Tips For Smart Eating While Still Enjoying Yourself
“You’ve probably heard this tip before, but it really holds up: Cover your plate with non-starchy veggies and a quarter each with lean protein and higher carb foods. This balance is the perfect compromise because it doesn’t require forgoing your favorite foods.” –Lauren Harris-Pincus
The quote above gives you an idea of how simple could be not to gain weight during the festivities. The goal of this article is to confirm it.
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The holidays are a time when family and friends gather to enjoy each other’s company, eat, and drink! Indulgent meals, holiday parties, lots of delicious, festive foods.
This time of the year is full of the temptation to eat unhealthy foods, indulge in sedentary habits, and skip exercise. You may think that you can work off the extra weight in January, but it would be much easier not to gain it in the first place. Therefore, it’s natural to want to set aside any worries about weight gain this time of year.
Going through the holidays can be daunting, but the truth is that it doesn’t have to be that way. You can genuinely enjoy yourself, indulge even, and maintain your weight.
The holiday season is not really about deprivation or dieting. It’s time to celebrate with loved ones and to enjoy the festivities.
Maintaining a healthy weight could be hard enough most days of the year. But coping with holiday stress, along with all the high-calorie foods, makes it especially difficult to avoid unwanted pounds during the winter holiday season.
In this post, I will convince you that weight gain during the winter holidays is certainly not inevitable. Having a strategy to avoid pausing your healthy habits could tip the scale in your favor. By knowing how to approach eating in a healthy way during this time of the year, you will not gain a pound. As part of your strategy, it is helpful to know the facts about weight gain during the holidays.
I will also provide advice about how to work on your mindset when it comes to eating. Finally, I will include a list of practical and simple tips to keep your weight in check during this particular period.
The average American gain between 1- and 2-pounds between November and January. Although it may not seem like a lot, most people do not lose this extra baggage. That means we enter each year a couple of pounds heavier, which can add up over the decades. Holidays may be one of the biggest contributors to your total annual weight gain. Additionally, if you enter the holiday season already overweight, it is likely you will gain even more.
Know the Facts About Holiday Weight Gain
For many years, the conventional wisdom has been that most people gain five pounds or more during the winter holiday season. The truth is that what you hear about weight gain over the holidays is a myth, not a fact.
Below find these holiday weight gain facts that will take your mind off the pounds and put it on enjoying time with friends and family, which is where it’s supposed to be.
- If you gain weight during the holidays, it will most likely be one pound or two.
Says Lauren Slayton, MS, RD, a New York City dietician and founder of Food trainers, “If you start to push the envelope at Thanksgiving and proceed to green-light every Christmas cookie and cocktail, you could put on five. But I think all the holiday weight gain hysteria has made most people aware enough to be reasonable.”
After all, it’s a matter of moderation and control.
- Even if the scale says you gained five pounds, you probably have not.
Says Brigitte Zeitlin, MPH, RD, owner of BZ Nutrition in New York City, “What I notice is that over the course of those weeks, people are eating out more at dinner parties and events and drinking more alcohol-and are sleeping less, which typically contributes to weight gain,” she goes on to say, “But a lot of what the scale reads is more water weight than fat gain.”
Eating more salt and more carbohydrates than usual leads to water retention. Once you go back to your normal healthy eating, that water weight will go away again.
- It’s unlikely to compensate the extra calories by exercising more during the holidays.
Weight loss is around 80% of what you eat and 20% of what you sweat off. So, this type of food/exercise math is faulty. Obviously, I am all for exercise, which is very needed during this time of the year, but overexercising won’t cancel out all those desserts and cocktails.
- Chances are that you will not lose the weight quickly
If you were overindulging in sweets and alcohol, it might be hard for you to go cold turkey. Sweet begets sweet, you will want it and a salad or vegetables no longer look good.
Slayton states, “And these festive foods can affect your microbiome. Even when you start to eat better, there can be a lag based on the effects all that fun had on your body.”
Again, moderation and control are key. Your indulgences are part of your healthy living. It’s advisable to pick one treat per event: you can have dessert, savor it, and enjoy it.
It’s also recommended to eat breakfast with filling protein, drinking lots of water, eating vegetables, and lean proteins. You should not show up to food-centric events will also help you avoid holiday pounds.
- That piece of pecan pie will not be the last one you will ever eat.
You see the tempting buffet and feel like if you don’t eat that cake/cookie/roll, you will never get another opportunity. This is the wrong mindset. It is all about planning, and being less all-or-nothing in your thinking. Conversely, the more restrictive you are (the boomerang effect of ‘can’t have any’ to ‘having them all’) the more likely you are to binge.
The spiraling comes from shame and guilt, which takes me to the next section of this article, working on your mindset about eating.
Tips for the right mindset when it comes to eating
From a mental health point of view, it’s all about feasting, not binging. It is possible to maintain your sense of control and wellbeing, even as you overindulge at holiday gatherings.
Recommended guidelines
- Anticipate and challenge the kind of thoughts that lead to binges. It’s not about all-or-nothing thinking patters.
- Give yourself a “free pass day.” Planned days don’t sabotage diets.
- Face your feelings. It’s completely normal to be stressed during the holidays. You can learn to feel these feelings directly without scaping them through food or drink.
- Don’t punish yourself when you overeat. Your body will figure out how to restore its equilibrium in the days after the holidays. Try accepting your food hangover and appreciate your body’s resilience.
Now that I reviewed the advice for the mind, I will also include general tips to maintain your weight in check during the holidays.
Easy Tips to avoid gaining weight during the holidays
- Keep moving
Maintain your exercise routine to manage your mental health and boost your metabolism. Neglecting exercise can have lasting effects on your weight after the holidays are over. You don’t need to go to the gym or overdo it. Go on walks to look at Christmas lights, play a friendly game of baseball or football. Find a workout body to accompany you. Whatever suits you, movement is movement.
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- Keep to your meal routine
Don’t save your calories. It’s common to try to eat lightly to save calories for the holiday meal, but this plan can backfire quickly because when you are beyond hungry, it’s hard to stay in control of your food choices. Don’t starve leading up to holiday celebrations. These deprivation strategies may just lead to bingeing.
Instead, eat a healthy breakfast or brunch, filled with lean protein, fiber, and vitamins. If you need it, have a healthy snack right before going to the party.
- Oversee your party food choices
Make heart-healthy choices at parties. Bring a healthy appetizer such as raw veggies, homemade wheat pita chips with hummus dip, or a fruit salad. This way you will know there will be at least one healthy option at the food table.
The holidays don’t need to be a free-for-all. There is no need for guilt when you are enjoying your favorite desserts, but you may be better off if you don’t eat them on repeat. Don’t be afraid to give away or throw leftovers if they will negatively impact your health or mood.
Balance your meals with enough fruits and vegetables. Each plate should be made up of two-thirds fruit or vegetables. Keep a basket of fruit on the counter and make it your go-to when you need a snack.
- Practice portion control and be “picky” with what you chose to eat
Focus on portions, use smaller plates to reduce the amount of food you eat. Avoid heavy sauces made from cream or gravy and high-fat meats. If you don’t love it, don’t eat it. This is a golden rule. Be picky about splurges. Use those extra calories for something you love.
- Eat healthy in your non-party days
Remember life is all about balance. Try to eat healthy at least on alternative days. Drink plenty of water, and eat several portions of fruits and vegetables daily. Try to eat lean protein and healthy fats every day (avocado, nuts, olive oil). This format keeps things light but filling so you can stay in control of your holiday choices.
Enjoy your favorite holiday foods on the actual holidays and try to resume your normal, healthy eating routine every other day in between.
- Don’t drink your calories
Drink wisely by limiting alcohol; alcohol can add to the calorie surplus of the holidays.. Booze can weaken your inhibitions and chances are that you will end up overeating. Beyond that, alcohol can disrupt your sleep (which can impact your appetite and food choices), and leave you with a next-day reminder (hello, hangover) that could also sway what you choose to put in your mouth.
Choose one glass of wine, beer, or vodka with seltzer. Or even consider choosing sparkling water on some nights instead.
- Remember your hunger/fullness cues
It’s important to stay tuned to when you are feeling content. Feeling content means you’ve satisfied your physical hunger and you’ve shown your taste buds some love. There is no need to finish what’s on your plate just because it’s there. When you’ve reached a point of satisfaction, show your body some respect by not pushing it past the point of fullness.
- Eat mindfully
Sit down, relax, and enjoy every bite of your meal. Take your time and savor the flavors, textures, and aroma of each food. Eating slowly will help you enjoy the meal and will give your brain time to receive the signal that your stomach is happily full.
Mindful eating still means you get to have candy and cookies, and cakes on occasion-you just eat them in moderation.
- Be grateful
Work a few quiet minutes into the end of each day during the holidays to reflect on all you must be thankful for. This is, after all, the focus of the holiday season. Writing down reasons for which you are thankful is proven to ease stress and increase happiness, which can cut down on emotional eating. Don’t stress over stress-eating, control cravings instead.
- Focus on socializing, not food
Don’t stand around a food table at a party. Instead, get out and mingle.
- Start the new year on the right foot
Bounce back, start fresh in January. Put the holidays behind you. Get right back on track. Far more important than what we do two weeks of special holidays of the year is what we are doing the remaining 350 days.
Final thoughts
With a little thought and focus it is possible to maintain, and not gain weight this holiday season.
During the next holiday event, party, dinner, or gathering remember to have fun, savor the moment, the laughter, the smell of cookies baking in the oven, and the delicious taste of them when they come out. Food is incorporated in tradition for a reason-it can make memories you will remember for years to come.