Overdoing it with food and drink around the holidays is a concern for the majority of people. Fortunately, there are some very simple things we can do to avoid feeling crummy after a series of holiday parties. Setting limits, eating well-balanced meals before food and drink heavy events, and maintaining our everyday routines are the easiest and best ways to survive the holiday surge of food and drink.
For a lot of folks, the holidays can be the time of year when stresslevels go through the roof. Seeing family, going to parties, trying to look good for people you only see a handful of times a year – all of this becomes the main focus and takes away from the fun and joy of seeing loved ones and having time off from work.
But the biggest stressor by far is related to eating and drinking, Holiday get-togethers are chalked full of hearty foods, table spreads of desserts and sweets, and an abundance of alcoholic beverages. Many traditions and events center around food, and it can seem like there’s pressure to eat and drink more. With all this going on, it’s easy to see why most people simply write off holidays as periods of unavoidable overindulgence when healthy routines of eating right and exercising are forced to a sudden, disrupting stop. Even worse is the aftermath of extended holiday food and drink binge, when trying to get back to normal habits while undergoing a food coma hangover seems all but impossible.
Fear not though, there are ways to maintain healthiness during the holidays and not so feel bad about eating and drinking. Rather than approaching the holidays as an inevitable time of unhealthy binges, keep these tips in mind and you’ll come out of the holiday feeling more or less the same as you went into it (hopefully you’ll even feel relaxed and well rested!).
The best advice for holiday eating and drinking is seemingly obvious but important: be reasonable. Don’t approach a holiday party by going in and saying ‘I’m not going to eat ANY sweets, none full stop.’ Chances are, with this mentality, you’ll likely break after seeing the plethora of sweets on the table and all your friends and family chowing down. Going cold turkey might work for some, but for the vast majority of people, it’s just setting up for failure and feeling even worse for overdoing it AND not sticking to principles. Best to set a reasonable limit with certain foods or drinks before getting to the event and stick to it. That way you’re not completely starved from the holiday treats, but you’ll know when to stop. Another simple trick to avoid overindulging is to eat a healthy but robust meal before going to a party or event.
