Food Strategies to Help You Thrive During the Holiday Season

There's no denying it... the holidays can be a tricky time for many. It often starts with Halloween and somehow lasts through December. By the time New Year’s comes around you feel exhausted, bloated and 5-10lbs heavier. 

I’d like to offer you another possibility. One that allows you to both partake in your traditions that often bring comfort and allows you to enjoy yourself without feeling deprived. 

One that doesn’t trigger these three days (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chanukah/Christmas) into becoming a seasonal free for all.

Here are the two most common approaches that I see many clients use during the holiday season (I used to alternate between them myself!):

1. Fasting + Free for All: You know, when you restrict your eating all day so you can go to your next party and indulge. What usually happens is that you're starving by the time you get there, you totally pig out without really even enjoying what you're shovelling in. Then you feel guilty, hung over, out of control and likely bad about yourself. You spend much of the holiday season in this cycle and feel exhausted when January arrives.

2. Discipline + Deprivation: You decide ahead of time that you are going to double down with clean eating and not partake in anything. You may decide to avoid social gatherings all together while you white knuckle your way through the holidays feeling isolated and deprived.

I would like to invite you to try a third approach that is anchored in healthy eating and balance. 

My suggestions below are made in the spirit of nurture not deprivation. I don't believe anyone should feel like they need to be deprived during the holidays, even if you're on a special or healing diet. 

It's important to feel like you can share good food and wine if you like, with your friends and family and it's priceless to feel good in our body. It's about finding that balance that works for you. 

My hope is that this approach leaves you feeling satiated, satisfied and empowered.

My 8 Steps for Holiday Success

1. Eat for Balanced Blood Sugar. This means NO skipping meals so you can save the calories for later. When you skip meals and let yourself sink into a state of low blood sugar you lose the ability to make good choices. When you eat for blood sugar balance you will be able to make empowered choices and when choosing to indulge you'll be less likely to over do it. If you've never done one of my real food cleanses, we spend a lot of time focusing on this very important step.

2. Have a Plan. It's amazing how far a little planning goes. This is not about being rigid. It’s about setting an intention and coming up with a strategy to support yourself for success (whether it's around food, alcohol or social boundaries). This will look different for each of us. Think about how you want to take care of yourself this holiday season and then come up with steps to achieve your goals. This could be as simple as preparing something that you'll know you'll enjoy, finding out the menu ahead of time so you can be strategic or deciding ahead of time that you don’t want to restrict at all during the meal.

3. Say no when it feels right. While it can be wonderful to socialize you don't have to participate in every event that comes your way (this is true for both in person and virtual gatherings).  Sometimes taking a breather is just what we need. So pay attention and ask yourself what feels right for you. Then give yourself permission to say no (whether it’s to friends or family). In the same vein, it's ok to decline food that doesn't serve you as well. I know this can be awkward and tricky for some but I invite you to prioritize your needs and see how it goes.

4. Swap Your Sweetener: Whether it's cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie, it's easy to swap out regular refined white sugar with some dark maple syrup, coconut sugar or honey. Why is this important? Using a whole, unrefined form of sugar will ease the impact on your blood sugar since they contain vitamins and minerals. Refined sugar not only spikes our blood sugar but it also depletes our vitamin and mineral stores. 

   Take it a step further and cut the amount of sweetener by 1/3 or more. Most recipes, even "healthy" or paleo ones typically call for way more sugar than is needed. If you haven't experimented with cutting back on the sweetness, start slowly, taste as you go and you can adjust to get it perfect!

5. Crowd Out: Make sure there are plenty of non starchy options at the table that you love. Why? When you have lots of vegetables to fill your plate with (like brussel sprouts and bacon, rocket salad with pomegranates and manchego, roasted butternut squash with garlic, herbs and butter) suddenly you don't have much room for the bread stuffing, sugared yams and mashed potatoes so they don’t the star of your plate.

6. Prepare Something You Know You Love: Whether you're hosting or you're going somewhere else for the holiday make sure there's something there that will take care of your needs so you don't find yourself filling up on food that you don't even like or want. This could be a gluten free dessert option made with whole foods (hello pumpkin pie or apple crisp) or maybe it's a veggie option so you know you have that covered. I guarantee you, others will be happy to partake as well.

7. Have a Day After Plan: Let’s use Thanksgiving as an example. Maybe you're fine eating the Thanksgiving meal as served. Maybe you need to be more careful with your diet for health reasons. Either way, no one I know feels great when the Thanksgiving overindulgences last until January 1st. One way to prevent this is to come up with a post Thanksgiving day strategy to quickly get back to center. One common strategy is to stay away from the leftover desserts and starches. Go back to the idea of crowding out. This way you'll be sure you have plenty of satisfying options to keep you nourished and feeling great.

I know I said this was 7 simple steps, but I wanted to give you one more bonus step:

Learn and Let Go. Don't beat yourself up when/if you over do it. Instead, learn and let go. Reflect on the choices you made and ask yourself what you'd like to do next time? Here are some questions that may help...

• Before... was I too hungry, tired, distracted or stressed?

• Was there a need I had that I didn't give myself permission to have?

• Did I stay present, tasting and fully enjoying the food?

So, how do these steps sound to you?  As someone who has done the “Fasting + Free for All” as well as “Discipline + Deprivation”, I can tell you these 7 steps have been a game changer. I no longer feel guilty enjoying myself throughout the holiday season because I have a game plan that allows me to do it in a balanced and non-overwhelming way.

With a little planning, this time of year is one where we can be enjoying ourselves as we spend with family and loved ones without abandoning ourselves in the process.

If you’d like support around this, you may like the Transformational Nutrition Group. If you’d like to find out more, send me an email for more details.