Wednesday, November 9, 2011

surviving the holidays part one: food

beautiful crocheted vegetables spotted on ginny branch's pinterest.

with the holidays upon us (as well as the egg nog, pumpkin pie, let's not even mention peppermint milkshakes, etc) our unhealthy food intake is certainly bound to rise. even though i think indulging is absolutely necessary (once in a while), this is how sam and i lost weight during the holidays last year.

when sam and i started our healthy food journey (a year from last august) we were purely doing it to lose weight. i gained a lot of pregnancy weight and sam was eating right along with me. then we started eating better because we felt better. something interesting to me that i heard from a friend was that the holidays are the time of year when most people get sick. part of the reason for this is that everyone's immune systems have been lowered due to the amount of sugar they are consuming. makes sense right? your body is focusing on how to process and break down all of that pumpkin pie instead of tending to and fighting off whatever germs are making their way in.

so, here are some things that we do to feel our best without sacrificing the pleasures that come with the holidays:

1. try and eat clean every day. this means lots of organic vegetables, some fruit, some meat, little to no dairy.
2. save your "cheat meals" for holiday parties. you don't want to be the lame-o that's turning down cocktail wieners and the cheese plate.
3. limit your treats to the main affairs: thanksgiving, christmas eve, and christmas day. by all means treat.yo.self.
4. if you want a peppermint chocolate chip milkshake (warning the nutritional info is terrifying on this one, better not to look), have one! ONE. get it out of your system because otherwise you'll be grumpy and fixated.
5. the main thing is not to spiral out of control. with cookies showing up at the office and neighbors bringing over chocolate covered pretzels, it can be hard to do. sometimes you just have to have some self-control. the more you practice this, the easier it gets.
6. avoid drinking a lot of alcohol. when you drink it lowers your inhibitions, thus making you an easier target. again, save the merry making for the big days.
7. eat before you go to parties. if you are full when you get there, you're less likely to make bad choices.

i wanna hear your tips for dealing with pushy people, this can be one of the hardest parts of the holidays. i call them feeders. the bottom-line is you want to treat your body good and they don't live in your body. it's ok to politely say no.

side note: i am so not perfect. these are things i try to do. i definitely have my weak moments, but they usually come when i'm hungry. snacking throughout the day really helps, as well as keeping crap out of your house.

10 comments:

Emily said...

Great reminders heading into the sweets season! I always try to eat clean during the week, and then let myself enjoy food a little more on the weekends - that plan doesn't always work during the holiday season when the sugar is everywhere! And those crocheted veggies are super neat!

Your Southern Peach said...

I love your food posts! We talk about the "pushers" in our Weight Watchers meetings and some of the tips they suggest are simply telling those people that you are making a point to eat healthy and kindly ask them for the support. Another suggestion is to do activities with those people where food is not involved such as hiking, shopping, etc. Also, with many cookies, cakes, treats, they freeze very well!!! Simply put them in individual ziplock bags and store them away for later.

Good Luck to all of us!! :)

Lesley said...

great tips amy! especially love the idea of freezing treats for a rainy day. what i did for my neighbors/co-workers last year is the cookie in the jar recipe so they can make the cookies up to a year later.

Ashley said...

Love these tips. Most of them are one my list as well!

You said it best at the end - keep the overly sugary, terrible things out of your house. If it's here, I'll eat it. End of story.

Also, I am in LOVE with my "Gluten-free, Almond flour Cookbook" by Elana Amsterdam, which has everything from cakes to pie crust to cookies to bread. The treats are still treats (sugar is sugar be it agave, honey, or raw granules), but they are healthier and wheat and dairy free! Added bonus that they are tasty as well. We love the chewy chocolate chip cookies, and I made a coffee cake for Kev's birthday recently. Check it out!

Miss you! xoxo

Mary @ Noah Baby said...

Great tips! I especially love # 4. There's a local ice cream company in my city that comes out with some ah-mazing special flavors around this time of year and I have literally been craving the cinnamon flavor for an entire year (since it debuted last year). But I'm on a diet and was torturing myself for days by not indulging. But then I caved. But guess what? Craving satisfied so I'm set for the season.

Stephanie said...

Your mom and I are in yoga teacher training together. She told me about your blog yesterday after I told her about my blog while we were having lunch at World Peace Cafe. By the way, I love your mom! I have added you to my toolbar :). Keep up the great posts!

Lindsay N. Strickland said...

Hi!!

I'm in agreement with the previous poster that loves your food posts. You have such great food perspective.

On Weight Watchers I've managed to lose weight during the holidays for the past two years!

The only way I've been able to do it is fill my plate with the vegetables and get a tiny portion of the delicious naughty stuff. I also allow myself a tiny piece of dessert so I never feel deprived!

Good South said...

I totally agree with the healthy eating and the TReat. Yo Self 2011!

We eat mostly clean (other than the occasional magical burger at Chuck's downtown or Trader Joe's oatmeal bars or something like that)and we feel so much of a difference when we eat clean! We are so accustomed to it that it is true: we feel bad when we don't.
But I will indulge sensibly this holiday season for sure. But moderately, except for the pie. i love pie. okay, i'll have a small sliver.

Also, those crocheted veggies are RIDICULOUSLY BEAUTIFUL!

-Elizabeth

Lesley said...

re: stephanie my mom loves you too and she had such a great time at world peace. thanks for saying hi, i'll be sure to check out your blog, too.

re: lindsay yes! great tip about mostly veggie, some naughty stuff. i do that too.

Pink Lotus said...

Awesome posting and nice tips share in the post. good job and great idea for food.