How to Stay Healthy This Holiday Season
The holiday season comes every year, and with it comes added weight and unhealthy habits if we are not careful. For those of us who work throughout the year to limit stress, excess environmental toxins, and inflammatory foods, this time of the year is especially challenging. It seems that there are opportunities everywhere to live a life of excess. It is possible to celebrate with friends and family without ruining everything you have been working for. Here are some tips to help you through this challenging time.
Stay Hydrated: More often than not, what feels like hunger is actually dehydration. According to the Mayo Clinic, the amount of water each person requires per day varies depending on how much exercise they get, how hot/humid it is, their overall health and if they are pregnant/breastfeeding. A good rule of thumb is that when you go to the bathroom, ideally, your urine will be a pale straw color. By staying properly hydrated, you are less likely to snack and overeat.
Limit Sugar and Alcohol: The latest research abounds with problems associated with high sugar consumption. It leads to insulin resistance, weight gain, depression, anxiety brain-fog and inflammation, just to name a few. Alcoholic drinks tend to be high in sugars and can exacerbate the issues of the standard american diet (SAD).. Enjoy your holidays in moderation. Try all of your favorite foods in small portions and don’t go back for seconds. Have one or two glasses of water between each alcoholic drink.
Bring a Healthy Option: When you go to a friend or family’s home for a holiday celebration, it is hard to control what you eat. You can improve your chances of success by bringing with you a dish to share that is something you love to eat and is a healthy choice. That could be my fall harvest salad, with kale, butternut squash, pomegranate and quinoa, or a nutrient dense soup like my creamy carrot quinoa soup! Fill your plate with something you know is good for you and then have small portions of everything else.
Don’t Go to a Party Hungry: If you know that you are going to be celebrating with friends and family, be sure to have a nutrient dense smoothie or small meal an hour or two before you go. That and a glass of water in hand when there should help to prevent you from snacking for 2 hours before the meal is served.
Be Mindful: The holiday season can be a wonderful time to spend with family and friends. Take time to take stock of all the blessings you have in your life. Take a moment before biting into that wonderful food to appreciate the work that went into making it and how great it is going to taste. Not only will that improve your appreciation of it, but, it will also start the digestive process.
Reduce Stress: For many people, the holidays can also be a time of stress. Tap into your favorite stress reducing activities, be it meditation, tapping, yoga, reading or exercise of some sort. A long walk with your dog can do wonders for reducing stress. I love to see the unbridled joy of my dog when I open the door and we step outside. Nothing else matters in that moment.
Make Clean Eating Choices: At this time of year, when we know there will be lots of opportunities for excess, it is important to make good choices when we can. Choose whole, unprocessed foods that grow from the earth whenever possible. When eating animal protein, choose organic, grass fed or pastured meat/poultry and wild fish. If it is within your means, choose organic produce. Use the EWG dirty dozen as a guide as to when it is most important to choose organic.
Enjoy this holiday season both during your celebrations and after by feeling great and creating health for yourself and those you love. Spend quality time with your family and friends and remember that the relationships you feed will be what you remember, not the food that you ate.