If you want to stay healthy, feel well and rested during the Christmas holiday, here are a few simple mindful eating tips to help. It's worth dipping into this blog article and my accompanying YouTube video at any time during the Festive season to get yourself back into a mindful eating routine.
It's easy to follow my five HAPPY tips !
H Hydrate yourself – with a change of routine it’s easy to forget about keeping yourself hydrated. If you’re drinking more alcohol over the Christmas and New Year period it’s especially important to drink more water. Go steady on the alcohol so that you truly feel rested when the New Year comes around. A heavy drinking session for the Festive period will make you feel tired and lacking energy for the New Year.
A Appetite – try not to overeat, but listen to your physical hunger cues and keep a sensible balance between knowing if you need to eat (i.e because you’re hungry) or you just want to – because of social circumstances or because you fancy a treat. This is particularly important with more in-between meal snacks, like chocolate lying around the place! It’s also important to remember that Christmas is only as long as you want to make it. It doesn’t have to be a week of indulgence, if you limit the ‘special’ meals to the celebratory days and eat normally on all the others that’s a much healthier ratio. It’s easy to get into a habit of overeating very quickly!
P Plates – keep them colourful and nutritionally varied – try to always eat the rainbow, this idea works well to ensure fresh fruit and vegetables. Sugary and savoury snacks can often be all one colour so asking yourself “Is my plate colourful?” is a very useful reminder! Also, think about how your plate is presented. Make it pretty, so that you feel connected to eating your food, savour it to enjoy the special, celebratory food, either on your own or with others.
P Portion sizes – try to keep your portion sizes normal. Your appetite hasn’t changed just because it’s Christmas! Eat mindfully so that you can allow yourself to know if you are full – that means slowly, savouring every delicious mouthful. Don’t skip meals in preparation for a big meal later in the day. Eat steadily, according to your appetite, in tune with your normal eating rhythm and your hunger signals. In other words, avoid a roller coaster of feast and famine. Particularly important if you are a serial dieter as this will only fuel the diet mentality...
Y Yourself – take time during the holiday period to really look after yourself. Rest, recuperate, nourish, sleep well, get fresh air and some exercise every day. It's a chance to put yourself first.
Here's my accompanying YouTube video - and simply subscribe to my channel for more video coaching tips
Follow these tips and it’ll be a HAPPYer Christmas and holiday period.
Lots of love xx