Understanding Your Eating Habits During the Holidays
Let the holidays become a learning experience for you
The holidays are all about spending time with friends, family, co-workers and everyone else in between. But these gatherings usually result in some form of feasting.
How do you use this time to understand your eating habits?
Its simple!
Listen to your hunger cues
You’ve probably heard this several times but understanding your hunger cues can let you know whether to keep eating or stop eating.
If you’re feeling like you’re getting full…
- Put down your plate and go talk with others
- Don’t feel pressured that you have to finish everything on your plate
- If you’re still contemplating whether to get more food, wait a little
Change up the times that you eat
Are you someone that always has a final meal at a certain hour, whether thats dinner or an evening snack? What if you have a holiday party beforehand? How necessary is that final meal? Will it affect you in the morning?
Use this experience to see how you react to different meals at different hours! This will be the opportunity for you to have dinner early, or have breakfast during the morning hours!
These occasional changes allow you to build a learning experience that you can either take with you or leave.
See how an early dinner has an affect on your mood and energy. Try eating breakfast in the morning, how does that make you feel?
Learning what hours to eat for your body can help you with not only your energy levels but also your mood!
Sneaky snacks and sweets
Have you been mindful of not keeping certain foods in the house because you know you’ll binge? What if you bring home leftovers from a party? What are you going to do?
By being aware of your own eating habits, learn to eat things in moderation! If a certain food is a trigger food, for example cookies, make guidelines for yourself so that you are not binging on the whole tin of cookies!
For example: have a cookie between certain hours, or have a cookie after a meal with protein, fats and carbs. When you’ve established your personal guideline, and stick to it you’ll feel accomplished and proud of yourself! You don’t have to give up your favorite treats or snacks. Instead learn how you can still enjoy them in moderation and mindfully!
