⛄positive holidays (food) tips⛄

notyetaskinnygirl:

⛄ Offer to assist in the cooking. You will be helping people, which is always a nice feeling, and you also get a small say. For years I suggested veggies and hummus as a finger food dish before going to sit down at the table. Now it is a staple and I eat that when everyone is munching on chips.

⛄ Offer to bring a dish! In our family it is common that everyone who comes to the party brings a dish. Now I live on my own, I can bring a low-cal dish or version. And eat that of course.

⛄ If there are dogs, take up dog-walking duty! The fur babies will be super happy, you get to step outside for 15 minutes or so (helpful when you are feeling panicky), and you burn a few extra calories.

⛄ Compliment other people and don’t talk down on yourself when someone compliments you. I find it difficult to accept compliments, but during the holidays I make an extra effort to just say “thank you” and steer the conversation someplace else. People feel good when they can compliment someone else!

⛄ If there is any way to do so: serve yourself. Make a smaller plate, but taste everything. Your mom, aunt, brother,… worked really hard on that food, and tasting everything is just polite.

⛄ When you are given a plate and have no choice in serving size, focus on the veggies. Take a bite of everything else, but eat all (or most of) the veggies. Once you finish those, you will feel full.

⛄ Eat slowly! It takes about 15 minutes for food to arrive in our stomachs, so if you eat quickly, you eat more. Participate in conversation, compliment the chef, offer to go get some more water from the kitchen… Give your body time to say when it’s full.

⛄ Final, life changing tip: up your calorie intake to 1.500 for that day. I KNOW it is a lot, but do it! By deciding in advance that you are allowed to eat more, you feel less guilty, less inclined to panic at the table, and you are more pleasant company. (it can help break plateaus as well!)

⛄⛄ Kindness matters, and the holidays might be super difficult for us, but there is no reason to be rude! A lot of people feel a huge amount of pressure to be perfect during this time, and offering smiles and having a taste of all dishes will make the chef feel really good. We can keep losing weight and still be kind! ⛄⛄