Twelve plates a-heaping, eleven holiday cocktails, ten sugar cookies…you get the drift…

The holiday season is right around the corner, and while this is a great time of year to connect with family and friends in the spirit of whatever it is you celebrate, it’s also typically the time when our health takes a serious beating with the increase in social eating and drinking.

Here are three tips to keep your weight in check, while you enjoy yourself this holidays season:

Tip #1: Make a Plan

A big reason we overdo it during the holidays is because we go into dinners and other social occasions without anticipating what the event will involve, and what we are going to allow ourselves to enjoy. If I make a mental note in my head of what I’m going to allow myself to enjoy before showing up to dinner, it makes a big difference. For example, I will say to myself: I’m going to have one small serving of mashed potatoes and stuffing, and if I’m not full, I will have a small sliver of apple pie. It sounds silly, I know, but making a short mental plan of how the night is going to go and what you can sensibly allow yourself to enjoy will bring you a greater sense of control.

Tip #2: Enjoy, Don’t Abuse

The second tip I have for you is to understand the difference between food joy and food abuse. Another reason why we tend to overdo it during the holiday season is because we justify our choices and actions in the name of enjoying ourselves. When you are truly enjoying yourself, you’re taking small savory bites of different kinds of food. You chew slowly and take time to taste what is on your tongue. Eating or drinking something you like the taste of until it makes you ill is not enjoyment—it is abuse! If you really want to enjoy yourself this holiday season, slow it down.

Tip #3: Fill Up on the Healthy Stuff

My third and final tip for you is to fill up on low consequence foods, not high consequence foods. So, identify all the low consequence and high consequence foods at each social occasion and aim to fill yourself up with the low consequence foods while controlling the high consequence ones.

Low consequence foods are foods that have a lower caloric load. Here are some examples:

• leafy greens like lettuce, spinach, kale
• above ground vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers
• lean meats like turkey or chicken

High consequence foods are those that have a higher caloric load and these are the things like:

• bread, stuffing
• high sugar condiments like cranberry sauce
• highly concentrated fat and fatty meats like gravy, oils, and dressings
• most pork products like ham, bacon, sausage
• some cuts of red meat

Basically, the high consequence food are your high sugar, starch, and fat products, and the things we tend to overeat. Instead of heaping your plate full of them, aim to fill you plate with the low consequence foods, while mildly indulging in the high consequence foods.

Conclusion

At your next holiday gathering, go in with a plan of what you’ll allow yourself, enjoy your food (don’t abuse it), and fill up on low consequence options so you eat less of the high consequence ones. Those are my three tips for you that if implemented will save your body this holiday season without hurting your social life or your ability to indulge in foods and drinks that we all love so much.

Now, get out there and enjoy everything the holiday season has to offer, just do it in a responsible way.

Happy Holidays from your friends at Hybrid Fitness!

And be sure to like, share, comment, get involved and spread the information so others can benefit from these tips as well.