10 Ways to Maintain Healthy Eating Habits During Festive Season

10 Ways to Maintain Healthy Eating Habits During Festive Season. The festive season is that time of the year to bond with people. Meet your friends and family and relish the quality time spent with them. Food brings people together and any celebration is incomplete without them. So, do not hold yourself back from enjoying this beautiful time. Just make conscious choices.

1 Avoid Visiting On An Empty Stomach

Avoid going for visits on an empty stomach to prevent overeating or over-indulging on festive treats. It’s always a great idea to start the day with a healthy and balanced breakfast that includes wholegrain foods, low-fat protein and fruit.

2. Be Canny About What You Eat

Before you start on the main course, ‘cheat’ by eating a healthy dish that has lots of low-energy dense-foods such as salads or vegetable soups. These will fill you up before you hit the mince pie, roast turkey or the beef rendang.

3. Pick Healthy Snacks

Healthy snacks between meals help keep you full and energetic while also reducing cravings. Snacks provided during parties, card games, or while visitors are present, however, might increase the overall number of calories. Change out the bad snacks for healthier ones that are lower in fat, sugar, and salt.

4. Don’t Miss Meals to Compensate

If you skip meals, you’ll either wind up overeating at your next meal or develop a yearning for fatty, sugary items. Not the best circumstance to celebrate this festive season while staying active and healthy. You can start your morning with a healthy breakfast. A breakfast that is heavy in protein and fibre sets you up for a day of healthy eating. Eat a nutritious snack every two to three hours as a guideline.

5. Drink Water

One easy trick to limit your calorie intake is to follow a simple rule: Don’t drink your calories. Drinking 330 ml of water fills you up as much as a 330 ml can of a soft drink, minus the calories. So instead a bottle of juice, a soda or an alcoholic drink, water instead. For an informal gathering such as a barbeque, Consider bringing your own water bottle filled with water and slices of lemon and cucumber.

6. Say ‘Later’ When You Have Trouble Saying ‘No’

Often, when you are visiting, the host constantly ladles food onto your plate, insisting that you eat more. If you feel you can’t say ‘no’, try saying ‘later’ instead. This way, you don’t seem impolite and hopefully, your host won’t remember to press you to eat more.

7. Eat slowly

Eat slowly and focus on the socializing rather than eating. Eating more slowly puts you in control and helps you enjoy every mouthful, so you feel more satisfied and give yourself the opportunity to stop before you overeat. Take breaks to stay in tune with your level of fullness.

8. Sit to Eat

It’s easy to lose track of how much you’re eating when you’re grazing the holiday buffet while chatting with friends. Ditto when you’re eating leftovers standing in front of the open refrigerator. When you sit down to eat, however, it can help you connect with the experience so you can better gauge how much time is passing and pay attention to what and why you’re eating.

9. Offer Healthy Dishes for Healthy Eating

If you are the host, make things easier on your guests by offering healthier dishes. Start by serving plenty of vegetables so that people fill up on these. Offer high-fibre carbohydrates like brown rice, brown rice and wholegrain bread. White rice is a hard habit to break but you can make the transition easier by mixing brown and white rice together.

10. Keep Moving

You’ve got a lot on your plate this time of year, and physical activity can get crowded out. But being active is your secret holiday weapon; it can help make up for eating more than usual and reduce stress during this most stressful time of year. Get moving with friends and family, such as taking a walk after a holiday meal.