Holiday Eating

It's that glorious time of year again- the Holidays. A time when we gather hearth side with friends and loved ones, hold hands, and cast our heads back with song and laughter, as the spirit of love and giving fills our hearts. Aahhhh.

Well, maybe at the end of a Charles Dickens' story. For most of us the holidays mean varying degrees of chaos. End of year tasks and last ditch goal pushes at the office. Kids that are (understandably) turned up to 11. Logistical nightmares as you try and attend 12 holiday parties in the course of 8 days. And every time you turn around over the next month, it seems somebody has put out another plate of homemade gooeyness that has about 3,478 calories per teaspoon.

It's a fun time, no?

It is a fun time, but it can also be a time of increased stress and anxiety. For someone who is trying to lose weight this can be an especially difficult time of year. For one, a lot of weight loss comes down to behavioral changes, and most of us have programmed a lot of bad eating behaviors into ourselves around the holidays. Secondly, for a lot of people stress is a trigger to turn to food for comfort. And lastly, there is an over emphasis on food this time of year, and I'm not talking about kale chips here, people. Not unless of course they've been dipped in chocolate, rolled in peanuts, and served on a bed of fudge. You can see how the holidays can easily become a personal Waterloo for someone trying to lose weight, or even just maintain healthy eating habits.

So what is one to do to avoid Nutritional Armageddon? The old saying "Those who fail to plan, plan to fail" tells the story. To be successful around holiday eating it is imperative that one create a thoughtful plan on how they are going to manage it. Here are some ideas on what to consider, and how to make your own plan.

Let loose (but not too loose)

Let’s be realistic here. It is the holidays and there is going to be a lot more food-based celebrating than normal, and we should allow ourselves to partake in some of it. Look at the events you will be attending, and pick two to three that you will allow yourself more indulgence than you would on a typical day.

When you do indulge, don’t go crazy

Once you’ve picked a couple of events that you are going to allow yourself  less restricted eating, it is still important to have some guidelines in place so as to not go totally overboard. Some ideas:

·        Don’t eat anything larger than your head. (Ok, I’m just kidding. Actually, this is good advice for any time of year.)

·        Prioritize what it is you want to eat. We all have favorite dishes and foods. Pick the ones you like the most and stick with those. Do not just eat something because it happens to be staring you down. I did this over Thanksgiving for example, and had just one plate of food that was only turkey, mashed potatoes, and squash. I didn’t eat any bread or other sides that weren’t on my “All-Star” list.

·        Avoid drinking your calories. Nothing racks up calories faster with no sense of satiety than high caloric drinks. Especially those really yummy mixed drinks that taste more like elfin magic than alcohol. Same goes for sodas and non-alcoholic punch. There is no nutritional value whatsoever in these sugary drinks. Save the calories for the good stuff- food and desserts.

·        Try the Rule of One. Allow yourself one appetizer, one plate of food, and one dessert (or one alcoholic drink if you’d rather have that than dessert).

·        If the food happens to be in a buffet setting, use a smaller plate. Instead of going through the buffet line with a standard sized dinner plate, use a smaller appetizer plate. The plate fills up much faster with fewer calories. This way if you do go up for seconds, you’re doing so in a healthier fashion. The other advantage of this technique is that it takes our brains a while to register that we’re eating and our bodies to send out the “I’m full” message. If we sit down and have a small plate of food versus a large plate of food, we can achieve the same sense of satisfaction with less food.

Keep healthy alternatives handy

This is particularly important for those of us who find ourselves in an office setting during the holidays. It seems that the definition of “thoughtful” from December 1^st to December 25^th is to provide people with candy, cookies, and other baked goods that generally consist of butter, sugar, and flour. To help in resisting all of these artery-hardening goodies, keep some healthy snacks handy to have instead. Carrot sticks and hummus are one of my favorites. Greek yogurt is another.

Have a mantra

There are going to be some times during the holidays when not giving in and eating the ten pounds of chocolate sitting on the receptionist’s desk is going to be downright difficult. Come up with a saying or tactic to remind yourself of your big picture health goals. It might be the classic “A second on the lips, forever on the hips.” For me, when I find myself tempted to eat something that I know doesn’t fit the bill, I stop and ask myself, “Why do I want to eat this right now? Does it align with my goals and my wellbeing?” Sometimes just stopping and reflecting on the moment is all we need. I have often found the answer is, “I’m thinking about eating out of boredom, not out of hunger.” So I will occupy my mind with something else, and before I know it, the thought of food is gone and I haven’t eaten for the sake of eating.

I am very empathetic to the fact that making healthy eating choices around the holidays is a challenge. I hope there are some ideas in here that help in getting through the holidays. Here is one last thing to consider. Most of us know what it’s like to over indulge and then feel a sense of regret and disappointment about it later. The alternative to that is to get to the other side of the holidays, look back at them, and feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment in ourselves for proactively taking charge and staying true to our goals and beliefs.

May you all have a blessed and healthy holiday season.

Seth