It’s that time of the year… the holiday chocolates and cookies are starting to appear in your office. While there is nothing wrong with enjoying a delicious holiday sweet, some people
Tips to control your intake of holiday goodies:
1. Holidays are not the time to diet! Depriving yourself will only set yourself up for overindulging later. So allow yourself a small portion of your favorite holiday treat.
2. For those people watching their weight, I might suggest you limit it to one sweet a day for
3. However, if eating one chocolate or other sweet leads to 8, you should probably avoid that food totally as it is likely a trigger for you.
4. Avoid the room where the goodies are kept. If they are kept within reach or sight, try to change the location where they are kept!
5. Keep reminding yourself how much exercise it takes to burn off the calories in a small treat: 40 minutes of brisk walking to burn off 200 calories and a spin class to burn off 350-400 calories. Is it worth it?
6. Make sure you have a good lunch that contains adequate protein and volume. This will help keep your blood sugar levels up and give you more willpower to fight off the urge to indulge later in the afternoon.
7. Plan a healthy afternoon snack – ideally one that includes protein and/or fat. This can help to control sugar cravings.
8. Try chewing gum. While this is obviously not comparable to a chocolate, studies have shown it can help to reduce food cravings.
9. If you do end up overindulging, don’t beat yourself up. Just learn from it – how can you prevent it from happening again? Try to get to the gym that night and eat a lighter dinner. But don’t start skipping meals. This will only lead to an unhealthy cycle.
