The holidays are approaching, and that means you’ll be surrounded with mouth-watering foods. Will you be facing parties with your foodie friends who love to scarf down calories? Or will your elderly aunt keep piling your plate with rich, heavy foods?
It’s easy to let your healthy eating habits slide during the holidays, but you will face consequences. When the celebrations are over, you may find that you don’t like the way you look or feel. When you are not giving your body proper nutrition, your yoga practice can suffer as well.
You can enjoy the holiday season while continuing to eat healthfully. Here are some tips:
Make a Plan
The best thing you can do for your eating habits when the holidays are approaching is to be mindful of the foods you eat. You can do this by creating a plan before you are thrown into temptation.
Avoid simply telling yourself that you will eat healthy foods. Instead, get specific. Commit yourself to a specific number of fruits and veggies each day, or make a plan to fill three quarters of your plate with salad and the other quarter with protein. Tell yourself that you aren’t going to eat white foods, but rather stick with whole grains like brown rice and oats.
Make rules you know you can follow, and write them down on a piece of paper that you keep with you each day. Add some positive statements about yourself and a few inspirational quotes to help you along the way.
Swap Out Sweets
One consistent element of holiday parties is a plethora of delectable desserts. These are almost always full of sugar and fat, and they look amazing.
You can avoid consuming sweets by preparing yourself with a plan. If you are craving sugary desserts, don’t just make a vow to cut sugar. Give yourself alternatives instead:
- Eat lots of fruit to satisfy your sweet tooth.
- Choose treats that are sweetened with maple syrup, honey or molasses rather than processed sugar. Go easy on these.
- Trade sweetness for spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, turmeric and fennel.
Avoid Binge Eating
When you’ve been handling holiday stress all day only to be invited to a party with a tempting display of unhealthy offerings, it can be easy to give in and eat your fill.
You don’t have to skip parties all together. There are steps you can take to avoid overeating.
- Stay on top of stress. Practice yoga and meditative breathing when the pressure builds.
- Eat a big bowl of salad or a plate full of veggies before you go to the party. It won’t be as hard to say no if you aren’t hungry.
- Scan the buffet for healthy options and fill your plate with those.
- When you’re pressured to try you grandmother’s famous pumpkin pie or your mom’s holiday cookies, take a small bite and quickly move on.
- If you think there may be few healthy choices offered, bring your own. You’ll have something to eat, and you get points for pitching in!
You can survive the holidays and keep your healthy habits on track. Commit yourself to having a fantastic time celebrating life and enjoying your family and friends without relying on food. You’ll feel better, enjoy life more and stay on top of your yoga lifestyle.
