Eating Healthy for Holidays!! YOU CAN DO IT!

Holidays are not an excuse to gain weight. Challenge yourself to not gain any weight this Easter!

Here are a few of my helpful tips to keep your healthy lifestyle in check, no matter what the occasion is!

If you’re doing the cooking, ditch the full fat dairy products, use reduced fat milk or reduced fat cheese.
You can substitute apple sauce for vegetable oil in baking recipes. If the recipe calls for ½ cup oil, ½ cup applesauce will do.
Avoid piling your plate full of the high-calorie/high-fat appetizers or side dishes, fried foods, heavy casseroles, and desserts. FILL up on veggies, grains, fruit, or lean meat (if available). You can have small tastes of the high calorie dishes, just don’t load up.
You can bring your own healthy dish so that you can know you will at least have one guilt free option.
You can have everything in moderation, try to add up the calories on your plate, just by using ball-park estimates, be careful when you think about getting seconds. Sit and wait and drink some water before you think about more food, you need to let your stomach catch up with your mouth!
Don’t show up starving, have an apple, or some veggies before you go so you won’t feel the need to dive into anything and everything.
Eat your veggies first, I always use this rule! Make sure you eat your salad or veggies first, so that you start to get full by the time you eat the not so low-calorie food options.
TAKE YOUR TIME! Holidays are about being together with family and loved ones and enjoying one’s company. Don’t scarf your food down, make conversation, avoid the TV, and chew SLOWLY. See if you can chew 20 times before you swallow, this will train you to take your time when eating.
Move away from the buffet/appetizers/snack table when talking to friends/loved ones, the food is less tempting when it’s out of sight.
If you know you’re going to be eating a big meal for dinner, have a healthier breakfast and lunch to try to balance out the excess calories you will be consuming.
REMEMBER: Alcoholic beverages contain calories too. These calories will sneak up on you, so be mindful of that. Diet Sodas actually make your body crave more food and need to be avoided. Water is your best bet, and it helps to flush out water weight and toxins!
Get MOVING: A walk, throwing football outside, work out earlier in the day before the partying starts. It’s all about calories in vs. calories out. This extra workout CAN make a difference!