Healthy Tips for Eating During the Holidays

Health and holiday do not cancel each other out. It may take a bit of careful steering on your part, but it is possible to eat, drink, and be merry without losing sight of the nutrition goals you've been pursuing all year

Shift Gears. The road ahead will be filled with lots of delicious detours but that doesn't mean you have to lose your way. If you've been following a weight loss regimen, Downshift for the next few weeks and keep your eye on maintaining your present weight.

Prepare for the Trip. If you know you're heading for a party at night, the worst thing to do is to starve all day. Just the opposite. Eat a well-balanced breakfast and lunch but make them a bit more low-calorie than usual. And if time permits, increase your exercise in preparation. Add an extra thirty minutes to your gym time or leave the car in a central place and walk to all your errands, returning to stow your bundles in the trunk and starting out again. In other words, use your day to earn your night.

Cruising. Don't dive into the appetizers, but don't avoid them either. Grab a plate, the smallest you can find and cruise past, then cruise past again, scanning your choices. Look for raw foods or ones that have been prepared simply and naturally. You'll find that the fiber and texture of whole grains and veggies will satisfy you just as much as crunchy fried foods and dip-soggy chips. And once you've made your choice, move as far away from the buffet table as you can.

Maintain the Speed Limit. Eat consciously, employing what mindful meditation practitioners call the Four S's - Sit, Savor the texture of each mouthful, Slowly chew, Still your mind.

Or if you prefer, take the opposite tack. Get your mind off food. Plate in hand, use this time to circulate and socialize. After all isn't that why you go to a party? Engage your mouth primarily in talking, and only secondarily in eating.

Unlawful Drinking. Eggnog is definitely a felony and sweet mixed drinks, misdemeanors. If you prefer an alcoholic beverage and still want to follow the rules limit yourself to white wine. But start off with a glass of seltzer. The carbonation will slow down the process of drinking while allowing you to circulate, glass in hand like everyone else.. And should you want more than one glass of wine, first have another seltzer.

Rough Road Ahead. Sitting down at the dinner table is fraught with temptation with all those plates and platters passed your way, but there are a few ways to deal with it without drawing attention to your predicament.

Fill your plate, with salad and vegetables taking up half, and use the other half for whatever meats or sides that may tempt you. Starting with salad, eat one foodstuff at a time, saving whatever is your favorite for last. This counteracts the tendency people have to unconsciously shovel food into their mouths. You just may find that by the time you get to your saved treasure, you're full.

And when table mates pass the dessert you just may find yourself saying. "That looks delicious but I just can't take another bite!"

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Vitamin Enhanced Water: Hydrate or Hype?

You hear it all the time. Drink plenty of water. Be sure and get your vitamins. Getting both in one fell swoop seems like the perfect solution, and on the surface, vitamin enhanced water seems like a dream come true. But when it comes to nutrition and overall wellness, these drinks fall short of what you can get from your faucet. 

Tap water doesn't contain vitamins, but it also doesn't contain sugars and artificial sweeteners. Most people don't really need the vitamins they get from enhanced waters. Getting vitamins from foods is best, but if you're falling short on your nutrition requirements a multivitamin is preferable to vitamin enhanced water.

 

Vitamin enhanced water is sold under a lot of names. Vitamin Water, from Glaceau is first to come to mind. SoBe Life Water is also popular, as is Propel, a product of Coca Cola which includes electrolytes. Normally, it takes an intense workout of an hour or more before extra electrolytes are necessary.

What is most important, for those who do drink vitamin enhanced waters is the purpose they expect them to fill. Generally, eight to ten glassed of water per day is the standard recommendation, and the best way to replenish is through plain old H2O without anything extra. If the tap water in your area doesn't taste right, a faucet or pitcher filter can help to make it taste more pure.

But those who don't like plain water often want to spruce things up, and many are reaching for vitamin enhanced waters to do it, which can put a lot of extra sugars or artificial sweeteners into their diet. If enhanced waters are meant to replace the original, they are not worth it. You spend a lot of extra money to load up on harmful sugar and chemicals for a relatively small benefit from whatever vitamins are included.

 

If you have to spruce up water, a bit of fruit juice or a slice of lemon, lime, or even cucumber are better choices than an enhanced water, and far less expensive.

 

But for some who are trying to lick the soda habit, enhanced waters is a better choice. Eight ounces of Coca Cola, for example contains 105 calories, the same amount of Vitamin Water has just 50. There are also low calorie or no calorie versions of both soda and enhanced waters, but most contain potentially harmful artificial sweeteners that have been found to increase cravings for high calorie foods.

 

If these "waters" are consumed, it should be in moderation, and the vitamins they do include shouldn't be counted on to replace healthy foods like fruits and vegetables which have numerous benefits beyond their vitamin content. Ultimately, drinking more regular water should be the goal, especially if you want to lose weight and improve your overall wellness.

While moving toward a healthier weight is always good, there can be challenges that can be addressed by a chiropractor. A person's center of gravity can change, and this can throw off the body's alignment. Not everyone thinks of seeing a chiropractor in order to help them deal with different weight fluctuations, but it can be an important part of the journey to wellness.

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