Diet Dilemma - Preparing For The BIG Holiday Meal

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Diet Dilemma - Preparing For The BIG Holiday Meal

Photo showing some of the aspects of a traditi...

Uh oh. You've been working hard, keeping your diet on track, seeing excellent progress then all of a sudden here comes that big Holiday meal - what do you do? Not to worry my friends, the best thing you can do is enjoy yourselves and the scrumptious meal before you. Some of us however, and I'm definitely speaking for myself here, can have a tendency to, how should I put this - over do it a bit.

Let's take a look at a couple of quick tips to help insure you don't tumble off the wagon after one of these festive feedings!

For starters, the best thing you can do is to not be selective in your choices during the meal. You've been eating clean, healthy foods and deserve a break! Enjoy it! One thing you'll definitely find if you've been consistent with your meal portions throughout the day in your daily diet is that you'll begin to feel full real quick.

Tip #1

Don't load up your plate with HUGE servings. This is not to restrain you or an attempt to stay disciplined, but simply so you can be sure to enjoy all the different foods that are bound to be available. Add a little extra of your favorites, but be sure you give everything a try before you get too full! Plus, you're going to want to save room for dessert...

Tip #2

Be sure to have dessert! Dessert-type foods are something that you're most likely not even approaching in your daily diet so take time to dig in and enjoy. Go easy with these, though. You'll most likely find that your tolerance for these sweets is somewhat limited now due to your clean and healthy eating. Your body isn't going to be used to having such a large amount of fat and sugar dumped into it all at once and you'll most likely be feeling it! Expect to feel a little nauseous and dizzy. My personal weakness is Dirt Cake - ever had it? (Here are some recipes for it over at Cooks.com) Oh my...I have major difficulty holding back and eating reasonable amounts of this stuff. And, to top it off, I eat it as fast as I can just to insure I can go back up for seconds before I feel sick! The good thing is that this only happens maybe once per year and it definitely satisfies any craving I may have had during the past 12 months for this treat.

Tip #3

This is the most important tip of all: No matter how crazy you get, no matter how much you eat and/or sick you feel, get back to your clean, healthy, quality food diet beginning with your first meal the next morning. Sure, there's going to be a ton of leftovers but you'll be wise to steer clear. I know how easy it is to justify a little serving here and another one there. "Plus," you tell yourself, "if I eat it all now, it'll be out of the house for good then I can get back to my clean eating!" Yeah, you can tell I've used that excuse too...
Adding in a good workout and/or some cardio that next day is a good idea also. Just start doing the things you were doing prior to the Holiday meal. You'll begin to feel 'normal' again in no time and get right back into your routine.

Rumor has it that Ben's bloodwork is in. Once I have an opportunity to review it I'll get some details up for everybody.