As much as we love the onset of the [tag]holiday season[/tag] every year, most of us know that one of the pitfalls of Christmas is the
we put on, from eating all that wonderful food. There are so many parties and gatherings, with so many gorgeous and sugar-filled treats, most of us tend to sigh and accept the fact that we’ll gain a few extra pounds.
But Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas, without too much wonderful food. We find it at most of the season’s special events. It’s impossible to avoid, and with a bit of thought, we can make the season a bit less expansive to our waistlines.
Standing while eating, as we do at so many parties, causes many people to overeat. It’s easy to forget how much we’ve eaten, when we’re standing by a buffet table, laden with desserts, and chatting with friends and relatives. Try to remember to sit down, whenever you eat at a party. That way, the eating is an event unto itself, and you pay more attention to what you’re consuming.
Eat consciously. In other words, make sure you chew your food completely, before swallowing. It may sound elementary, but so often, when we’re eating at a party, we’re also conversing, and we hurry to swallow our food to clear our mouths. This makes the food disappear faster, and we tend to fill our plates more.
If you know you’ll be attending a party with good food, don’t starve yourself all day, so that you can eat more. Arriving hungry is a perfect way to guarantee that you’ll eat too much. Remember, the food is the party’s enhancement, not its purpose.
Once you’ve filled your plate, move away from the food table, preferably to another room. Remove yourself from the source of temptation, and engage in the kind of conversation with others that will create the kind of memories of the party that you want to keep-not just a memory of over-eating.
Kids will tend to indulge in tasty treats until they’re stuffed, if they’re not monitored. Your children probably will eat too many things, during the holdiay season, that you try to limit the rest of the year. The best thing you can do is to make sure they maintain their activity levels, and that, once Christmas is past, that they get back to their normal diets.
Enjoy the holiday season and all of the wonderful [tag]Christmas food[/tag]. But plan on working out a bit harder for a few weeks afterwards. And don’t skip your workouts during the holidays. A few extra miles in January are worth the tasty treats we love at our Christmas feasts.
No Comments