Holiday Food Guide

By: Melody Rabor-Dizon

 

If you are anything but sabotaging your healthy lifestyle, the advent of the holiday season is one thing to be dreaded upon and to be immensely enjoyed by some. Food tripping during the holidays is all too common other than withholding your food indulges, your taste buds and a string of alcohol nights. We reason out and make excuses if only a taste of a savory dark chocolate dripping. Hormone rages, appetite pangs, cold cuddly and sleepy weather can translate to an easy 10 pound gain, feeling bloated, icky and gross. But we all give in, don’t we all. Here are some tips to maybe encourage you a little bit more, to stick to your healthy routine or if nothing better, a good topic to talk about with your girlfriends.

No. 1: Mindful eating

Mindfulness can help you reduce stress and think differently about food. Being fully present around food particularly helps if you eat in response to your emotions. By sitting down and figuring out the root cause of the mindless eating, you achieve a more balanced life. Taking a pause before your first bites can help you become more in tune with your hunger cues. Additionally, turning off any distractions while eating can help you focus on the flavor and texture of food, so you are more likely to enjoy every bite you eat. Never approach a table when you are famished or leave the table extremely full

How to measure it:

Measuring mindfulness can be a daily or weekly goal. Ask yourself, how many meals you will focus on being mindful. Be realistic. You can also monitor those hunger numbers by using an online fitness tracking site and then look back to see whether you were between a 3 (mildly full) and a 7 (moderately full). Mindful eating apps such as Mindful Eating Tracker and In the Moment can also be helpful.

No. 2: Cooking at home

When cooking at home, you have full control over what’s going into the food you eat and you can make sure you are using the best possible ingredients. Cooking at home allows you to use fresh produce that is seasonal and foods without artificial ingredients. It also allows you to use only the amount of added ingredients, like sodium, that your body really needs. Researchers say good knife skills are integral to preparing recipes, especially healthier recipes, where there can be a lot more slicing and dicing with more plant-based ingredients.

How to measure it:

Mark the days you will cook on your calendar and designate a day ahead of time for shopping. Allow a little wiggle room in a cooking resolution, because there are life factors outside of the home that will affect it. Whatever you decide, it’s important to be flexible. The number of meals you plan to cook each week may vary, but do check-in with your cooking plan every few weeks to see that you are doing more than you did in 2018.

No. 3: Meatless one day a week

Research consistently shows that plant-based diets are linked with a lower risk of obesity, hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Even going meatless one day a week can make a difference, as you increase all of those whole plant foods — beans, lentils, whole grains, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits — and decrease more animal foods, in particular red and processed meat. Experts say high intakes of these foods have been linked with increased disease risk. Eating more plant-based foods increases your intake of fiber, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and phytochemicals — plant compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

How to measure it:

Picking one day of the week to go plant-based and marking it on the calendar is a good way to stick to your plant-eating plan. The Meatless Monday idea is wonderful, because people often start their best behaviors at the beginning of the week. Otherwise, any day would do. It’s all up to you.

No. 4: More fruits and veggies

Fruits and vegetables are low in calories, high in fiber and rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can help reduce the risk of disease — yet many of us fall short on getting our 2½ cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruit daily — the amount recommended for an average 2,000-calorie diet, according to US dietary guidelines. Don’t be afraid of frozen, canned or dried fruit and vegetables. These forms of fruits and vegetables can be time-savers and — if purchased without added sweeteners or preservatives — are just as, or more, nutritious than fresh

How to measure it:

Once you set your goal, keep a daily journal of your fruit and vegetable servings, which are measured in cup equivalents. 1 cup of fruits and vegetables equals 1 cup of raw or cooked vegetables or fruit, 1 cup of vegetable or fruit juice, 2 cups of leafy salad greens or half a cup of dried fruit or vegetable.

No. 5: Water

Being adequately hydrated can help to ward off fatigue, keep hunger at bay and boost metabolism. It keeps your body running efficiently, allowing it to work smarter, not harder. In the same way you plan meals, you can plan your water intake. This is especially important for older individuals, for whom thirst can be a poor indicator of one’s fluid needs. Additionally, since thirst can be mistaken for hunger, planning to drink throughout the day can help you avoid unnecessary snacking.

How to measure it:

Have a daily water goal. Eight glasses per day is an average number (and doesn’t include water from foods); your needs may be more or less depending on your activity level. As a simple rule, you might aim for two glasses of water with each meal and one with each snack. The WaterMinder app is another tool that can help you track your water intake. It includes reminders to drink up, along with charts to track your progress.

Ayan po, mga kapatid. I have given you yet another tip in keeping your mind headstrong, resist urges, focus on positivity, good relationships, investing in kitchen utensils, making use of an app to help you reach your goal. Maligayang pasko po sa inyong lahat at manigong bagong taon.