Avoid overeating and stop worrying about gaining holiday pounds with these healthy eating tips!
These 15 Tips Will Help You Steer Clear of Holiday Overeating
1. Eat Regularly
Despite it being the holidays, you should continue your regular healthy eating habits. This will help keep you from binge eating. It will also keep your body from being shocked by a sudden change in diet.
2. Continue Your Regular Exercise Routine
Try not to slack off on your regular workout sessions during the holidays. With all the extra eating and indulgences this time of the year, you need exercise to help burn as many calories as you can.
You can also try exercising before a meal. A 45-minute exercise can temporarily boost your metabolism, which can help you lose any sudden weight gained over a small amount of time.
If you’re pressed for time because of gatherings and parties, try to sneak in as much exercise as you can. Do 10-15-minute bursts of exercise or dash around the house when you’re doing chores.
3. Practice Healthy Eating
Eating a healthy meal before an indulgent one can condition your body to crave healthier meals. Stay healthy by eating foods high in fiber, low in calories, and rich in nutrients. Always include colorful fruits and leafy greens on your plate.
You should also eat foods that help boost your metabolism, such as fish, spinach salad, coconut oil, avocados, broccoli, and raw almonds. These types of foods can also help control your cravings.
4. Indulge Yourself and Enjoy
It’s important to not deny yourself your indulgences. This will make you crave more unhealthy sweets and high-calories snacks.
However, make sure you’re not choosing just any snacks or junk food on the table. Always choose the desserts and meals you want to eat the most so your cheat days are worth it, and you can successfully satisfy your cravings.
5. Don’t Feel Guilty
When you indulge, don’t feel guilty about it. Studies have shown that feeling guilty can lead to more weight gain. It can also result in binge-eating to overcome your sense of guilt.
6. Watch Your Meal Proportions
To keep yourself from consuming too many unhealthy calories, eat larger portions of healthy foods and mind the energy density of your foods.
It’s also important to avoid depriving yourself of all indulgence. It’s better to eat what you want in small proportions to satisfy your tastebuds without storing too many calories in your body.
7. Look Out for Liquid Calories
Liquid calories are one of the prime suspects for holiday weight gain because not many people consider the number of calories in their drinks. Alcohol, soda, and sweet beverages can have the same amount of calories as a full indulgent meal.
These holidays, keep a keen eye on your alcohol and fruit juice consumption. If you’re unable to limit your sweet drinks, avoid eating grains for a week to cut back on your sugar intake.
You can also replace other alcoholic drinks with a glass of red wine. Or perhaps, drink a glass of protein shake before you go to the party to make you feel full.
You can also drink lots of water. The water will also help cravings if you drink a glass an hour before a meal.
However, drinking water during meals can make it difficult for your stomach to digest food.
8. Consider Alternatives
You should consider if there are alternatives to the usual high-calories and high-sugar meals and desserts of the holidays. Instead of a moist chocolate cake, a fruit parfait is a healthier dessert with natural fructose.
Think about all the alternatives you can make and then bring them to your reunions and gatherings these holidays. You’ll be bringing over a healthy alternative for yourself, as well as a delicious meal to share.
Related: Blast Holiday Fat With This Full Body Workout Routine
9. Freeze Leftovers
When you put your leftovers in the fridge and heat them up in the microwave, they become less healthy each time. Instead, you should freeze any leftover meats and use them to make a whole new dish the next day.
10. Always Have Healthy Snacks Around
If you ever get sudden cravings for indulgences, make sure you have healthy snacks around. Try to delay your indulgence until after dinner and eat a healthy snack in between meals.
This will help temporarily satisfy your cravings until you’re too full to overindulge.
Most workplaces participate in the festive season and serve holiday foods in the snack room. You should also stock up on healthy snacks at work so you won’t be tempted during your coffee break.
11. Eat Before Going to a Party
The party you’re going may not have healthy meals. Eating before going out is a great opportunity to eat healthy meals before indulging on unhealthy ones.
It will also prevent you from eating too much once you get there.
12. Try to Eat in Smaller Groups
A study shows that eating in larger groups can increase your food consumption. When you see other people eating, you are more inclined to keep consuming more food.
Eating becomes a social function that can last for a long time.
Eating with a smaller group can help avoid this because small groups tend to spend less time eating around the table. You should also try to sit with others who are healthy eaters so that you can mimic their behavior.
13. Use a Red Plate
There is news going around that eating off of red plates can help you eat less food. The color red subtly acts like a stop signal which can psychologically encourage you to stop eating.
Red plates will also go well with the holiday season.
14. Eat Dark Chocolate before Dessert
Eat about 2 squares of dark chocolate before you eat dessert. Dark chocolate can help curb your appetite.
Avoid eating it before meals though, because it’ll suppress your hunger and leave you famished hours later.
15. Don’t Go Shopping While You’re Hungry
Make sure you’re not hungry when you go out shopping at the mall. This will help you stay away from the food court’s enticing smells and help you walk past any snack stores along the way.
It’s especially handy to be full while grocery shopping. When hungry, you’ll find yourself more inclined to keep putting different foods and snacks into your cart.
Watch the video below for a quick training session to try this holiday season:
As much as possible, keep up your regular diet and exercise routine during the holidays. Keep track of what you eat to help yourself stay committed to your body goals. Don’t be afraid to weigh yourself daily to encourage you to avoid overeating and be more conscious of your holiday eating habits.
What other eating tips do you follow to avoid overeating this holiday season? Share them with us in the comments section below!