An Eater's Guide to Holiday Eating

The holidays are upon us, which typically means increased parties and baked goods at the office. I know, 2020 has turned many holiday traditions on their head, but regardless, the temptations are still there. While you may not be able to gather with your whole family or group of friends, you will most likely still be dealing with hundreds of food decisions this holiday season. This can bring up a lot of anxiety, stress and emotions.

What’s the best way to prepare for that? Create a plan! I am going to help you create a holiday game plan so you stay on track with your health and training goals without needing to lose your wits.

Step 1: Don’t Skip Meals

Are you the type of person that tends to eat lightly or skip out on meals entirely before a big meal or event to “save your calories.” If so, these actions may be sabotaging your health efforts. Restriction often leads to overeating or bingeing behavior later on. Plus, you will probably be hangry by the time you arrive, sound familiar? On the day of a party/meal/event maintain your normal balanced eating habits to control your blood sugar throughout the day (which prevents the hangryness). This will also prevent the physical urge to overeat at the party. 

Step 2: Give Yourself Permission To Eat

Many comfort foods seem to appear this time of year, so it's important to allow yourself the joy of eating them. This doesn’t mean you need to eat everything in your path, but try to avoid making food rules beforehand, such as “I can only eat protein and salad” or “I can’t have any sweets”. This approach can set you up to feel guilty and cause you to label foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Remember, there are no good or bad foods (unless you have a diagnosed disease). Not to mention, it can seriously damper your fun! To avoid the drama, decide to choose the foods that truly bring you joy. Know there might be some foods that catch your eye that you weren’t expecting. A key here is starting slow, rather than piling your plate.

• Tip: Start Slow, Be Mindful --  Make a plate with 3 - 4 of your favorite food items and avoid wasting room on items that you don’t care for. Eat slowly, so you can pay attention and appreciate the flavors. Wait 10 minutes before going back to try other foods. If need by, leave dessert at the door either (literally), plate 1 - 2 of your favorite desserts and take them home with you. Again, eat slowly and savor each bite. Keep checking in to see where your hunger is at and respect your body when it starts to say it is satisfied. If you reach satisfaction before you get to try all the items you want to, you can always have them the next day! No need to put so much pressure on this one meal. 

Step 3: Bring Your Own Dish

If you can’t shake the anxiety of not knowing what type of foods will be served, you can always call ahead and offer to bring a dish of your own to contribute to the spread. This will not only take stress off of the host, but will bring you peace knowing you’ll have at least one dish you feel comfortable eating. If you need a suggestion, check out this recipe Sarah at Cook Bake Nourish provided us with.

Step 4: Align Food Choice With Training

Food can power your body to better your athletic performance. Looking at your current training schedule can help determine what portion size you should aim for at a meal. If you are in a high training week, you may need more carbohydrates (hello stuffing, potatoes?) on your plate than if you are in a recovery week. If you’re resting/recovering, try to fill ½ your plate with fruits and vegetables and a serving of protein. Then you can add in other items you desire as complements. This helps ensure you’re getting proper nourishment and staying on track with your training goals. 

• Tip: Choose Protein First -- Protein helps stabilize blood sugar, curbs hunger, and leaves you feeling satisfied longer. For athletes in training, protein needs are higher. During the holidays it seems carbohydrate options are in surplus, it can be easy to fill up on carbohydrates and miss out on other nutrients. Start your dinner with a protein rich option such as shrimp cocktail, turkey, deviled eggs, kebabs, nuts, etc. 

Step 5: Drink Alcohol Responsibly

Alcohol consumption increases during the holidays. If you enjoy alcohol, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a glass or two with friends and family. However, it’s easy to accidentally consume more than you intended, especially if a family ‘bartender’ has a heavy hand. These drinks tend to be combined with high-sugar-containing mixers, which can leave you feeling less than pleasant the next day. Rather than restricting yourself completely, just be mindful about how much alcohol you drink. For athletes, excessive consumption of alcohol that leads to a heavy hangover is dehydrating and can interfere with recovery, muscle development, and your training schedule.

• Tip: Stick To The Recommendations --  2 or less alcoholic beverages for men per day and 1 or less alcoholic beverages for women per day. Of course there might be days you go beyond the recommendation, but I included it here so you are aware and can create a goal based off of this recommendation. I also recommend drinking a glass of water in between each alcoholic beverage to slow down your consumption and to stay hydrated. 

Step 6: Take time to recover

It’s important to make it a priority to stay physically active throughout this season for your mental and physical health. Movement that feels good (for YOU) can decrease stress, improve sleep quality and increase your quality of life. With that being said, it’s equally important to take a rest day and recover when you need to. Please cut the habit of compensating a large meal with exercise. The body simply doesn’t work that way and 1 meal or 1 day is not going to make or break your training habits. It’s okay to take a couple days off, maybe take this time to catch up on sleep; 7-8 hours of quality sleep allows your body to fully recover and improves your immune system function and overall health.

• Tip: Take A Walk -- It’s a great time to take a walk with family, even if they’re just on the phone with you. This will help get your digestion going after a large meal and provides a great opportunity to spark conversation with a loved one. 

 

Step 7: Be Kind to Yourself

Last, but not least, try to relax and give yourself permission to enjoy the foods of the season. Repeat after me, your worth is not dependent on what you eat or what you look like. Eating healthy food does not make you a ‘good’ person and eating ‘unhealthy’ food does not make you a ‘bad’ person. You decide what is best for YOU. Without food rules you are more likely to feel satisfied, avoid overeating, digest and absorb your food better and focus on more important things like the people you love most!

• Tip Take A Pause -- As I mentioned before, the holidays can be a stressful time. Being around or simply talking to family can be enjoyable, but it can also cause a lot of tension. Remember to make time for YOU. Time to pause and reflect. Here is an exercise you can do before your meal/event, etc. to keep you grounded and able to assess your hunger level and current thought: 

1. Take three 4-7-8 breaths, which involves breathing in for 4 seconds, holding the breath for 7 seconds, and exhaling for 8 seconds.

2. Use your best internal judgement to assess your current hunger level and if it is coming from your head or your stomach (emotional, boredom or physical).

3. Before consuming food due to emotional eating:

   1. Pay attention to what foods you choose

   2.  What is the texture, weight, color?

   3. What does it smell like?

   4.  Ask yourself: “Why am I about to eat at this moment?”

** Side note: It is okay to acknowledge your hunger is emotional and to still eat. It’s okay for food to be used to provide comfort if it does not lead to a cycle of shame and guilt. Just acknowledging where the hunger is coming from can be helpful to bring mindfulness to your choices and behavior.

Happy Holidays from Mindfully Nutrition to you!