Five Strategies to Navigate a Healthy Holiday
Friday November 30, 2018
Here are five strategies to make sure the holiday festivities don’t sabotage your healthy eating.
Host the Party – The best way to influence the menu options is to be the hostess with the “mostest” and provide healthier versions of seasonal favorites. Make sure to test your new recipes as some can be tricky to master and may require some experience to ensure they are both tasty and healthy. Excellent recipes can be found online using alternative diet plans. You also may want to research the subscription menu-planning site, RealPlans. They cater to several different diet plans (vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, AIP, Whole 30, GAPS, etc.) and allow you to filter out specific ingredients if you or your guests have food allergies or sensitivities. Learn more by following this link to RealPlans: https://realplans.com/?AFFID=322842
Bring a dish (or two) to share – Offer to share in the preparation effort and ensure there is at least something at the party which won’t derail your healthy eating mojo. As mentioned above, test out your recipes to make sure they aren’t “party poopers”! One year we had a “Fakesgiving Meal” with friends a week before the real Thanksgiving to test our alternative recipes. Everyone had fun bringing a healthy alternative to the traditional dishes and, even though a few turned out to be duds and a few needed tweaking before the main event, at least we didn’t ruin someone’s favorite dish during the real deal!
Fuel up before you head out – Get your personal nutritional needs met before you leave the house, then you can graze a bit on the healthier options or just fill your plate and carry it around so you don’t look or feel left out.
Befriend the lonely, token vegetable tray – You know it will be there, lonely and ignored by most. Go ahead and fill your plate with veggies, but be sure to avoid the inevitable ranch dressing and you will be good to go!
Give yourself some grace – If you do have a moment of weakness or just decide to indulge a little bit, don’t fall into the trap that you are doomed for the rest of the holiday season. A day or two off-track is much easier to recover from than having to start again after an entire month of poor eating. Taking a little detour from your eating plan doesn’t mean you can’t hop right back on track and still navigate your healthy eating journey!
Cheers to you and I hope you enjoy your family, friends and FOOD throughout the holiday season! (You can always schedule and appointment with me to kick of a New Years Detoxification Program)
Marla Tenney
Marla is a Certified Nutrition Therapy Practitioner and the owner of Shakti Whole Health.