Feel Good Festive Feasting
First and foremost; give yourself permission to eat all foods as there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ foods. Indifferent to current tabloids, food should be treated as equal and you have the right to eat for your body. Nevertheless, there are some top tips to help us feel good throughout the festive feasts and avoid feeling sluggish and uncomfortably full.
Six Suggestions for Feel Good Feasting
1. Listen to your body
Listening to your hunger can help regulate food intake and if you’ve over-eaten your body will let you know when its ready for the next meal. Often trying to get back into daily meal routine of eating can feel forced and it may result in a continuation of the sluggish feelings. Listen to when you’re hungry again and eat accordingly.
2. Be in the moment
Take the time to plate out your snacks or meal, rather than continuously grazing. This will allow you to place more emphasis on the eating experience, enjoy the moment and savour the flavours. This in turn can reduce the amount of non-hungry eating you may do over the period.
3. Alcohol
Some drinks are nutritiously better choices than others. Cocktails, as delicious as they are, can be very high in energy and swapping to a red or white wine will reduce the amount of sugar. Additionally, you may find a simple spirit with soda water may slow you down as you have to physically prepare the drink rather than grabbing a premix out of the fridge. The extra effort may also make you pause and take a second to think if you do in fact want another drink. If you have had a big day or night, it is important to rehydrate. You would have heard this again and again but all our cells in the body need water to function therefore, it remains an important message.
4. Sleep
Ensuring you get enough sleep can be challenging with celebrations into the night however, a restful night will recharge us physically, mentally and emotionally. Lack of sleep can impact appetite regulation, promote non-hungry eating and create difficulties in maintaining our weight hence is important for our daily function and our metabolism.
5. Variety
Have a variety of snack options which will allow you to create balance. Perfect complimenting options include fruit to cheese boards, strawberries with chocolate and vegetable sticks and dip with crackers and nuts.
6. Try different foods
Seafood is a great source of heart healthy omega fats and can be a beautiful fresh change to roasts during the summer heat. Also, different desserts can be a refreshing finish to a meal for example, switch the pastry, minced pies and Christmas pudding for an Australian tradition; the pavlova. Whilst it has sugar, it is light, airy and is perfectly paired with fruits such as passion fruit, strawberries, kiwi.
At the end of the day remember there is more to the silly season than just food. It a time of year to celebrate being with friends and family, reflect on past 12 months, appreciate the good times and the bad and take joy in thinking about the year ahead. Be present, engage in the festivities and be grateful for everything life has to offer.
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