The Holidays are a flurry of gatherings, meals, and social engagements that usually revolve around food and drink. How do you make it from November 1 to January 1 with out having to loosen your belt and feeling in tip top shape?! Here are my favorite holiday hacks for making it through the season in good health, not bloated, and not a pound heavier!

1. Be thoughtful. This can mean a myriad of things, from not having more than 2 drinks at a given event to eating a healthy meal before you arrive at a cocktail party. You don’t want to walk into an event hungry so you are bee lining to the cheese and charcuterie and making that a meal. Thoughtful or mindfulness can take you a long way. If you know you are going out multiple nights in a row, maybe bow out of one of them early so you can get a good night sleep. Each morning set your intention for the day, and before walking into a party set your intention for that event. Make sure you are honoring yourself and your health in the process.

2. Plan ahead. If you know you are going out for dinner or to a cocktail party, make sure you are eating clean during the day. Double up on fresh veggies, fruits, and lean proteins. I love to make a big pot of broth based vegetable soup and freeze individual servings so I have a healthy grab and go lunch during this time of year. Drink lots of water through out the day. You are more likely to make better choices when you have been eating healthy all day than if you show up hungry or having already indulged. Hydrating though the day will help you feel tip top the next day if you have a little more to drink than you were planning. Think of it as front loading your health and hydration

3. Choose 1 sweet treat a day. The holidays are literally loaded with sugar, from a pumpkin spice latte to the desserts that seem to be everywhere. Being mindful of your sugar consumption is the #1 holiday hack I would say to follow if you had to chose only 1. This can mean 1 small beverage that has added sugar, 1 small baked good, 1 serving of candy. If you think of the holidays as a collective then you usually have 7 weeks of celebrating from the week of Thanksgiving to the week of New Years. If you follow this 1 sweet treat a day rule that still allows you to have 49 treats!

4. Tomorrow is a new day. If you have overindulged, start fresh the next day. You have not blown your diet. It was one day or one meal of eating poorly. You can turn the ship around. Adopting the fresh start mentality has helped many of my clients to forge their journey of health by loosing the all or nothing mentality.

5. Sleep. This is usually the hardest for people to find time for. But it can make a world of difference. When you do not get enough sleep your body actually produces more insulin, yep your body is actually making more sugar! This is to provide your overly tired body with energy. Then introduce added sugar from treats and alcohol and your system is flooded with sugar and insulin that can mess with your mood, concentration, digestion (feeling hungry all the time), and waistline (this insulin and sugar spike causes cortisol to rise, that is your stress hormone, which likes to have some extra cushion around your midline).

To talk more about making it though the Holiday Season in tip top shape email me!