"Keep your body biologically fed with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Otherwise you can trigger a primal drive to overeat.” excerpt from "Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program the Works” by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole
Reading over my social media accounts and online articles has brought about a revelation: there is an overload of tips being shared on how to prevent holiday weight gain. The holidays are indeed a time of the year where most people overindulge in high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar foods. Physical activity may also take a backseat to holiday events, parties, and travel.
The one tip I will offer is to honor your hunger. What does that mean? Honoring hunger is a principle of mindful eating. To honor your hunger is to take note of when your body is hungry, and prevent excessive hunger. Ensure that you are eating regular meals (and snacks, if necessary). The chaos that arises from the holidays may lead you to overschedule yourself. When you are overscheduled or stressed, you may ignore the subtle hunger cues leading you to skip meals. Skipping meals allows your primal hunger to take over once you’ve slowed down or your hunger cues become too strong to ignore. By this time you are ravenous and will overeat whatever is in front of you.
Honor your hunger by adhering to your usual eating patterns and times. If my day looks like it’s going to be hectic, I make sure that I have plenty of snacks on hand. Packing healthy snacks that you can keep in your purse or in your car, will help you stay on track and prevent any hanger episodes. And whatever you do, don’t make the mistake of trying to compensate for holiday treats by skipping lunch or dinner. This practice will only backfire causing you to overindulge in those holiday treats.
By: E. Denise Hernandez, MS, RD, LD