Do you consider holiday time to be a holiday from healthy eating?

If you find special occasions, like holidays and vacations, give you a great excuse to indulge in foods that aren’t usually included in your diet, maybe your everyday eating style is too restrictive.  When you’re making lasting lifestyle changes to your diet, there is never a reason to be “on” or “off” because you’ve allowed for some flexibility and imperfection.  Eating dessert isn’t a tragedy, because you simply understand that you’ve allowed for it, or you’ll cut back during the next meal.  With healthy lifestyle changes, as opposed to dieting, you’ve also given yourself permission to indulge every so often, which often eliminates the urge to binge.

Weekend eating is often similar to eating on vacation because of the lack of structure a weekend often provides.  The same ideas apply here.  Allow for some imperfection to avoid the need to binge.

It’s also important to pre-plan for overeating whenever you can so you have a strategy when confronted with excess food.  For example, let’s say you enjoy drinking on Saturday nights and you usually drink more than you’d like.  Decide before you head out that you’ll have one glass of wine and alternate sips of wine with a glass of water.  Or choose a wine spritzer to cut the amount of wine instead.

If you are heading to a picnic or party to celebrate next weekend, make sure you don’t go with a roaring appetite.  It’s too easy to overindulge and by having a small snack before heading to the event, you’ll have a clearer perspective and make better choices.  Once you get to the party, here are some tips to help keep things under control.

1) Have a drink in one hand (you can have a club soda, which looks like a “real” drink, and no one will bother you about not drinking), and carry a clutch or purse in the other hand.  Now you have no free hands to overeat!

2) Carry your drink in one hand and a plate of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables in the other hand.  Now you are eating with minimal damage.  Summer is the ideal time to fill up on these healthy treats!

3) Tell yourself that you can try three incredible looking appetizers or desserts.  Taste each one, savor the flavor and enjoy!  When it’s time to sit down for the meal, leave over what looks ordinary.  Use the opportunity to try unusual, interesting foods while avoiding excess calories from foods you could have any time.

4) At a holiday event, allow yourself to experience the foods that you associate most strongly with that holiday.  If the Fourth of July just isn’t the Fourth for you unless you eat a hot dog with everything on it, go ahead and have one!  But pass on the potato salad, chips and anything else that’s just there to fill your plate.  Be picky and indulge in only the foods that’ll make you feel like you’ve truly celebrated!

5) Find something else to do at the picnic or party other than eating and drinking.  Play badminton, talk to your friends and family, organize the sparkler display, play with the kids.  Anything that keeps you busy and away from the snacks will make the party more fun and keep you focused on the event rather than the food you aren’t eating.

So next time you are headed to an affair where the buffet tables are overflowing with delicious treats, try some of these strategies to keep yourself on track.  And if you do end up overindulging, be forgiving with yourself and just get back on track with your next meal!