How to Eat Healthy at a Holiday Meal

So you wanna learn how to eat healthy so you don’t have to unbutton your pants at the table this year. I get it. It’s almost become an accepted way of life that a huge holiday meal equals planning to stuff yourself, then actually stuffing yourself, then beating yourself up for stuffing yourself. What if this year could be different? What if this year you planned on enjoying your favorite holiday foods, actually enjoyed the holiday foods in an empowered manner, and then congratulated yourself for enjoying the holiday foods and ending the day feeling great about yourself? Guess what? It’s not as hard as you think. Learning how to eat healthy is a skill that takes practice, but you have to decide to do the work. And what better time than now? I want you to enjoy the holidays this year, and ring in the new year in your same pant size. How great will it be to not vow to lose 10 pounds this year come January, because you never gained them?! There are 5 rules to holiday eating that I always share with my clients, and I’m sharing them with you today. How to Eat Healthy at a Holiday Meal 1. Be a Wo/Man with a Plan. Before you embark on your Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Hanukkah adventures, take a minute to decide what you are going to eat, indulge in, or taste. If you take a few moments before you begin to really think and plan, you will set yourself up to be successful. Sometimes a little planning is all you need to get you through the day enjoying your meal and feeling good too! 2. Take Control with a little Portion Control. Remember to load up on the cleanest cooked vegetables available, salad, and turkey breast, ham, or whatever lean protein is served. Limit the sides and desserts. Choose 2 tablespoons of 2 decadent sides to indulge in and keep the rest of your plate green and lean! Of course, you should enjoy your meal, but get the leftovers out of the house and definitely do not take a doggie bag home. Removing tempting indulgences will help you get back to your Nutritious Life as soon as the holiday is over. RELATED: The Best Portion Control Hack to Avoid Overeating 3. Drink Up, Up, Up! Unwanted calories from beverages can undermine your work. Have a full glass of water or seltzer (with lemon) before the meal and match each glass of wine with a glass of water. Avoid the eggnog and fancy coffee drinks—those calories take the worst revenge and can plump you up in no time. End your meal with an herbal tea instead. 4. Choose the Most Nutrient Dense Foods. Roasted chestnuts, a tablespoon of cranberries, roasted root vegetables, turkey breast, and a spoonful of winter squash are loaded with nutrition! Make sure you are getting these powerhouses in, in place of the stuffing, mashed potatoes and corn bread, which may be less healthful. Making these nutritious choices on the holiday will have you feeling proud and inspired to make better choices the day after and beyond. RELATED: The Power of a Healthy Breakfast: Setting You Up for a Healthier Day 5. Get Up and Go. Do the best you can to move during the day! If it’s snowing outside, build an enormous snowman or have a super competitive snowball fight. If the weather is nice outdoors, rally the family for a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood or a game of touch football. If you’re stuck inside, try a competitive karaoke session with mandatory dance moves or teach your family their first yoga sequence. If all else fails, just offer to chase around after the little ones, since they never can sit still. Their very tired parents will thank you. Remember: Listen to your body! Stop eating when you are slightly satisfied even if it seems to go against the spirit of “stuffing” on Thanksgiving or Ho-Ho-Ho-ing on Christmas. ENJOY your holiday. It is one meal that should be cherished and celebrated. Keep your Nutritious Life in the forefront of your mind and know we’re cheering on your holiday efforts! You’ve got this! (Image: Shutterstock)

3 Healthy Holiday Habits You Need To Take Up NOW

Even if the holiday party invites aren’t flooding your mailbox and inbox just yet, you know they’re coming. They do every year. And every year you look forward to the fun but you also sort of dread the exhaustion, deviation from your routine and the fact that time feels like it moves in fast forward. In the name of celebrating with wellness and fun in mind and not letting all those weight loss tips you stockpiled throughout the year go by the wayside, I want to set you up with a few healthy holiday habits in order to make this season of parties and celebration a little less draining and a lot more empowering.   3 Healthy Holiday Habits You Need To Take Up NOW   Don’t be creative with the food that is in your control. I know it sounds crazy, but if you keep your food simple, and stick to what you know works (where you can), then the party fare won’t be as stressful, damaging to your waistline or disruptive to your GI tract. You know how to eat healthy…don’t let the holidays completely push you off track.   If you’re eating all holiday foods all the time, you’re pretty much guaranteed to feel lousy and of course, pack on extra weight. Keep what you can control simple, and balance the holiday foods with your go-to healthy foods. Healthy breakfast: There are usually not many holiday breakfast parties, so keep these in straight forward and consistent. Rotate between two to three choices. Here are my faves. 6 ounces 2% or whole fat Greek yogurt with ½ cup frozen organic berries and 1 tablespoon flax meal 1 slice Ezekiel bread toasted with ⅓ medium avocado and 2 ounces smoked salmon ½ cup oatmeal with 2 teaspoons almond butter and a diced granny smith apple Healthy lunch / healthy dinner ideas: When these meals aren’t part of an actual soiree, keep them clean and don’t do leftovers. Rotate between your favorite lean proteins and choose 2 veggies with each meal and a little fat. More faves: Huge bed of spinach topped with a soy free veggie burger, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and 2 teaspoons tahini Stir fry prepared with peppers, onions, broccoli and chicken sautéed in 2 teaspoons coconut oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds Fritatta with mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes with a green side salad and a squeeze of lemon   Make your space clutter-free. There is a saying about how horizontal spaces are a magnet for clutter. Clutter has a way of making us feel chaotic, out of control and less happy and productive in our work spaces. And guess what, there’s solid research to support this! Make a habit of clearing your plates and cleaning up the kitchen right away, instead of waiting to do it later. Set up one space for gifts to gift wrap in your home. Organize and strategically arrange your holiday cards to enjoy them without them falling over and getting in the way. Creating a habit of organizing your stuff will make it easier to stick to your wellness goals. {Tweet this}. I promise.   Get your zzzs at all costs. The third healthy holiday habit you need to have down this holiday season is your bedtime routine. Sleep hygiene is a really powerful tool in your wellness kit because the better rested you are, the less likely you will be to eat out of fatigue, stress, grumpiness or grinch-like energy. Choose a few things that you can do each night to make sleeping well a top priority: establish a bedtime, wash your face, brush your teeth, turn off all of your technology, spend a few minutes doing something calming you enjoy (read a book, journal, meditate), then turn off the lights. No staying up late wrapping presents. Your sleep is more important than that pretty bow.