Eating Well Throughout The Holidays
If you have been working hard to eat better, exercise more, and maybe lose some weight, the holidays can feel scary. The last three months of the year are filled with landmines that could destroy all the good work you have been doing for yourself. Or maybe you're considering making some healthy changes, but fear any work you put in will be undone by the rich, calorie-laden foods that are prevalent from Halloween to the New Year.
5 Tips for Healthy Eating Throughout the Holiday Season
These tips are meant to make healthy eating easy during this busy holiday season. I don't mean perfect eating because life will always interfere with your perfect plans. We are just trying to do the best we can to balance out the holiday treats with these easy, healthy eating tips. Use the tips that resonate and skip the ones that don't.
#1 Simplify Your "Everyday" Meals.
Meals don't need to be complicated. When life gets busy, we need to find simple ways to nourish our bodies.
Pick one or two simple breakfasts and rotate between them. Here are a few options to spark ideas -
Overnight oats made with skim milk, berries, and a scoop of dehydrated peanut butter.
Boiled eggs, whole-grain toast w/ 1/4 avocado.
Raisin Bran with skim milk and a piece of fruit.
Veggie quiche.
Pack your lunch; keep it simple.
Big salad with tuna, boiled eggs, and lots of veggies paired with 1/2 sandwich.
Broth-based soup paired with 1/2 sandwich.
Leftovers from last night's dinner.
Simplify dinners. This is not the time to try new recipes; stick to tried and true.
Make meals a formula: lots of protein, lots of vegetables, and some whole grains or starchy veg.
Create a list of 14 easy dinners and simply rotate through them every two weeks for the next couple of months. If you have the bandwidth for more or simply a low tolerance for repeats, make your list 21 meals.
Cook a big meal on the weekend for planned leftovers later in the week.
Double a meal and freeze the extra for an easy meal next week.
Make takeout meals healthier by bringing them home to eat and adding a side salad.
Do a little meal prep on the weekend. This can be as simple as roasting up a bunch of veggies, making a pot of soup, or cooking a roast in the slow cooker.
Need some meal planning inspirations? Check out this VIDEO or this VIDEO.
#2 Keep Healthy Snacks Handy
Don't let the container of cookies on the counter or the vending machine down the hall be the easiest snack option.
Have fruit available, always and everywhere. Prioritize fruit that travels well and doesn't require any work to prep. I'm thinking things like fresh bananas, grapes, apples, oranges, and pears. Canned fruit is great, but it sometimes requires a can opener, and even if you get the individual containers, you still need some sort of eating utensil. For some of us, that extra requirement can be just enough to make you reach for the cookies instead.
Stock up on other easy-to-grab snacks like nuts, whole-wheat crackers, string cheese, healthy granola bars, or dry-roasted edamame.
Prepare and portion out servings of popcorn, crudite, cottage cheese, and boiled eggs.
#3 Watch Your Liquids
You can easily consume a whole meal's wor th of calories in just a couple of cocktails.
Be the designated driver. This solves a lot of problems!
Alternate a cocktail with a glass of water or club soda. Add a lemon or lime wedge to your water so it still feels like a cocktail.
Choose lower-calorie cocktails - martinis, manhattans, and dry wines are great options. Plus, we tend to drink these slower than sweeter cocktails.
Keep servings of high-calorie drinks like eggnog to a minimum. Keep servings small, and save these drinks for the most holiday-filled moments.
#4 Bring The Healthy Dish
If you are invited to a holiday meal or gathering, bring a dish to pass that's delicious, filling and healthy. Here are a few ideas.
Tortellini Salad - cheese tortellini, chopped grilled zucchini, blanched broccoli, roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, and Kalamata olives tossed with garlic-infused olive oil and fresh basil.
Crudité Platter with Hummus. Choose a delicious hummus flavor (or make your own) and pick veggies you love.
Layered Hummus Dip - I always think of this as a Greek version of taco dip. Layer in a serving dish: hummus, Greek yogurt or tzatziki, finely diced cucumber, chopped grape tomatoes, finely diced red onion, crumbled feta, chopped Kalamata olives.
Salsa and Chips - or increase the protein level by subbing cowboy caviar for the salsa.
Lite Deviled Eggs - find a flavorful recipe and then substitute plain Greek yogurt for the mayo.
Fruit Salad - use your favorite fruits. A good variety of fruit doesn't require Cool Whip or simple syrup. Just fill a bowl with fruit. If you want to get fancy, top with 1-2 leaves of finely chopped spearmint.
#5 Make Moderation Easier
I'm a big fan of the saying "Everything in moderation, including moderation". Enjoy the special treats and favorite traditions of this time of year. Maintaining your health and weight shouldn't feel like deprivation. HOWEVER, we do have to make some concessions. We can eat anything we want, but we can't eat everything. How do we balance holiday enjoyment with moderation?
Be picky. As I said above, we can eat anything, but not everything. Prioritize your favorite treats. Eat your absolute favorite cookie. In fact, you can likely fit in a cookie or two each day if you eat well the rest of the day. But don't waste your time on cookies or treats that you are on the fence about.
Another way to be picky. If you start eating something and then realize it's not as good as you thought, you do NOT have to finish it. Stop. Be picky.
Enjoy your treat slowly. Give it your full attention. Savor it.
Don't treat yourself when you're hungry. Make sure you eat healthy meals. Make sure you are full and satisfied with good food. Then enjoy your treat. If you reach for your favorite treats when you are hungry, you will likely overeat them and won't fully appreciate them.
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