4 Tips to Avoid Holiday Overeating

Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating

Sticking to a healthy diet when everyone you know is thrusting cookies and candy in your direction can definitely be a challenge, but there are a few little tricks you can employ to easily avoid going overboard. 1. Grab a small plate at the party spread. It's easy to overload a full-size plate with more than you should eat, but using a salad or dessert plate instead can help you stay in check. 2. Mingle more than an arm's length from the munchies. When you're at a gathering, don't opt to chat within reach of the snacks. You'll be much less likely to keep nibbling after you've finished eating when the goodies aren't within reach. 3. Eat breakfast. This is not a practice you should only employ during the holidays folks; there's a reason for the saying breakfast is the most important meal of the day. When you eat breakfast, it gets your metabolism (and mind!) going in the morning, and helps you burn more calories. Not only that, but people who eat breakfast tend to eat less throughout the day, which helps prevent over eating. You don't need to indulge in an early-morning feast, a simple egg with yogurt or cottage cheese, or something similar will suffice. 4. Eat the healthy stuff first. Start with salad before moving on to entrees and dessert. Be careful though, just because it's salad, it doesn't automatically mean it's healthy; and the most important thing is to avoid heavy, creamy dressing. Thick ranch, thousand island, Caesar, and others can pack more fat and calories than those conspicuously sinful desserts, so stick with the vinaigrette options or use those creamies sparingly. Also, take your time and eat slowly, it's not a race. It takes your body 10 minutes to register that you're full, and you can go waaaay overboard in 10 minutes. Also, chew thoroughly, you'll get to enjoy the flavor longer, and it helps kick-start the digestion process.