How to Eat Healthy Through The Holidays

I’ve always found that this is a tough time of year to maintain a healthy diet. The temptations become numerous… starting with Halloween’s candy onslaught, continuing with Thanksgiving’s turkeys and pies, then with Christmas’s ham and cookies, and finishing with New Years’ snacking and drinking.  We were fortunate enough to actually have two Thanksgiving dinners this year due to a “split up” in our family. Our first “Faux Thanksgiving” was on November 16th and the second “Real Thanksgiving” was on the 27th.

Laura and I do our best to eat as healthy as possible even through the holidays. It’s not just for us, but for our kids too. We really try to be good examples to them all the time, throughout all occasions.  We are thankful that our family (even though they doesn’t eat as healthy as we do) respects our lifestyle and often do a little extra to accommodate our desires.

Here are some of our strategies we use to help stay on track through the holidays:

• If you’re invited to someone’s for a meal… know what you’re getting into. Plan ahead and bring a lot of healthy food (salads, veggies, fruit, trail mix, etc.) whenever possible, so you know there will always be something healthy to eat.  It will also provide an opportunity to enlighten others to naturally delicious whole, healthy foods.
• If you think there may be a great deal of food temptations where you’re going… eat a healthy meal before you go. When you are full, any temptations you’ll face will be much easier to resist.
• When sitting down to eat… minimize the intake of animal-based foods by going light on the “main-dish” and eating more of the side dishes. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, string beans, corn, whole-grained breads, beans, and carrots are all good for you and filling.
• When preparing some “old fashioned” recipes… you can make them much healthier by making smart ingredient substitutions. Learn how to substitute healthy ingredients for less healthy stuff. Dates, granulated dates, or agave nectar instead of white sugar; blended tofu for eggs; soy or rice beverage for milk, etc.
• If you must indulge keep it minimal… most of the time it takes just one or two bites to satisfy a craving. It’s okay to ask for a small piece of pie! But be careful, it also takes only one or two bites to reawaken an unhealthy appetite for “junk” foods.
• Lessen the importance of food… In your mind, take the focus off the food, and put it on the people. Enjoy the people more than the food. You will enjoy your time so much more if you put your focus on the relationships around you.
• Whatever you have or do, be thankful… be thankful for clean water and for good food. Be thankful for family and friends. Be thankful for all of God’s blessings in your life.