8 Healthy Habits to help you through the HolidaySeason

written by Elizabeth Logan, certified holistic nutritionist for Glow

Food, Family and Friends bring everyone together during the holiday season. Grandma’s cookies, holiday lattes and those holiday-coloured candies seem to be around every corner.
Some treats are just too hard to avoid.  For some, just a tiny bit of sugar turns on that sweet tooth and we are unable to turn it off.
​When healthy habits are in place, it’s like giving your will power a little super charge, making it easier to avoid overindulging this holiday season.

Here are a few healthy habits to help you through this holiday season.

1. Don’t skip meals. Skipping meals to save the calories for the holiday feast tends to back fire and lead us into overindulging due to ravenous hunger. Skipping meals causes our blood sugars to fall, leaving us urgently reaching for the first thing we see. Eating every 2-3 hours will balance those blood sugars helping you navigate the array of temping treats.

2. Contribute a healthy dish. Bringing your own healthy dish to an event will ensure a healthy option to snack on.

3. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. By drinking ½ our body weight in oz a day (Approx. 8-10 glasses), we ensure that we ensure that we are hydrated and can prevent over eating.

4. Choose your drinks wisely. Holiday drinks including alcohol are just empty calories and inhibit our decision making. Stick to calorie-free drinks such as water, tea, ciders or seltzers. If you do choose to indulge in an alcoholic beverage, make sure to alternate each drink with a glass of water.

5. Eat until you are satisfied, not until you are stuffed. No one enjoys that icky stuffed feeling where it’s a struggle to get up off the couch. Don’t over fill your plate and wait at least 15 minutes before you go up for seconds, remember, leftovers are not a bad thing!

6. Don’t feel guilty. If you do overindulge, don’t beat yourself up. Just make sure your next meal is healthy and don’t make overindulgence a habit.

7. Get your zzzz’s. Our concentration, focus, productivity and our ability to make good decisions is impacted by the amount of sleep we get. For optimal brain function we need 7-8 hours a sleep a night.
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8. Find your recharge station. Just like our cell phones, our batteries need to be charged. When we are operating from a full charge, we are able to make better decisions and respond to life rather than react. Your recharge station might be watching your favorite show, it might be doing a craft or reading a novel that you get lost in. Carve out some time each day to recharge.

Food has the power to bring everyone together and the holidays come but once a year, so enjoy yourself!
Family friends and delicious food is what makes this time of year special.
​Remember, keep looking forward and bring only the healthy habits into the new year with you.

Happy Holidays!

P.s. Learn more about Elizabeth's nutrition services for Glow here