Surviving the Holidays

The holiday season is here again, and for the health conscious it can be intimidating, especially if you have a weight loss goal. The average amount of weight gain between Thanksgiving and New years is 10lbs. I am here to give you hope! There are ways to survive the festivities without blowing your nutrition plan. With careful planning and diligence, there is no reason you can’t maintain or lose weight through the Holidays. You want to learn to think before you eat. You don’t have to starve yourself, just make better choices. It isn’t necessarily what you eat; it’s how much you eat. Here are some tips.

1. Focus on the meaning of the occasion and not the food. If your focus is on the fellowship and not the food, you will be less likely to overeat.
2. Don’t starve yourself before the big event. If you feed yourself properly throughout the day, you will be less likely to overeat at the party.
3. Don’t forget to exercise. Exercising before your Holiday dinner will suppress your appetite and boost your metabolism. Also, taking a walk after your dinner will help to burn off some calories. Just fifteen minutes of activity can burn 100 calories.
4. Take steps to manage your stress levels. Avoid family and friends that cause you undue stress. Stressful situations increase the likelihood of overeating.
5. Choose a smaller plate; don’t fill it all the way up; only eat 3/4 of the food on it; and, refuse to go for seconds.
6. Fill your plate with the lower fat choices like turkey breast, steamed veggies and green salad. These choices will keep you satisfied longer.
7. If you desire a sweet treat, plan for it. Don’t pile sweets onto an already stuffed tummy. Make wise choices during the main course and save some room for a few bites of dessert. Try to choose the healthiest option and only eat a couple of bites.
8. Keep a journal of what you eat. Keeping good, honest records will help you monitor your intake to ensure you don’t go over your goal calories for the day. Remember, it takes 3500 calories to gain or lose one pound.
9. If you are preparing the food, make healthier versions of the traditional dishes by using low fat substitutions.
10. Make sure that there are healthy options on the table. Fresh veggies, salad, steamed veggies without butter, etc…
11. Practice portion control. 3oz of meat is about the size of a deck of playing cards. One cup is about the size of a baseball. Half a cup is the size of half a baseball. A medium potato is the size of a computer mouse, one cup of salad greens is about four lettuce leaves.