HEALTHY EATING OVER THE HOLIDAYS
What a year 2020 has been.
For me, and for a lot of my patients, it has been a year of consoling myself with treats. Whether it is baking cookies with our little granddaughter (who now expects this) or preparing other treats for myself, those “Covid pounds” are for real.
And now it’s the holidays.
Holiday food is comforting, and we need that more than ever this year.
How the heck then do we keep some kind of waistline this 2020 Holiday Season?
As a midlife woman, as well as a hormone expert, here are my TOP 5 DO’s and TOP 5 DON’T’s to help you stay on your healthy path this year:
TOP 5 DON’T’s (seriously, these really work!):
- DON’T wear an elastic waistband to a big meal: A stretchable waistband makes you not able to feel when you are getting full so you can slow down and digest.
- DON’T let yourself get too hungry: eat within one hour of waking up. Then eat at regular intervals during the day.
- DON’T eat entire servings of dessert. Satisfy the sugar monster with a couple of bites, and close your eyes to really taste the sweetness.
- DON’T drink your calories: Eggnog and other sugary drinks are calories your body stores as fat. Stick to lean drinks like spirits with seltzer or twists of lemon or lime.
- DON’T mess up your sleep. We don’t get to go out shopping all night after our Thanksgiving meal? Don’t stay up all night then! Keep some “sleep hygiene” and choose to take some time off to relax!
TOP 5 “DO’s”:
- DO eat a good, filling, healthy breakfast (or first meal, if you are doing intermittent fasting): this really lowers the chance of over-stuffing at a holiday meal or of having too many cravings during the day.
- DO fill your plate up ONCE and eat slowly from it: Repeated servings are the best way to completely lose track of how much you have eaten.
- DO savor your food! Eating slowly allows what you eat to travel down your intestines and signal your brain that you have eaten enough – people who eat slowly eat less overall.
- DO eat healthy snack between meals if you need to so you don’t end up super hungry (see #2 DON’T above).
- DO move your body: whether it is your favorite “Zoom-ba” class or walking outside with loved ones, be in motion somehow during the day.
DON’T let this crazy year get you down.
Try to focus on what you are thankful for and
DO please have a Happy Thanksgiving