don’t need to avoid alcohol, but pace yourself. A great tip is to drink water or club soda first and then enjoy a drink during or after your meal. This way you are less likely to fill up on drinks. Also, try alternating between alcohol and water.
5. Savor Everything: Take your time and enjoy every bite or slurp you take. Counting how much you chew is a great technique. 15 chews per bite is perfect, not too long or too short. Beyond the food, savor your time with your friends and family. How often do you really get to catch up with your Uncle Bob, or Grandma Sue? Tell stories, crack jokes, and well…be merry! Focusing on all that is going in the moment will curb your temptations.
6. Stick To The Basics: Getting your 8 glasses of water per day and eating fruits and veggies, allows you to really enjoy those holiday treats. As we all know, sometimes our thirst signal can be misconstrued as hunger, so drink up. The fruits and veggies provide essential fiber and will fill you up so you don’t overindulge all the sweet stuff.
7. Get Back On Track: If you overdo it at one meal, get back on track at the next meal or at least the next day. The stomach is not as elastic as we would like to think. Stuffing ourselves for many meals will stretch the stomach and ultimately cause us to eat larger meals even after the holidays. Rebound with an after meal walk and eat small, frequent meals that won’t leave you full or bloated.
I hope these tips will help you eat healthfully and cherish the time with your loved ones! Of course, diet is only half the battle when it comes to maintaining our health over the next few months. Fitting our daily exercise into the craziness of holiday shopping, planning, and cooking seems nearly impossible. Stay tuned for Part 2 of this holiday survival guide to learn ways to stay on track with your fitness goals, while juggling all the stress the season can bring.
