Healthy Holiday Eating Tips

Each year as the air starts to get colder and the Christmas lights start springing up all around town, ovens fill with cookies, pies and other scrumptious treats while delectable holiday dinners await. Fears of putting on a few extra pounds prey on the minds of many while most of us are too lazy to do anything about it. Want to know a secret? With some mildly altered eating habits and a bit more of a relaxed setting, you can trim down the extra pounds before the spring thaw!

Simply get the right attitude and be prepared to eat a little slower. 
Take your time and enjoy every mouthful….

- Enjoy your meal and relax while eating. Do not rush. Let your brain catch up with your stomach… you may not be as hungry as you think! Our brains tend to take about 20 minutes to register that we are full. Try telling that to our stomachs!

- Chew – Chew – Chew… Savor every bite of your food. Avoid gulping it down like someone’s trying to steal if from you. There will be plenty to go around, and if not, there’s always dessert!

- Do not eat on the run. Sit down and enjoy your food, whether it is as in-depth as a full-course meal or as simple and quick as a cookie or two. Take your time, chew and just eat. Don’t drive, don’t talk on the phone, don’t have a race to see who can fit more cookies in his mouth. Savor every bite and relax.

- Take a break. Do something else once your meal is done and see how hungry for dessert you really are. Do not force in a piece of pie or cake just to “be polite”. Those calories won’t be thinking the same way as they cascade across your hips!

- Keep your hands out of the cookie jar unless you are sitting down casually with a glass of milk and only a few tasty treats.

- Drink more water. It may fill you up a little bit, but it also flushes out germs and keeps you healthier. Drink as much as you like, but try to maintain a habit. Your body will come to expect the extra hydration – which is also especially good for athletes who may have to compete in coming weeks.