HEALTHY HOLIDAYS: Don’t let the holidays control your health!

By, Charlotte Snow

Hi everyone!  Hope you’re all doing well and heading into the holiday season with a healthy outlook and being mindful of your diet and exercise and the holiday treats start to surround you!  This can be quite daunting…especially at all of those holiday parties, with delicious cookies and cakes and buffets of food just staring at you, waiting to wreak havoc on your body.  So what can you do to prevent over-indulging and undoing all of the hard work you’ve done over the past few months to get into shape?  Be prepared!  Yes, you read that correctly!  Have a plan of action and be prepared so you don’t get caught in a weak moment and go on an eating frenzy!

Knowing IS half the battle!  This philosophy isn’t only true for teenagers facing the pressures of adolescence; it applies to our “Healthy Holidays” as well.  See, knowing what you’re going up against allows you to prepare for temptations that lie ahead and be able to control yourself in these situations.  If you know you’re going to a holiday party or dinner, you can safely assume you will be surrounded by tons of tasty bites that are more then likely not going to be ideal for your waistline.  So should you have nothing?  No!  Indulge a little, enjoy…BUT pick and choose!  Allow yourself a cheat night when you are going to eat the goodies, drink some wine or eggnog and not count the calories.  Plan for it!  Do some extra cardio that afternoon and eat lean throughout the day, cutting some of your fats and carbs.  However, make sure you eat throughout the day.  Do NOT starve yourself all day and then go load up on a bunch of unhealthy food!  Your metabolism will slow down and you don’t want that!  So enjoy the night, but the next morning, wake up and it’s back to business as usual!  Back to clean eating, the gym and your normal routine.

If you have another party that week, well you probably shouldn’t indulge too much, you need to pick and choose which party you want to let loose at more.   So how do you go to the other 2 or 3 parties that week and not go crazy with the food?  Well first, make sure you eat all of your meals throughout the day so you aren’t going to the party hungry.  If you arrive full, you won’t be as tempted to eat everything in front of you.  Second, bring your food with you!  Don’t rely on the host to have a healthy option for you.  If they do have something you can eat and not be tempted to overeat the rest of the smorgasbord, go for it.  If not, you’ll be prepared with your own food so you won’t be stuck eating pigs in a blanket for dinner :)

Most importantly, be safe this holiday season.  Don’t drink and drive and enjoy your family and loved ones.  Happy Healthy Holidays!