Mindful Eating Through the Holidays

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the eating season – I mean, holiday season.  It is a wonderfully festive time that does include a lot of great food that we often don’t see the rest of the year.  For people who struggle with eating and weight, though, that often means a gain of 5 pounds or more that we don’t take off once the holiday abundance is gone.

So here are a few tips for maintaining, not gaining, this holiday season.  They’re normal eating aka mindful eating tips which serve well because normal eaters usually don’t eat more than they want/need even in times of abundance.  They’re also mindful living tips, paying attention to our bodies and giving them what they need. These are taken from our FitBriefing Holiday Eating without Overeating: Eating the Best & Leaving the Rest.

• Give yourself permission to eat what you want.  If you try to deny yourself, you’ll likely end up overeating out of deprivation.
• Eat mindfully.  Stay in touch with hunger and satisfaction cues.  Respond reasonably to both.
• Eat regularly.  Regular, well-balanced meals will keep your hunger manageable.  When we skip meals, we tend to overeat at the next one.
• Move regularly.  Keep moving to stay in touch with how you feel.
• Manage your stress.  It wouldn’t be the holidays without a little stress.  Don’t let it get out of hand.  Meditate, move, have fun!

Read some of our other FitBriefings on this subject for more in-depth coverage: Party Hearty without Putting on Pounds and Here Come the Holidays.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Photo by morgueFile & taliesin

Tags: holiday eating , mindful eating , mindful living , manage stress