The holiday season is finally upon us. It’s a time for enjoying family, friends, and food. With that however, food anxiety takes center stage, so step up your self-care accordingly. Holiday meals, like the holidays themselves, are supposed to be fun and relaxed, a time to enjoy with friends and family. But what happens when most of us become anxious about balancing our usual diet with enjoying seasonal favorites? In a perfect world, eating would never be associated with guilt, and the holidays would be experienced purely as a joyful time of year. But we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world of rigid ideals and cultural expectations for bodies, and tons of confusing messages to lose weight or keep it off.
Every holiday season I see customers struggling with anxiety and guilt about food. Eating and drinking more or richer food than you usually do is bound to happen, and that’s OK. But feeling bad and anxious are not. It’s not productive and it deprives us of happiness. You need a plan, and I have your back. Not a diet mind you, because as I always say, "being healthy is more than a diet, it’s a lifestyle." Many of us wait until the new year to make a lifestyle change or go on fad diets. Then by mid-January become unmotivated and revert to old habits. In my opinion, diets do not work and are designed to fail because that’s what “diet culture” does.
Keeping your healthy habits on track during the holidays doesn’t have to be hard. Take time and consider those eating habits that set your new year off on the wrong foot. Be mindful, eat healthier and your body will thank you!
The most important thing is to maintain a positive attitude and feel good about your self-control. So, eat, drink and be merry this holiday season; just do so in a healthy way.
Here are a few simple suggestions that can help make the difference and keep those unwanted pounds away:
Don’t skip meals. Eating healthy on a regular basis will keep you from overindulging at holiday gatherings.
Cook more, consume less take-out and fast-food options.
Be mindful of serving portions.
Choose more vegetables and smaller helpings of entrees and desserts.
Drink more water and minimize alcoholic drinks and eggnog.
Make healthier recipe ingredient substitutions when cooking and baking.