fbpx

5 No-Nonsense Tips Make It Easy to Survive Holiday Eating

Whether you are spending time with family or celebrating the holiday season with friends, this time of year is often when a healthy lifestyle may get challenged. It helps to have more than a few healthy holiday eating tips in your back pocket.

Remember, it takes time for your body to register just how much you have eaten.

Body Ecology’s Top 5 Healthy Holiday Eating Tips

1. Be Prepared. You don’t want to offend anyone. Especially not your aunt who makes the green bean casserole every year. Or your mother-in-law, who’s bringing her prize pie. But you know your body. You know your health goals (and pitfalls). And you know that the casserole means a bout of eczema or that one bite of pie means a week in the bathroom.

stevia-plain600x600_2

Be of good cheer — you can make a delicious and sugar-free alternative to champagne with Stevia, sparkling water, fresh lemon, and probiotics.

If you eat something that can trigger an immune response or a Candida infection, you may be able to get by with nary a scratch to show for it.

Be prepared for bumps in the road by packing a small parcel filled with digestive support. We suggest Assist Dairy & Protein with DPP-IV, a proteolytic enzyme that is essential for the complete breakdown of dietary proteins like gluten and casein, to help your body process the irritating proteins found in wheat and milk. The Body Ecology Digestive Care Multi can help to boost digestion, fight infection, and soothe areas of intestine that are inflamed.

2. Get Some Movement. What do most people do to celebrate the holidays? Eat and drink and then eat some more. Besides the sheer decadence of the holiday season, there is often an abundance of stress. And before you know it, you are reaching for the bowl of red and green chocolates.

Try bringing balance to all the food and stress by getting outdoors. Finding a way to move your body — such as a walk, jog, stretch, yoga, or ice skating — makes the warmth of good food, family, and friends that much more enjoyable. It will help to keep your digestive fire stoked and boost your immune system. Physical activity can also buffer holiday stress and help you to relax.1

3. Follow the Principle of 80/20. Somewhere between not enough and too much, there is a place that is just right. The Body Ecology Principle of 80/20 tells us that this sweet spot is when you are roughly 80 percent full. At 80 percent full, your stomach and digestive enzymes have the opportunity to do their job.

The trick to finding your sweet spot: Eat slowly.

Remember, it takes time for your body to register just how much you have eaten. You can give your brain and your hunger hormones a chance to catch up with your mouth by slowly enjoying your food, slipping in bites between conversations.

4. Fix a Pre-Meal. To prevent grazing and munching on something you really don’t want, we suggest eating beforehand. Try Body Ecology’s new Immune Power Protein Shake as a convenient pre-party snack to minimize cravings and keep you feeling satisfied, or bring Body Ecology-approved snacks with you to curb hunger when traveling.

While this tactic may be harder to pull off at a family dinner, it is useful for holiday parties or busy buffet-style celebrations. Rather than reject anyone’s food, you can simply choose to not put it on a plate and into your mouth.

5. Share Fermented Foods. If you pack probiotic-rich foods, like coconut water kefir or cultured veggies, you’ll have tasty tools to cleanse the palate and stimulate digestion.

Even a few ounces of InnergyBiotic mixed with sparkling mineral water, fresh squeezed lemon, and a little Stevia provides a probiotic punch. Sip on this delicious and refreshing beverage in a champagne glass and bring on the holiday cheer.

Holiday Stress Can Lead to Holiday Weight Gain

Once the festivities are over, many of us feel bloated, congested, and stiff. The culprit? Sometimes it’s too much food or the wrong kinds of food. Holiday weight gain is common, but the good news is that the average holiday weight gain may be as little as two pounds.2 The bad news is that food can be used as a coping mechanism to deal with unwanted holiday stress, related to work or family, leading to more holiday weight gain.3 And gaining just a few extra pounds can have an immediate effect on health by increasing blood pressure in healthy adults, according to the American Heart Association.4

The best way to get through the holidays without kicking up a response from your immune system or gaining a few extra pounds is to have a plan — which can prevent holiday eating from disrupting your body’s “food clock” and leaving you feeling out of whack.5 With a few strategies in mind, you will be able to easily navigate your way through the airy bread rolls and sugary sweets.

What To Remember Most About This Article:

Everyone knows it’s hard to stay healthy around the holidays. Overeating and eating the wrong kind of food can activate an immune response or cause you to gain unnecessary weight, further compromising your health.

Before the festivities begin, consider these five Body Ecology strategies for a healthy holiday season:

  1. Be prepared for delicious temptations in advance. Bring Assist Dairy & Protein with you to break down wheat gluten and milk casein, along with the Body Ecology Digestive Care Multi to calm intestinal inflammation.
  2. Get exercise any way you can—to promote healthy digestion and combat holiday stress.
  3. Mind the principle of 80/20. Eat slowly and until you are 80 percent full so that digestive enzymes can do their job.
  4. Eat a pre-meal. The best way to avoid temptation at a holiday party is to fill up on healthy foods beforehand. Body Ecology’s new Immune Power Protein Shake makes a tasty and filling pre-party snack to regulate appetite and reduce cravings.
  5. Share fermented goodies. If you get the opportunity, bring probiotic-rich foods like coconut water kefir or cultured veggies to a party. Make a festive drink with sparkling mineral water, lemon, Stevia, and InnergyBiotic in a champagne glass to ring in the New Year.

REFERENCES:

  1. “Activity tames holiday stress and triggers a chemical response to help you relax.” Greenwich Hospital.
  2. Physiol Behav. 2014 Jul;134:66-9. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.03.018. Epub 2014 Mar 21.
  3. Methodist Hospital, Houston. “Using food for comfort and coping leads to unwanted holiday pounds.” ScienceDaily.
  4. “Small weight gain can raise blood pressure in healthy adults.” American Heart Association Meeting Report Abstract 29.
  5. Zhang, D. Abraham, S.-T. Lin, H. Oster, G. Eichele, Y.-H. Fu, L. J. Ptacek. PKC participates in food entrainment by regulating BMAL1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012; 109 (50): 20679 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218699110.
POPULAR PRODUCTS
GET 15% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER!
Free Shipping On Orders Over $99
Family Owned
30+ Years of Experience in the Field
Subscribe and Save