Aside from gift-giving, the holiday season also means non-stop eating. There are parties here and there, reunions everywhere, and the body conscious individuals will later feel all the guilt of devouring different dishes. So here are some tips and myths about dieting, to make you enjoy the feast without worrying to gain those holiday pounds.
Choose Your Food Carefully
You feel guilty after you eat on autopilot, impulse, and decisions to follow others' desires to have another serving or try everything on the table. If you caught yourself in this situation and before you get another slice of that pie, you should ask yourself these questions from the South China Morning Post.
Are the holidays about food to you? Or what foods do you like to try this year that you haven't tasted in the past? If you see meals that you usually eat, you can avoid it and try something else that can save you extra pounds.
Differentiate Craving From Impulse
A real food craving comes back so often. It lingers and keeps on returning. The food impulse, on the other hand, is driven by seeing or smelling appetizing meals. It usually fades away if you just let it and doesn't feed it.
So to deal with food impulse, you have to surf the urge than to block it. To deal with cravings, if you want sugar biscuits, try to satisfy it with cinnamon rice cakes instead, so you won't end up eating a lot.
Refuse Food Pushers
If you're a people-pleaser and you will accept all the food offerings, you should come up with a plan to refuse it without offending the other. You can give them a smile and compliment the food, or commend their niceness, say you're full and not hungry.
If these things don't work, you can refuse in a nice way by saying, "No, thank you." You should remember that you are not obliged to eat everything offered to you.
There are also some myths that people follow when they try to lose weight. They especially apply these methods on holiday season, depriving themselves of the food they want to eat. So here are some diet myth busters.
Carbs Can Make You Fat
Accredited practicing dietitian Stefanie Valakas said carbs couldn't make you fat, per Mum Central. "A small reduction in overall energy intake is what is required for weight loss, or, more energy out, then energy in," she said.
She revealed wholegrain carbohydrates could even help you lose weight, and not gain extra pounds. People on a diet don't have to give up carbs completely. It is unsustainable and unlikely to be successful. They could opt for grainy bread, brown rice, or whole grain pasta instead for its fiber and health properties.
Healthier Low Fat, Diet Products
Low fat and diet products don't necessarily mean it is the good choices. Stefanie revealed these things have more sugar or flavorings to make it tastier because of the fat reduction.
In fact, low-fat yogurts, cheeses, and milk are "the worst culprits." So if you want to know if what you are eating is indeed healthy, you should check its nutrition facts and ingredients list.
