Do you tend to overeat during the holidays? If so, you are not alone and we can help. Read on to learn how to stop overeating on vacation.
The holidays come every year and with them comes an avalanche of emotions. Some are exciting and nostalgic, while others are more overwhelming and stressful. Because of this, navigating food and nutrition during this time can be particularly difficult.
This year, by simply implementing a few tips and tricks from a registered dietitian, you can set yourself up for success and avoid overeating this holiday season.
Overeating on vacation
So why does it happen? Actually, there are quite a few reasons. Holidays usually require celebration, and celebration usually means social gatherings. And what do we frequently find at social gatherings? Food!
In addition, the holidays also often generate nostalgic traditions, which are often based on food. Maybe it’s a certain grocery store’s seasonal baking mix or your grandma’s Christmas cookies. Either way, it’s safe to say that parties and food go hand in hand.
The overeating side comes into play here when we mix these two factors with scarcity and inattention. So let’s talk about how to prevent scarcity and inattention from taking over so you can stop overeating on vacation.
5 tips to stop overeating on vacation
Start by implementing the following 5 tips this holiday season to avoid overeating.
Mindfully Enjoy Your Holiday Favorites
No matter where you are during the holiday season, there will always be mediocre holiday treats and dishes. Whether it’s the stale sugar cookies in the break room at work or the mediocre bread pudding your aunt insists on making every year. However, at the same time, there will always be those delicious, amazing treats and dishes that you can’t wait to try.
The first key to facing the holidays and avoiding overeating is to carefully savor the Christmas foods you eat. in fact enjoy. Look for the foods you look forward to each year and leave the rest behind.
You don’t need to pick up that stale cookie you know you don’t want or have your aunt pressure you into eating some of that bread pudding. Stick to what you enjoy and leave the rest behind. This is one of the best ways to stop overeating on vacation.
Don’t let scarcity take over you
Now that we know we’re only going to eat the foods we really want, we need to talk about scarcity mentality. The scarcity mentality is what tells us that we should eat as much as we can right now because we won’t have access to it again for a long time.
The result? You feel overly full and, as a result, most likely stressed or overwhelmed. Reget adjusts and you can’t believe you ended up overeating on vacation again.
First of all, we’ve all been there. It’s human and it’s normal! But I’m going to give you a quick tip to help prevent this from happening again this year. When you enjoy those sweet and savory Christmas dishes, remember that they will be back. The holidays come every year and you can enjoy them every year. Plus, you can always make them outside of the holiday season if you really love them! Get that recipe from your friend or family member, or learn how to make something similar that the supermarket offers.
The more you can shout out and prepare yourself for the scarcity mentality, the more control you will feel around food. That way, you can stop overeating during the holidays.
Find a balance between food and enjoyment
With the increase in holiday social gatherings, it’s easy to lean quite heavily towards the enjoyment side of things this time of year. It is often completely involuntary! Before we know it, the holiday season is over and we realize how much we overeat and indulge in those enjoyment-based foods.
To stop overeating during the holidays, lead with mindfulness and intention. To do this, you can use Balance Spectrum from Nutrition Stripped. There are two halves of the spectrum, one represents food and the other enjoyment. In the middle we have a balance between both.
Use this image to see for yourself. Do you spend too much time enjoying the middle of the spectrum? If so, how can you get back to the center of the spectrum, or a little more to the middle of the eating spectrum? Prioritize a balance between both from the beginning, rather than prioritizing one or the other.
Never leave Go to a party on an empty stomach
This one works for all social gatherings throughout the year, honesty. How many times have you said to yourself: “I’m not going to eat all day because I really want to enjoy this dinner”?
If this is a common feeling for you, then I bet you are also familiar with the overly full, uncomfortable, and stressful feeling you experience after the meal you had or the social gathering you attended.
Fasting causes extreme hunger, which leads to overeating. To stop overeating during the holidays this year, try to make sure you are well fed before the meeting or meal. Conduct your day as you would any other day! That way, you’ll still be hungry and enjoy yourself, but you won’t feel so hungry that you’ll be forced to overeat.
Take time to manage stress
Honestly, the holidays are busy, stressful, and a little chaotic. Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely in love with the Christmas season! But that certainly doesn’t negate the fact that they can be too much. Often, overeating is simply the result of inattention because we are simply trying to get through the holiday season with our sanity intact.
Try to implement active stress management. Record your thoughts, meditate with headphones on, or practice a quick yoga flow. Managing stress controls stress eating, which in turn reduces overeating.
The takeaway
Introduce mindfulness, indulge in your favorites, add a little stress management, and nourish like you always do, and you’ll break the cycle of holiday overeating! As always, take these tips with a grain of salt. Try one at a time, see how it goes, make it yours, and move on to the next.
Don’t forget to tell us how you get on by tagging us on social media!
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original publication date: 9/12/22
The post How to Stop Overeating on Vacation appeared first on Nutrition Stripped.
