Don’t tell me it’s impossible. Even with all the cherpumples out there, I’m living proof that you can lose weight over the holidays. I lost a little bit over Thanksgiving week. It was nothing drastic, but I was the only in our group to do it. I did it by doing a few things – staying away from dessert, walking a LOT, stopping when I was full (that was the hardest) and grazing on healthy snacks for dinner after the large lunch.
I’m going into Christmas with a very determined game-plan. First of all, I’ve convinced one family to serve only appetizers and just have us graze throughout the day. Many doctors, including my own, say that eating many small meals throughout the day is much healthier for you than three larger meals. In my own experience, you feel satisfied for longer and are less likely to overindulge when that meal finally arrives and you’re starving. I'll just be sure there are lots of fruits and veggies there. I always load up on those first so I'm semi-full when I head for the caramel-filled-goodies.
However, the negative to this is that I will physically SEE the food all day. This is a big problem for me at most holiday parties. If the food is out in front of me to see, then I must eat it. I must! The best solution to this is to separate myself physically. I socialize in another room or keep a glass of water … fine, it’s a glass of wine… in my hand to make it harder for me to grab a scotcharoo. Another thing the stepfamily does is they have soup on Thanksgiving (on Sunday) instead of a big meal. There are a lot of healthy options there and you still walk away satisfied.
Do you have any secrets to staying healthy over the holidays? Does your family make it easy or hard on you to eat healthy? Or, do those two words just NOT go together for you?
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