I cannot believe the holidays and holiday parties are coming up so soon! There is so much to look forward to. But, I know there is some concern about diets during this time of year, so I have compiled some tips to keep you on track over the holidays.
Eat lots of good stuff!
First, give yourself a break. It is the holidays so allow yourself to enjoy the delicious food, and plenty of it. Go crazy on the meats, shrimp cocktails, and veggies all you want. We watched Madmen on Netflix the other night. Since Betty was doing Weight Watchers, she could only eat a half of slice of meat, 1 steamed Brussel sprout (what?), a bite of stuffing, a spoonful of creamed spinach and a little cranberry sauce for her Thanksgiving dinner. It made me so sad. Scott looked at me and said, “That is killing you, isn’t it?” Umm, yes. I wanted to shout to Betty, “Eat all the meat and veggies you want! It’s okay! Just skip the stuffing & biscuit!”
Cheat smartly
While I really enjoy a sweet treat such as a cookie, I would so much rather have a Paleo cookie (or three), than a “traditional” cookie that would make me feel sick, hurt my stomach, and give me a huge sugar hangover. If you don’t think the party will have any fun treats that won’t make you feel bad or sick, then you know what your contribution to the party will be, right? Just make sure you get some of your own dessert or appetizer before it’s all gone!
Always eat something beforehand
If you’re not bringing something, or you’re not sure they will have anything you can eat, or you worry you’ll be tempted to eat things that might make you feel bad later, be sure to eat ahead of time. Going to a party hungry will just set you up for lack of self-control. It’s the biggest way to make sure that temptation, even after a glass of wine, won’t be as strong.
Choose your drinks wisely
One tip regarding alcohol, for every cocktail you have, also have a glass of water. Secondly, think about what you are going to drink. If you like your liquor, then go for the mixers like soda water instead of, say, tonic or Coke. Tonics and Pop can add up in sugar very quickly and you’ll end up with a worse hangover just from the sugar. Also think about choosing a drink that is a little “cleaner” like tequila, whiskey, gin, and vodka. And while wine is great, especially red, it does contain some sugar. So if you are sensitive to sugar, try not to go too crazy on the vino, as yummy as it is.
Be prepared for the tough questions
People love to share the enjoyment of food together, but sometimes it’s hard to say no because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
If you have recently changed your diet, you might want to think ahead about how you are going to answer questions regarding not eating certain foods that were hurting you. Of course everyone’s situation is different but you might want to say something to the effect of “Unfortunately, I recently learned that gluten (or fill in the blank here) has been making me sick.”, or “My body just can’t seem to tolerate (fill in the blank here) anymore”. Blame it on your body! Just be sure to keep it simple, don’t make it a big deal, and it won’t be.
Not the time to preach
This one goes with the one above but just be sure to also keep in mind now is NOT the time to preach about eating clean whole foods or talk about how amazing you feel. Another day, another time.
So, figure out what your body can handle, or not handle, and plan accordingly. But above all, please enjoy the holidays and many of the good foods that goes along with it! You don’t have to “fall off the wagon” this time of year…just plan ahead!
