Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Lingering Halloween candy, Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas and other holiday Parties, and New Years parties all happen within 1.5 months of each other. This means cookies, festive drinks, party trays, and too many parties to count on one hand! How do you survive and have a great time during holidays without having to loosen a few belt buckles? I've got you covered!

1.) First thing is first- plan ahead!! If you are going to a party in the evening, make sure to keep it healthy all day, just like you would any other day. Eat a filling breakfast, light but protein filled lunch, and a small snack before the get together. When you eat a small healthy snack before a big festive get together, you're less likely to keep skimming the food and more likely to just enjoy yourself! 

2.) Drink half your body weight in OUNCES of water per day. For example, if you weigh 145 pounds, that means you need about 70-75 ounces of water per day to stay hydrated. Staying hydrated will help your body metabolize food faster, make you feel fuller and more awake, and will also help the next day (you know... in-case you had a few drinks the night before). Stray away from sugary and carbonated drinks as much as possible! These will bloat you and will not help hydrate you.

3.) Do not restrict. Enjoy yourself! However, do not go overboard either. We tend to have a bad case of FOMO this time of the year, meaning Fear Of Missing Out. SO many holiday flavors that only come once a year! This is where the 80/20 rule comes into play. You've eaten well all day, so let yourself pick 1-3 treats to eat! One big treat (such as a slice of pie), two medium treats (maybe a decorated holiday cookie), or three smaller treats (smaller pieces pieces of holiday bark, chocolate pretzels, smaller cookies, etc).

4.) Bring a tray of fruit that is cut into fun shapes using a cookie cutter. This will make everyone enjoy eating the fruit just as much as the treats! Or, try to bring a few healthier options, such as the fruit and maybe some steamed veggies for dinner. 

5.) If this is a dinner party, opt for lighter and more healthy options. For example, at thanksgiving choose turkey, salad, sweet potatoes, and other healthy options. Enjoy stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, and other heavy foods in smaller amounts. Make your plate 80% healthy and 20% (or less) of the not-so-great foods. If you are still hungry after dinner, wait a few minutes, and then grab seconds of salad! Try filling up on salad before enjoying your main course so that you won’t be temped to fill up on stuffing and pie!