Staying hydrated, a bit of moderation, and paying attention to your needs can help you avoid feeling bogged down after a holiday feast.
The holidays are a time to indulge in your favorites, like ham, mashed potatoes, cookies and some others. However, with all of that good food around you, it can be really easy to go a little overboard.
To reduce the risk of waking up on Christmas morning feeling sick, Caitlin Martin, a clinical dietitian with Memorial Health has some tips on how you can stay healthy during the holidays.
“The first one being hydration,” she said, “Making sure that we are, you know, staying hydrated.”
She added, “A lot of our holiday foods are high in sodium and, of course, we have our sweet treats that are high in sugar.”
While you’re enjoying yourself, be sure to take some breaks for water.
“So, we want to make sure that we are not losing track of our water intake,” Martin said, “So, drinking water, a bottle, a 16-ounce bottle of water every few hours can help with that.”
Another piece of advice from Martin: moderation is key.
“Focus on smaller portions, trying to eat protein,” she said, “Lots of veggies at our meals and not skipping meals and going for small portions of the foods that we love.”
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Though overeating is common during the holidays, there is a way to cut down on the chances of it happening.
“Typically we, we tend to overeat because we’re saving calories for that special meal,” Martin said, “And so then we end up overdoing it because we waited too long. We’re very hungry.”
She added, “Focus on one meal at a time. Maybe we feel like we overdid it on one meal, but that doesn’t mean that we need to skip our next meal or not eat if we’re hungry. So listen to our body cues. If you feel hungry, eat.”
Overeating isn’t the only thing that’ll get you during the holidays; alcoholic drinks like wine and alcoholic eggnog are pretty common to see on the dinner table, especially during New Year’s Eve.
“Alcohol can be a tricky one,” she said, “Because, definitely it is very often times involved in our holiday parties that we go to or maybe at our dinner table. But, alcohol can be very high in sugar and high in calories especially.”
The holidays are fun. Keeping track of your alcohol intake can ensure the fun continues on mornings of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
Martin shared the suggested serving size for those of you who will be drinking this holiday season.
“For men, the recommendation is to drinks which would be two 12-ounce beers or two shot glasses,” she said, “For women it’s one, so one of each of those, one you know at a time.”
Don’t forget to add a bit of variety to your holiday meals as well.
Add some protein and vegetables to your plate for additional health benefits.
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