Eating During the Holidays
With the holiday season fast approaching something important to talk about is how to ensure you can stay on track while still enjoying the time with family and friends. Some of us worry about falling off the wagon, overeating or feeling guilty of indulging a little. As I have talked about before you can always stay on the path of your nutrition AND enjoy your life, after all we only get one life and time with people we love so we should be enjoying it!
If you have read my blog in the past about eating in a 80/20 lifestyle then you know that this is how I encourage my clients to live and this is how I live! To recap, its simple, 80% of the time you are eating well balanced meals that give your body proper fuel and nutrition, you are getting enough water, sleep and exercise. Then the other 20% of the time you are just living and enjoying the foods you love, the activities you like to do and resting when you want! You are less likely to fall off the wagon when you give yourself less restrictions and understand our bodies are ever changing even when we don’t want it to change, it does what it needs to do.
Here are a few tips I use to ensure I can stay on the 80/20 path while people and myself are making all the yummy foods and dropping off all the holiday goodies;
1. Offer to bring a dish
If you offer to bring a dish that is healthy yet delicious, you have some control over what is served, and you are helping the host!
2. Ask about the menu ahead of time
Without sounding rude or judgmental, if it is with family or close friends they are hopefully going to be in full support of your journey and be willing to share what they planned to make so you can plan too.
3. Eat a smaller snack before going to the party
This ensures you won’t overeat if that is what you are worried about. It also can help make you feel confident in the food choice you make after you have already eaten something that is in line with your goals.
4. Just don’t stress
If you know the above are not an option then just breath! It's okay and eating with family and friends should not be a stressful situation and you should be enjoying it as much as possible. You have plenty of time to get back and focus, eat the good food, laugh and spend time with people.
Just remember in the end you have control over what happens, you can relax, enjoy and indulge! That’s the best part about food, it tastes so good which is a reason why we eat it! Spend the time with family and friends, eat those mini quiches, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes and drink the eggnog, your journey will still be there when you get back, I promise!
As always keep it simple and Be Fit. Be Well.