How to Eat Healthy During the Holidays

Along the same lines as the title of this post are: “How to sing like Adele,” How to make love like you were 20 again,” and “How to have more free time and be your own boss.”  I jest, of course.  Obviously, you can only achieve one of the above “how to” possibilities.  The question is, which one?  Let’s get serious here…the title of this post is achievable with a bit of willpower, the other three?…good luck with those.

There are, in fact, some simple tips to get you through the holiday season without gaining the average of two pounds that Americans add during he holidays.  And while two pounds doesn’t sound like much, studies show that those two pounds are usually never lost and contribute to what medical professionals refer to as “weight creep.”  Weight creep is the gradual weight gain that most of us experience over a long period of time, usually after age 30.  Before you know it, you’re 40, standing naked in front of the mirror wondering where your 25-year-old body got to.  That’s weight creep.

Anyhoo, let’s get back to the subject of this post, tips on how to eat healthy during the upcoming holidays.  Hint: have a plan in hand prior to Thanksgiving.

• Maintain your eating routine as much as humanly possible from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. When not visiting, partying, buffeting, drinking, and/or overindulging, eat the same things at the same time you have for the previous 46 weeks of the year.
• Eat a healthy snack prior to the party. It will prevent you from attempting to stuff that third piece of apple pie in your piehole…oh, that’s why your mouth is sometimes referred to as a “piehole.”  I get it.
• Moderate your alcohol consumption at your holiday get-togethers for several reasons. Alcohol, especially alcohol infused eggnog, has a lot of calories.  Next, alcohol tends to increase your appetite.  Lastly, as we all know, alcohol also tends to lower your inhibitions which can lead you to say, “#%$* it, gimme some more chocolate covered magic bars.”
• Wait 15 minutes before you go for seconds at the buffet table. It takes your stomach a few minutes to inform your brain that you’re stuffed.  So, after eating one meal, spend a few minutes talking to friends and drink a glass of water prior to contemplating that second meal.
• Adhere to the Atkins diet at gatherings. In other words, eat proteins rather than carbs as they are lower in calories than carbs.  If you must indulge, indulge on steaks, turkey, seafood, roast chicken, nuts, and beans at holiday parties.  Just remember to leave the gravy, skins, dressings, melted butter, and sauces off your plate.
• Don’t fast during the day to binge that night. Study after study reveals that grazing on small amounts of healthy foods during the day, combined with exercise, is the best way to maintain or lose weight.  Adhere to that policy even during the holidays.
• Focus on family, friends and fun, not food. Remember what’s most important to you at your holiday gatherings, and that shouldn’t be food and alcohol.  You can still enjoy your get-togethers without overindulging, honest.  Enjoy the music, the company, and the good times…you can also enjoy the food too, just follow the above six tips and you’ll enjoy your friends and family more than the food and that’s how it should be.

Yes, you’ll never sing like Adele, or make love with the intensity (or as often) as you did when you were 20, or have more free time and be your own boss, but you certainly can eat healthy during the holidays if you just stick to the plan.