Healthy Eating for the Holiday Season

As the majority of us know only too well, any attempt at healthy eating goes sailing out of the window during the holiday season. We tend to conveniently forget about our health and diet, and instead, take the opportunity to over-indulge in every way possible.
start quoteAccording to a recent Weight Watchers report, the average American gains around 7-10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.end quote
According to a recent Weight Watchers report, the average American gains around 7-10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. This is through pure over-indulgence and gluttony. Moreover, much of this weight is maintained from thereon despite our promises (as we help ourselves to another dollop of pudding) to go on a diet in January.

It is not hard to understand why people fall into such bad habits during the holiday season. Everywhere you go there is somebody waiting to thrust a glass of wine or a box of chocolates in front of you. Surely it would be rude to refuse? And, anyway, it is the holidays... Your trip to the local supermarket turns into an adventure. You find yourself in a maze of aisles displaying a range of colorful, tempting goodies that are excitingly packaged and screaming at you to buy them and eat them... Even visits to friends and family are unsafe. You suddenly find the table laden with all manner of goodies, and as you hear the wine bottle cork being popped in the kitchen you resign yourself to the fact that you might as well give in.

All this, coupled with the huge dinners, parties, and festivities of the holiday season makes maintaining control a huge challenge. Healthy eating is a national obsession for the better part of the year. Yet, as soon as Thanksgiving rears its over-indulgent head, the obsession swings the other way as the nation attempts to buy and eat as much unhealthy, rich food as possible.

Food and festivity will always be a major part of the holiday season - and there is certainly nothing wrong in that. However, the holiday season is also a stressful time for many of us, and we need plenty of energy and stamina to cope with it. It is therefore essential that we eat the right type of food with the necessary nutrients to give us energy and reduce stress levels. This is not to say that we shouldn't allow ourselves to indulge a little, but we should eat in moderation and maintain a varied diet.

Jeffrey Rubin, M.D. at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine, states: "The main rule to remember is moderation..." With regards to the rich foods that we consume over this period, he adds: "...Try to balance these items with regular servings of fruit and vegetables..."

If we allow ourselves to lose control completely over the holiday season, there is a high risk that we will continue to eat unhealthily long after the holiday season has gone. Falling into the trap of unhealthy eating is a hard habit to break. Despite millions of New Year's resolutions that are made each year regarding our diets, many people never get around to breaking the habit at all.

In fact, researchers at Washington University have reported that only around 22% of New Year's diet resolutions make it to February. Tips on eating healthily during the holiday season Being health-conscious doesn't necessarily mean that you can't enjoy the holiday season and have a little bit of what you fancy. It simply means that you should continue to be vigilant and be prepared for the festivities.

There are many ways in which you can help to strike a balance between maintaining a healthy diet and joining in with the fun and festivities.

For 12 ways to stay healthy during the holidays go to:www.betterhealthusa.com/public/273.cfm

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 at 8:37 PM and is filed under Uncatagorized . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.