How Can You Stick to a Healthy Diet During the Holidays?
Ever wondered how to maintain a healthy diet during the holiday season while enjoying festive treats? In this article, experts like a Consultant and a Registered Dietitian share their proven strategies. The first piece of advice emphasizes increasing access to healthy foods, while the final insight focuses on teaching how to build healthy meals. Discover a total of three invaluable tips to stay on track during the most indulgent time of the year.
- Increase Access to Healthy Foods
- Maintain Normal Eating During the Day
- Teach How to Build Healthy Meals
Increase Access to Healthy Foods
I'm not a dietician, but a neuroscientist, so understand why behavior is hard to change, from a brain perspective. The brain prefers to save energy, and because all change is brain change, sticking to a healthy diet, if it's not normal behavior, will require extra effort, holidays or not. So, make it easier for yourself and Increase access to healthy AND delicious foods, and limit access to unhealthy foods. For example, make or buy healthy and delicious treats and don't buy the ones you know you overeat when they're in your home. Make sure you can easily toss together a healthy meal or snack - have the ingredients on hand to do so, for example, be able to dip melted dark chocolate into cold cherries, and have delicious, healthy sauces and dressings for roasted veggies and salads. Good fats satisfy the brain via 'mouthfeel,' so when you include them in meals and snacks it's easier to eat healthy vs. the opposite.
Maintain Normal Eating During the Day
I encourage clients to maintain normal eating during the day, and avoid fasting which could lead to over-hunger by the time the holiday festivities begin. I often provide education about the differences between hunger and appetite. If people wait to eat all day then the hunger and appetite get blurred by the time their inundated with all the tasty festive treats. There will likely be leftovers too, so there's no need to overindulge in that moment and one can look forward to another festive treat later on or another day if need be. It's just another day, but happens to have a holiday label associated to it.
Teach How to Build Healthy Meals
You want to make sure to help them know exactly how to build healthy meals, even with holiday foods. For example, if it is Thanksgiving, help them know how to build a plate and what this should look like. Also, letting them know having one normal serving size of pie is okay and that we can enjoy food still with what we are learning about food is key.
