Tag Archive for ‘parties’ at themojocoach.com

With the holidays upon us, one of the ways many of us will be celebrating is by indulging in the high fat/high calorie foods that seem to define the season.

Big dinners, cocktail parties, cookie exchanges, candy canes, chocolate, celebratory lunches and happy hours fill our days and nights during the final weeks of the year. Many of these foods signify that the holidays are here and, of course, we’ll want to indulge in all of the special foods and sweet treats that surround us. For some, certain foods bring us right back to the comfortable place where we originally feasted on them. For others, it’s simply an excuse to put our healthy eating aside until the New Year.

If this is your game plan, you may just enter the New Year with the “gift” of an extra few pounds by the New Year. Since larger clothes are probably not on your wish list, how can you enjoy the holiday season guilt free?

One way is by pre-planning your holiday eating. You’ve heard the saying “If you fail to plan then plan to fail.” That’s certainly the case when it comes to holiday indulging. There is a way to include those special foods and treats in your holiday eating as long as you have a strategy. Since you may be headed to a few holiday parties, here’s a game plan you can use.

Let’s say you’re headed for a cocktail party. First of all, you never want to arrive hungry. Over hungry means overeating so a small snack before you go can ensure that your judgment stays in tact and you’ll make better decisions once confronted with all of the holiday goodies. For example, an apple or container of yogurt (both around 100 calories) can spare you from overindulging in thousands of calories of hors d’oeuvres.

The next strategy for a cocktail party involves drinking. Pre plan the number of drinks you’ll have and stick to it. These are liquid calories which go down quickly and easily so choose wisely. For hard liquor, keep it to a drink or two, alternating with glasses of water. For wine, use the same idea or switch to wine spritzers to cut the calories in half. There’s also the option to drink seltzer, which looks like a “real” drink so no one will question you, if that’s a concern. Finally, try envisioning each drink as a chocolate milkshake. Pictured this way, you may want to reconsider having more than one!

The next strategy involves keeping your hands busy. You can hold your drink in one hand and have a plate of vegetables in the other. You also may want to try the “clutch trick,” purposely bringing a clutch bag as opposed to one with a strap. This ties up the hand that could be grabbing unhealthy appetizers! Of course, you may want to enjoy some of those appetizers so if that’s your plan, limit yourself to a few of the most delicious looking ones and enjoy them thoroughly. Give yourself permission to savor them so that each bite isn’t eaten with a side of guilt. Also, when you’ve given yourself permission to eat a set amount (let’s say three or four), you’re much less likely to binge later on because you feel good about keeping with your plan.

If the party involves a sit down meal, only eat what’s special for that holiday. For example, let’s say for Christmas dinner there’s a delicious looking stuffing on the table that you want to try along with other types of breads and rolls. Since a rolls are something you have on any regular night out, skip them to allow for a taste of that special stuffing. By having what’s unique for the holiday, you’ll feel a part of it without “stuffing” yourself!

Finally, if you’ve overdone it, apply the three to one rule. That means, for every one thing you’ve overindulged in, make the next three choices healthier and better balanced. For example, a meal that’s over the top needs to be balanced with three moderate meals. A food choice that’s high in calories and fat can be balanced with three more healthful options.

With a plan, you can enjoy the holidays without the “leftovers” on your belly, hips and thighs. By putting some strategies into place now, you can have a New Year’s Resolution that’s different from the millions of other women who will be making a pledge to lose the excess weight that they collected over the holiday season!

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!