Celebrate with the right nutrition this holiday season

This is not a post that tells you to cut sweets during festivities. The year end is a time for celebration, and that includes gorging on the food on offer, including that occasional Son Papdi that usually exchanges hands from one family to another.

However, there are small steps to care for our nutrition during this time:

1. Portion control – Definitely try out all the delicious food doing their rounds. However, the ones that you know may not be the healthiest, would be a good idea to just savor small bites, rather than gobbling up large portions. This can also be a great way to sample all the lovely food while ensuring a little less abuse to the body.

2. Sweets at the end of the meal - Once you are satiated with the main course, especially if it contains enough protein, then you will automatically have potion control when it comes to the sweets at the end. Our brains are wired in a manner where carbs beget carbs. Therefore, if you start with the sweets, or even just the carb portion of the main course, you are likely to end up overconsuming on the sweets/carbs that could ruin your body fat compositions.

3. No sweets for dinner – Dinner is a terrible time for sweets. The simple sugars in the sweets spikes your blood glucose and that disturbs your night sleep. The best time for sweets during the day is lunch. Even breakfast is not ideal for sweets as blood glucose levels are low in the mornings and you would create an abnormal and unhealthy spike by consuming sweets then. In summary, gorge on all the sweets during lunch and avoid them during breakfast and dinner, and if that is too difficult, at least avoid for dinner.

4. Stay hydrated – All the excess sugars and fats that come with celebratory food need water in excess for digestion. It’s a good idea to buy some extra bottles of mineral water and just keep them around the house during this time. It’s great for guests and handy for when you want it as well. Avoid water immediately before or after a meal, but everywhere else in between, overdo it.

5. Keep the workouts simple – Festivities can be a busy time hosting guests or being one, and with all the food overdose, workouts could even be uncomfortable. Keeping it simple, like throwing on a pair of sneakers and getting a quick run could be sufficient to keep the metabolism ticking during this period. Give the physical trainer or the gyms also a break during this period. Enjoy the festivities and keep a little active to be able to pick up seamlessly where you left before.

In summary, have a fantastic holiday, one that you can return from ready to continue being your healthiest self.