Holiday Eating Strategies

I’ve been getting a ton of emails lately about how to survive the holidays and eating. With multiple holiday dinners, work events and people bringing in treats to work, it’s hard to stay on track and keep your willpower in check! My advice? Be PREPARED!

If you know that every year you overindulge at your family holiday dinner, prepare yourself ahead of time for that one day of eating. If you know that every year you are going to have multiple holiday work events to attend, multiple family dinners and a ton of cookie baking with the kids, well then, you have almost an entire year to prepare for all of that! Don’t just wake up and decide on December 23rd that you’re going to eat nothing but salads and workout for 2 hours that day to make up for everything you’ll be eating the next day. Prepare well in advance so that you don’t have to stress out about all the temptations and instead, be able to enjoy yourself and have your mom’s famous peppermint fudge or your grandmas cheesy casserole, GUILT FREE!

WAYS TO PREPARE FOR THE HOLIDAYS

• Workout regularly. Aim to get in at least 20 to 30 minutes of activity a day. Get in extra exercise whenever possible: park further out than normal, take the stairs vs. elevator, perform bodyweight exercises in the kitchen while waiting for your meal to cook

• Make sure to eat frequently and do not skip meals. Eat a solid breakfast along with nutritious snacks filled with fruits, veggies and lean proteins throughout the day

• Drink at least 100oz. of water a day

• Eat before you eat. Have a healthy snack filled with protein and fiber before attending holiday gatherings

• Make sure to get 6 to 8 hours of sleep everything. Not getting enough sleep leads to sugar and carbohydrate cravings

• Limit your alcohol, caffeine and soda intake

• If you’re feeling overwhelmed with holiday preparations, ask for help

• Practice stress-reduction techniques such as: yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises

• Reward yourself. Set aside money to reward yourself with a nice massage, new workout outfit, gym equipment, or a weekend get-away for staying on track

• Rid your house of temptations. Instead of keeping the extra cookies you made for Santa around the house, bring them with you to work, give them to a neighbor or anything to get them out of the house.

• After a holiday gathering, do one of my Detox Programs for 3 to 5 days afterwards to help get you back on track and shed some unwanted pounds

• Remember your why!

If you need some last minute gift ideas, don't forget to give the gift of health and fitness this year! From now until the end of the year, all my online nutrition programs are on sale for only $85 and all online fitness programs are only $60! The Firicano Whey and Vegan Protein powder also makes an awesome gift. Go to www.shopfiricano.com and use discount code stretchfit for 10% off your order!

#holidays #eating #survival #stayingontrack #nutrition