It is that time of season where we can smell the seasonal feasts, starting from Thanksgiving dinner, then Christmas Party, and New Year. As much as we look forward to these holidays get together, it is also a fear for your weight.
You can prep yourself now so that you don’t have to fear too much about your weight gains and enjoy your time with your friends and family. After all, it is the most wonderful time of the year.
Habit 1: Learn to eat slowly
As much as this sound so simple but when you actually apply it does take some time to get used to. Why eat slowly? Well, your brain monitors how much you are eating and give signal that you are full once you reach your limit. You may have heard of satiation. Satiation usually kicks in about 15-20 minutes. So my usual advice for portion control is to spend at least 20 minutes per meal.
I do realize not everybody can do that because of busy lifestyle so try at least with 1 meal per day to spend few minutes more than what you normally spend for your meal.
Habit 2: Stop at 80% full
Once you learn to eat slowly, you can then train yourself not to get full but to get satisfied, which is usually about 80% of your fullness. This 80% full can be challenging if you are eating fast. That is why you need to learn to eat slowly first before you learn 80% full.
So how should you do this? Once you feel like you have reached around 80%, you put your utensils down and stop eating. It is ok to have left over. Wrap it and save it for later.
Habit 3: Eat your vegetables
All of the food sources such as, meat, seafood, and grains, dairy and so on are important. But eating vegetables are one of the important eating habits that everybody should work on. There are so many important nutrients that are available in vegetables and because of dietary fiber you get full much faster and satiation stay for longer period of time. On top of it they will clean out your digestive system.
Holiday party eating
I must admit that it is hard sometimes to be thinking about diet and nutrition when you are having a great time. However, if you can preprogram your body by creating a decent (not perfect) nutritional habits as suggested above, your body will give you a sign so you'll now how much you are actually eating or drinking even when you are enjoying you time.
Enjoy!
Holiday eating should enjoyable moments. You shouldn't have to be fearing about over consuming calories. Yet I do understand some fear that you may have about gaining weight after the holiday. You can always pre-plan so that you create a habits which give you comfort even if you gain few pounds after holiday because you know what habits you need to get back to.
Start 3 habits above today and enjoy your parties!
Kota Shimada
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