To help you plan for this holiday season, the team is pleased to offer the following tips for weight management:
- Plan a balanced plate. Meal planning combined with a balanced diet can help you (and your family) eat well-balanced meals and avoid cravings. Stack up on vegetables, lean proteins such as chicken and fish, and whole grains during the holidays – and year round.
- Stay mindful. Mindfulness is about paying attention to your experience, cravings and physical cues when eating. How do you stay mindful? Eat only when you feel physically hungry. Eat slowly. Avoid distractions. Appreciate your food. Notice when you’re feeling full. And notice how food impacts your feelings.
- Keep active. Staying active doesn’t always mean hitting the gym. Integrating physical activity throughout your day can help burn calories. Exercise physiologist Rachel Trope’s advice: “Try to find balance in exercise through mobility and stretching. Keeping active through the holidays can have benefits beyond the scale. Movement helps with mood and stress management, so you can almost think of it as a tool to make the holidays more manageable. You can also make it a family event by doing turkey trots, walks around the neighborhood, throwing the football around in the backyard, or taking everyone ice skating.”
- Identify coping skills for stress and emotions. The holiday season can be stressful and full of emotions – happy, sad or otherwise. Many of us succumb to emotional eating – turning to food to feel better rather than addressing the true underlying problem. Learn to recognize your triggers during the holidays and try to identify other ways to feed your feelings that don’t involve food. Your “outlets” will be individual to you, but examples include gifting yourself a message, calling a friend or family member, writing in a journal, or carving out “me” time to read your favorite magazine.
- Create change. Small steps can go a long way to change your habits, even through the holidays. Consider introducing a new dish at holiday meals, one focused on increasing vegetable options. Or try starting new traditions at family gatherings that focus beyond food, such as game nights or sled riding.
