Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

Eating healthy during the holidays can be a real challenge unless you have a great strategy on not to binge too much.

Here are some helpful tips to avoid gaining some holiday weight.

1. Be a Food Snob. If the food you choose doesn’t taste as good as you expected; stop eating it and choose something else. Think of how much less you’d eat if you only ate things that tasted remarkable!

2. Think of your appetite as an expense account. How much do you want to spend on appetizers? Do you want to save some room for dessert?

3. Pace your eating prior to the event so you will be hungry but not famished at mealtime. Ignore the old diet advice of “eat before you go to a party so you won’t be tempted”. That is illogical. You want to be hungry enough to enjoy your favorites.

4. Socialize away from the sight of the food. Hanging around food causes people to eat more than they need.

5. Survey all of the food at a buffet before making your choices. Choose the foods that you really want most at that time and remind yourself that you can have the other foods later.

6. Eat mindfully; sit down to eat- even if it’s just a cookie. Appreciate the appearance and aroma of your food and savor one small bite at a time by putting your fork down.

7. Since the duration of the meal tends to extend at social events, you may need to have your plate taken away (or put your napkin on it) once you are satisfied to avoid nibbling unconsciously.

8. Be aware of the effects of alcohol on your food intake. And don’t forget that many beverages contain calories too.