The holiday season is a busy time, and there are edible opportunities everywhere we go. Here are a few tips to help keep you on track during this holiday season.
- Focus on maintaining your current weight versus losing weight.
- Keep up your exercise routine and buddy up. A work-out friend will help keep you accountable and alleviate stress.
- Keep tabs on yourself. Write down what you eat and why you are eating.
- Create meaning beyond the food by creating new traditions that have nothing to do with food. For example, take a long walk with the family, go for a drive throughout the town to view light displays, or get a group together to go holiday caroling.
Strategies for Holiday Parties
- After you’ve eaten, stay away from the food tables.
- Keep your hands busy by finding a way to help out.
- Avoid alcohol and instead, fill up with water and other low-calorie drinks.
- Take a healthy dish – something you can eat: consider salad, fruit, raw vegetables and a healthy dip.
- Focus on your relationships, not on the food – focus on enjoying the people and the special holiday experiences, on building special memories for yourself and your family.
- Plan ahead. The best kind of plan, when it comes to food, is about what you are going to eat – not about what you’re not going to eat. If we focus on what we can’t eat, this can set us up for failure because it can leave us feeling deprived.
- Don’t arrive hungry. Plan to eat on the light side both before and after the event. Think about your meal plan for the day, and leave yourself some room to eat at the party.
Coping with Holiday Stress
- Focus on what you’re grateful for.
- Practice deep breathing whenever you feel overwhelmed.
- Be willing to say “no” to some events, tasks or requests. Sometimes this is the best way we can take care of ourselves.
- Create a holiday season schedule for yourself. Schedule and prioritize everything you need to get done.
- Reduce your expectations – aim for “good enough and not “perfect.”
- If you’re alone during the holidays, pamper yourself and find a way to help others.
- Create fun times for yourself. Participate is a holiday fun walk/run.
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