The holiday season is upon us and that means food, food and food is everywhere. Family is in town, you have parties to attend, there always seems to be an unlimited amount of sugary and high fat snacks at work and all the while your self-control needs to be on point each and every time a temptation arises, right? Wrong!
Enjoy the holidays. Make no mistake the holidays are not to be treated as an excuse to derail what you have worked on all year long. Honor and respect yourself by doing your best to navigate the roadmap like a champ.
Top 10 Tips To Navigate The Holiday Season:
- Eat before you go. You’ve heard, don’t go to the grocery store hungry it’s the same thought if you are attending a holiday party or attending a lunch or dinner with friends or family. Eat a healthy, balanced hearty snack before you leave the house. A snack will help curb your appetite making it less likely to overeat. If you walk into the event hungry, guess what? Yup, your chances of overeating increase significantly.
- Contribute a healthy dish. If you are attending an event, party or family gathering contribute a dish that you know is a little healthier. You can indulge in your dish and savor the other options at the table.
- Small bites count as calories too. Whatever event you attend remember all calories do count. Work in more of the healthier selections first. Save the more delectable options for later when you are less likely to overindulge.
- Eat your veggies. Focus on the veggies. Whether it’s a crudité platter or veggies at the dinner table make sure to fill up on your colors. Colors = nutrients, fiber and low calorie. You can enjoy the holidays but still feed your body good, nutritious foods.
- Stay hydrated with water. Water is your friend during the hectic holiday season. Not only does water keep your skin glowing but it can help relieve fatigue and increase energy. Water keeps you feeling full so the munchies stay at bay. It can help boost your immune system and act as a natural headache remedy.
- Enjoy a holiday cocktail but be mindful of how many. Before you go straight for a cocktail, try a glass of water first or a non-alcoholic spritzer to help fill you up and keep you hydrated. If you know you are going to have more than one drink then try a non-alcoholic choice between each cocktail. This helps decrease how much alcohol you actually drink. It also keeps your body hydrated and you less likely wake up with a hangover.
- Portion sizes still count. Remember, it’s important to enjoy the holidays but it’s also important to honor and respect yourself and everything you have done throughout the year to improve your health and wellness. Again, take bigger portions of foods that have lots of color, typically lower calorie choices. You can still enjoy other foods at the table. Moderate portions should be considered when enjoying meat, starchy sides and foods covered in cheese.
- Savor your indulgences. Try not to eat just to eat. Check out the meal offerings and find that one special dish that you just really love each year, or investigate the dessert table and pick out 1-2 small servings of your favorite sweet treat. Really savor them, enjoy them.
- Find ways to keep up the activity. The holiday season can get very overwhelming and many times you can find yourself short on time. Make it your focus to keep some type of activity in your daily routine, make adjustments if needed. If you can’t make it to the gym then get in a 15-20 minute walk either before or after work. Go online or download an app that provides a 30 minute workout that you can do at home. If you are out of town, book a hotel with a gym, walk versus taking uber, or grab a community bike. Keeping up the activity is going to keep you on that health and wellness path.
- Enjoy in moderation. You can still enjoy the holidays without overdoing it. Rather than making food the focus of every occasion put the emphasis on gathering with the ones you love. Spend more time visiting, catching up and celebrating than eating.
Remember to be kind to yourself during the holidays. Not every occasion is going to go as planned, not every temptation is going to be beat, it’s impossible to think you will achieve perfection or meet all of your health and wellness goals during the holiday season.
It’s all about choices, some choices are better than others. Keep in mind, the choices you make should be geared towards getting you closer to your goals versus further away from your goals. If you focus on this you will have success during the holidays. Your thoughts will help guide your choices. If temptations defeat you one day don’t let that destroy every day until January 1st. Chalk it up as a day of defeat and start the next day as if defeat never happened.
If you can work on making mindful choices daily throughout the holiday season you’ll be a champ!