Eating Well During the Holidays
I know this time of year it can be a challenge to stick to healthy eating habits.
Here are some tips to avoid overdoing it, and enjoying the Holiday season without expanding your waistline.
Exercise – Take a walk or another form of brisk exercise. It will invigorate you and leave you feeling good and more likely to make healthier food choices.
Make Healthier Meals – Small changes can make a big difference. Instead of potatoes, pasta or breads substitute with vegetable side dishes. Grilling or roasting vegetables add interesting flavors without the sauces.
Limit Holiday Sweets at Home and Work – Just because you are given some delicious dessert, doesn’t mean you need to eat it all. Eat a bite or two, enjoy and get rid of it! Give it or throw it away. Once you start eating sweets daily, you are fueling the urge for more sugar.
Parties – Choose proteins and vegetables over chips, crackers and sweets. Enjoy that roast beef sandwich and have some vegetables with dip. Limit alcohol consumption which often leads to unconscious eating and unnecessary calories.
Deal with your Emotions – Many food cravings have nothing to do with physical cravings and are actually emotionally based. You may associate certain holiday foods with the comfort of your childhood and overeat them to try to regain that sense of comfort. Also, the stress of the holidays can trigger overeating. For these types of cravings, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is remarkably effective. EFT blends the power of positive thinking and affirmations with principles adopted from Eastern medical practices, particularly acupuncture. In acupuncture the specific “energy points” in the body are manipulated toward rebalancing the body’s bioenergy system. In EFT, these energy points are simply tapped, as it has been found that simply applying this pressure, without inserting any needles, will produce the desired effect. So this “tapping” is done in concert with repeating positive affirmations, and as simplistic as it may appear, the results are profound. You can read through the points to tap from Dr. Mercola’s site manual and here is what to say while you tap. Here’s a video if you want a quick overview.
If you’d like some assistance getting your weight and eating habits back on track, try a complimentary 30-minute coaching session and see first hand how setting goals and having a plan with accountability will help you be successful.
847-971-3643 / andrea@hgcoaching.com
