Nutrition Choices Over the Holidays

The holidays are a joyous time of year that impart more quality time with family and friends. This special time and its celebratory experiences usually include food. From holiday work parties to neighborhood cookie exchanges, sometimes it’s hard to tell when one event ends and a new one begins. Here are a few tips to give you confidence as you make nutrition choices throughout the holidays:

• Continue with your regular meal schedules as much as is reasonable. There’s no need to skip meals in preparation for an anticipated larger dinner or restaurant outing. In fact, meal skipping oftentimes leads to overeating later.
• Increase your mindfulness during mealtimes. Eating sitting down, limiting distractions, and plating meals are examples of ways to increase mindfulness during meals. Increasing mindfulness will help you tune into your hunger and fullness cues, which can be especially helpful during the holidays when meals are generally different and may include richer ingredients.
• Incorporate treats mindfully. The cookies abound this time of year, and there’s no reason to fret! Many of us have happy memories baking next to mom or grandma. While treats are special, this time of year, they are certainly more prominent. Try plating a cookie with your dinner or having one with a handful of nuts for an afternoon snack. Completely trying to avoid foods typically increases our desire for them. By incorporating them into meals, they are satisfying and eaten in more appropriate portions.
• Consider where you are storing food. If, for instance, you are serving a special holiday cookie for dinner, leaving them in the middle of the kitchen island may get them eaten before the day has even begun. When food is prepared and easily visible, we gravitate towards is by nature. For this example, cover them with some foil and place them a little more out of sight until it’s time to share with everyone. On the flip side, if you bought a large bag of holiday oranges to encourage your family to have more produce, put them in a large bowl where they are prominent in the kitchen. You may be surprised by how fast they disappear.
• Start a new trend this year and deliver a fruit basket or make dinner for your neighbor instead of gifting sweets. You most likely will be a superstar in their eyes!

Overall, the goal is for you to feel confident in the food choices you make so you feel your best and can focus on all the other aspects of the holidays that deserves your attention. Remember, you get to decide what and how much you eat. We love the Intuitive Eater’s Holiday Bill of Rights as a reminder of this!