Each holiday season, we tell ourselves that we won’t overdo it. We won’t eat too many cookies at office parties; we won’t overindulge while celebrating with friends; we will still fit into our skinny jeans after January 1st. But, as the festivities commence, we succumb to our weaknesses – whatever they may be, from marzipan to martinis – and we end up gaining unwanted pounds. Here are a few tips on how to keep yourself in check this Christmas, while still enjoying the season.
1. Eat Before You Mingle One smart tip for setting yourself up for success at a party is to eat something healthy before you get there. If you usually eat a salad for dinner and the party starts after dinnertime, eat your salad first. This will help you from overindulging when you see a table full of high-calorie, high-fat munchies and desserts. If you are already full of healthy foods, you’ll be able to sample the delectable treats without filling up your plate, or your stomach, to maximum capacity.
2. Scope out the Good Stuff If you are attending an office party, a lunch celebration or another outing that coincides with a mealtime, look for the good stuff on the buffet table. Chances are, alongside the deep-fried, cream cheese-filled crab rangoons, you’ll be able to help yourself to fresh, raw veggies with yogurt dressing. Fresh fruit is another good option.
You can even take your own fresh fruit basket like the ones found at www.christmasgifts.com as a hostess helper gift, and to ensure that there is a healthy option available. Just make sure you don’t pile on too much of the accompanying sweetened whipped cream dip. Even a couple cubes of cheese on whole-wheat crackers will supply your body with protein and help you stay away from the more fattening, less nutritious dishes.
3. Keep Exercising If you regularly take a yoga class, or work out at the gym a few times a week, keep up your routine throughout the holidays. With the hustle and bustle of the season, we tend to skip our exercise classes because we are too busy to get there, but this could make a big difference in whether or not you put on a few extra pounds in the upcoming months. Even if you do overindulge a bit at the company party with free food and open bar, if you continue your exercise routine, you’ll keep your metabolism working hard to burn those extra calories.
4. Set Limits Before You Get There It’s a great idea to remind yourself of your goals before you arrive at each party. Tell yourself things like, “I’m going to sample one appetizer, one small dessert and drink only one glass of wine.” That way, you will have clear expectations in your head of what you will consume at each celebration. When you see a table full of desserts, your consciousness will remind you to select one, not three. This can go a long way, and add up to a lot of saved calories over the course of the holiday season.
The holidays are a time to celebrate with friends and family and enjoy the foods we may not usually eat. If you do so in moderation, picking gift basket fruits over rum-soaked pound cake slices, and sticking with your current exercise routine, you will be able to enjoy the Christmas season without feeling guilty when it all comes to an end. When your friends are making their New Year’s resolutions to get back to the gym, you’ll already be one step ahead.
One way that Melanie Fleury is able to monitor her weight during the holidays is by making sure she is not eating too much fast food as she rushes from one store to the next. Buying gifts online at www.christmasgifts.com helps her to avoid the craziness of holiday shopping at the mall and gives her more time to fix healthy meals at home.
