{"id":3664,"date":"2017-12-05T12:27:44","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T12:27:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eatrightpa.org\/?p=3664"},"modified":"2021-10-30T03:39:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T03:39:04","slug":"mindful-holiday-eating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/05\/mindful-holiday-eating\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindful Holiday Eating"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Angie Dye, MS, RDN, CSSD, LDN<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

I spend a lot of time with my clients this time of year talking about holiday eating. For many, all of the sugar and spice and everything\u2026well, it\u2019s not so nice. After working hard to eat healthfully or manage a disease state, my clients aren\u2019t sure how to navigate all of the office goodies, holiday parties, neighbor\u2019s cookies and seasonal delights. It\u2019s often tempting to think that buckling down the hatches and really \u201cdieting\u201d during this time of year is the answer, but it is not! It will leave you crabbier than the Grinch and will increase the chances of over indulging at some point. Here are a few of my top tips for Mindful Holiday Eating, which can help to make the holidays quite manageable and enjoyable.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Keep Your Focus on Good Day-to-Day Nutrition<\/b>. Have you been enjoying nutritious breakfasts and packing your lunch for work? Having healthy snacks throughout the day and prepping easy dinners? Excellent! Keep up the good work! If this hasn\u2019t been your practice, now is a great time to start a few healthy routines. Good daily nutrition is more important than what you eat a holiday party, and keeping yourself well-nourished will help to tame holiday cravings.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. S-L-O-W Down. <\/b>No doubt this time of year is extremely busy, but taking time away from distractions to enjoy your meals is a wonderful mindful eating technique. See what happens if you put away your cell phone, shut down your computer, turn off the t.v. and really connect with the food in front of you. Notice the colors, the textures, the scents and the tastes of your meal. Allow yourself to experience all of the sensations of eating by fully connecting without distractions. Even if you can only do this at one meal per day, you may find you are more satisfied. <\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Be the Boss.<\/b> It\u2019s easy to feel pressured to try Aunt Bessie\u2019s fruitcake or the beautifully decorated gingerbread man that your co-worker gifts you. If those are not appealing or you aren\u2019t hungry for them, remember that there is no obligation to eat them.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Pick Your Favorites.<\/b> Most of us have a few things that really make the holidays the holidays. For me, it is most definitely a cup of eggnog once our Christmas tree decorations are complete. This isn\u2019t a food I\u2019d enjoy on a Tuesday in June, but it is so nostalgic and wonderfully Christmas-y to me. Find the special treats that are the most meaningful to your holiday celebrations and truly enjoy them. <\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Keep on Moving<\/b>. With hectic schedules at this time of year, it\u2019s very easy to think you don\u2019t\u2019 have time for meaningful movement or exercise. Make time for this important piece of self-care even when you are busy. If you do, you may find a more natural inclination to stick to health goals and nourish yourself well. And remember, you can rack up a lot of steps in shopping malls!<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Take it Easy on Yourself<\/b>. This holiday schedule won\u2019t last forever, and before you know it, we\u2019ll be craving salads and starting fresh in the New Year. Remember it is temporary and try to stay in the moments and enjoy them. It may help to leave you with this little family rhyme: \u201cThe Holidays come but once a year, and we\u2019re very glad they\u2019re here. Why are we very glad they\u2019re here? Because they come but once a year!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Angie Dye, MS, RDN, CSSD is a Private Practice Dietitian who specializes in Intuitive Eating, Sports Nutrition and Gastrointestinal Nutrition in Hershey, PA. \u00a0Follow her on \u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>, \u00a0<\/span>Twitter @CarpeDiemRDN<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Instagram @AngieDye3<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    By Angie Dye, MS, RDN, CSSD, LDN I spend a lot of time with my clients this time of year talking about holiday eating. For many, all of the sugar and spice and everything\u2026well, it\u2019s not so nice. After working hard to eat healthfully or manage a disease state, my clients aren\u2019t sure how to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":3665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10648,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3664\/revisions\/10648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eatrightpa.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}