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Holiday Eating Tips To Keep You Well Throughout The Season
by Thomas Wenger
The Christmas season, right through to New Year, is perhaps the most stressful time of the year for your body. Not only do we eat more that regularly, but the meals are also richer and more elaborate than our regular "lunch on the go" or "steak & salad dinner". Comes to it, that if you are hosting one of the festivities in your own house, stress might be a further factor you might have to deal with.
The key to keep feeling good, fit and get the best out of the Christmas season is to keep your blood sugar levels even. Going without meals for hours and then indulge in heavy meals coupled with chocolates and sweets is sending the sugar levels in our blood on a roller coaster and makes us sleepy and sluggish at odd times while we are fit and ready to go on other times. This can make us irritable, susceptive to mood swing and also makes us gain weight.
This article is not intended to take the fun out of Christmas, or to gloom your days about “loosing pounds you might have gained” but perhaps just a few small tips to keep you from feeling tired and drained half way through the season.
Take care of your blood sugar level
Without being diabetic or suffering from hypoglycemia, a person’s individual blood sugar level is the main cause that we feel sluggish, drowsy and tired or restless, sleepless, moody and irritable at times.
Keeping our blood sugar levels in control and level will help us to be radiant, dynamic and feel good not only throughout the festive season but in general week in and week out.
The blood sugar level in our body is controlled by two hormones, which are released by the pancreas when needed.
Insulin, which regulates high blood sugar levels after a meal, when carbohydrates are broken into glucose, our body’s energy source, and Glucagons, which raise the blood sugar level if it falls too low. Adrenalin, produced by the adrenal glands may quickly raise blood sugar level in response to a crisis.
Insulin is also ensuring that glucose is stored in the body - by the way of adding fat if there is an over supply.
Since we often have large festivities planned during the “silly season”, we starve ourselves for the rest of the day in anticipation of the big meal to follow. This will lower your blood sugar levels and hence the body releases Glucagons. We then feel the need to eat a small snack, in general sweets like cookies, chocolates or salty items like chips and crisps to get us over the “little hunger”.
What we should snack on, are fresh fruits, fiber rich cereals and salads and instead of a soda or even an alcoholic beverage there is just nothing better for your body than plain, pure water.
Instead of trying to starve ourselves for hours and then indulge on a heavy meal we should have a healthy breakfast and eat every 2-3 hours a small amount carbohydrates, plenty proteins, fruits and fibers.
In general we should eat more protein (fish, meat, poultry and dairy products), raw fruits and vegetables (antioxidants, fibers and vitamins), be it in form of a juice or as a salad and less sugar (desserts, soft drinks) and carbohydrates (pasta, rice, bread, potatoes and more). Our body needs “carbs” but we should ensure we use whole grains, brown rice and potatoes, rather then white bread, white flour products and pasta. We should stay away from all food that has sugar added to it sich as cookies, chocolates, cake, soft drinks and candied yams.
Find the “goods” in your Christmas meals
First off, not all Christmas specialties are “heavy” and fattening. There are nuts (preferrably unsalted) for protein and fiber, dried and fresh fruits such as mandarins, oranges, Clementine, Satsuma’s or apples for more fiber and important vitamins as well as the Cranberry sauce with lot’s of antioxidants.
The Christmas turkey by itself has also very lean meat, it is really the stuffing, the gravy and those candied yams that make it a heavy meal.
Salmon for omega 3 and protein, and Brussels sprouts for more vitamins, iron and other essential nutrients.
In general there are a lot of vegetables around a traditional Christmas feast, fur everyone to be able to make the "right choice" - mashed suede’s, broccoli, parsnips and cauliflower and of course the already mentioned sprouts.
Dark chocolate can help reduce high blood pressure, in moderation that is.
Breakfast is a very important meal; high-fiber muesli provides more fiber and that freshly squeezed fruit juice will add more vitamins and antioxidants to get you through the day.
Snacking on all those Christmas cookies and chocolates even into late night of course is one of the things that one should try and stay away from or minimize.
Keep moving, keep exercising
Keep your regular workout or sporting schedule right throughout the festive season.
With all the parties and the accompanying dinners a person attends during this period it is very important to keep working out, to keep fit and to burn calories.
Take afternoon walks to look at the Christmas decorations in town or walk to your neighbor around the corner when you visit over these days. Even though we do not always feel like a workout, especially when the party the evening before dragged on too long, but giving ourselves a two to three week break over the Christmas season will not only leave us “feeling heavy” but in January when we go back to our normal schedules it will be that much harder to get back “on track”.
Eat six to eight small meals and snacks during the day starting with a healthy breakfast. Nutricious snacks will get you going throughout the day and will help you regulate and keep your blood suagr level steady and make you feel all around better throughout the day. Even if a heavy lunch or dinner is planned, do try and eat at least fresh fruits for snacks to avoid spikes in your blood sugar levels.
Christmas is a time to be shared with family and friends and if we just are a little sensible towards our body and with our eating habits and keep our regular work-out schedule we will arrive on the 2nd of January without added pounds and/or feeling tired – ready to begin another successful year.
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