Holiday Overeating
How to avoid holiday overeating when there is so much food at every corner? And not to mention all the gatherings with friends and families.
Food, food, food.
The holidays are tough because it is a time you want to treat yourself, and it’s also a time when people forget what they eat.
Cookies, pastries, delicious meals are so difficult to resist, and the question is how not to overeat and not to have any digestion problems later.
And of course, not to mention the few more pounds you’ll have.
Worrying how to resist all that food?
Well, these tips and tricks may help you dealing with this issue.
1.Go To Events Full
Don’t go to events with an empty stomach, since you will eat everything you lay your eyes on. This is probably one of the most important tips for the holidays or any other event whatsoever.
Going to a party when you’re starving is quite a set up for disaster.
Why?
Because when you are hungry, you tend to crave things like sugar and refined carbohydrates, which are waist enemy number 1 in the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.
Eating a quality meal that includes some healthy fats and protein prior to attending an event, will help keep you feel fuller for a longer period , and less likely to jump on the first plate of anything you see.
This tip also works for grocery shopping.
Don’t shop on an empty stomach as you will tend to pick the items that look immediately satisfying.
2.Don’t Forget To Drink Water
Sometimes hunger signals are actually mistaken for dehydration.
Drinking water throughout the day will help alleviate this potential signal.
Also have in mind that having a couple of glasses of water before you hit the snack table, will be a nice little way to help avoid eating the entire table.
3.Change Your Mindset
If you want to avoid holiday overeating, you definitely have to change your mindset.
This can actually become very beneficial if you really have a tough time avoiding culinary temptations. Switching your mindset from “I can’t have it” to “I can have it but I don’t want it” can actually cause some powerful changes in your views of what you can and cannot have.
Just think of all the calories you need to torch in a gym by heavy sweating. If this can’t pull you back from eating empty calories – nothing will.
4.Try To Eat Slowly
Take small bites and discover all those indulging flavors within. Enjoy every single bite by eating slowly.
The feeling of fullness usually takes 20 minutes before the brain recognizes the signals. If you eat too quickly, you will override these signals, causing you to eat even more than you should.
Slowing down your eating habits will help you avoid eating more than you actually need to.
When eating, try to chew your food thoroughly, because when you are hungry, you tend to stuff food in your mouth, give a few quick chews, and then swallow.
Wrong.
If you stick to this slowly chewing habit, you will also eat around 10% less calories.
You should also know that slower eating helps digestion process and avoid cramps and digestive discomfort.
5.Eat Protein
If it’s impossible for you to avoid all the pastries and desserts, at least try to consume some protein before you dive into another food.
Protein is helpful in making you feel full.
Eating protein prior ingestion of sugars is going to help you minimize your blood sugar spikes.
If you want to avoid holiday overeating, stick to nutty products. They are way much better choice than refined sugar products.
6.Make Smaller Portions
If you try not to overeat during holidays, you can do the following trick.
Take a smaller plate and fill it with the foods you like.
As your plate will look fuller, you’ll trick your mind that you’ve eaten much more than usual.
Or, if you’re able to control yourself, try eating smaller portions of food. The trick is, you can try various foods but at less quantity, and your taste buds will be satisfied as well.
7.Use Red Plates
Winter festive season is all about red, and it also stands for the plates.
A research published in the journal Appetite , found that we tend to eat less when eating food on a red plate. Subjects who were given pretzels on a red plate ate significantly less than those given pretzels on a blue or white plate.
Who knew?
Certainly worth a try.
The authors suggest that the color red may work as a subtle stop signal (like a red traffic light) which may guide us to reduce our food intake.
8.Eat More Fruits And Veggies
With all that food laying down on the table, is there anyone who will reach for a fruit or a veggie?
Maybe you’re not that person, but at least try to put some of those on your plate. They will make you feel much fuller, and you’ll avoid unnecessary empty calories coming from other food.
It is a simple trick that always works.
9.Stay Away From Liquid Calories
Yes, you can easily do some holiday overeating by drinking calories instead of eating.
Remember: all sorts of drinks contain calories, even though you may think – What the heck, it is only a cocktail.
Well, you are wrong.
Take 2-3 eggnog drinks, and you’re done with the calories for one meal.
When you drink calories, you don’t register fullness, and you often end up consuming unnecessary extra calories.
It is perfectly fine to enjoy an occasional glass of red or white wine, but it is best to have the drink with dinner and not on an empty stomach.
10.Keep Your Exercise Routines
Occasionally, everybody wants to loosen up a bit from exercising, but that’s the trap you need to avoid.
When you skip your daily exercising routines, you easily slide into “not doing anything routine”, and crash all your efforts.
During holidays, try to maintain exercising routine, and believe us, you’ll feel much better.
You will always torch eaten calories, without worrying about your precious waistline.
It will still be there.
As you can see, it isn’t so difficult to avoid holiday overeating, and we really hope you’ll find these tips useful.
Happy Holidays everyone and try to eat smart!
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