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Healthy Holiday Articles

The winter holidays, no matter which ones you celebrate, can be joyous but also harmful to your best-laid plans for a healthier lifestyle. I wrote about my 5 simple tips for surviving Thanksgiving in an earlier post. Those tips still apply for the rest of the holidays. For that matter, they apply to holidays throughout the year and birthdays too.

I don’t suggest, expect, or want anyone to completely deny themselves the pleasures of this season. Obviously that includes eating and spending time with family and friends. Just try to stay aware of what you’re eating; stay in the present moment and really enjoy what you’re putting in your mouth. You don’t want to feel sorry in the long run for overindulging. Likewise, you don’t want to feel sorry in the long run for what you’ve given up.

I want to share three articles with you. I think they give some useful advice for getting through, and more importantly, enjoying the holidays. Holidays are meant to be enjoyed. No one wants to feel like Mr. Scrooge (from Charles Dickens’ classic story, A Christmas Carol), who hated Christmas.

One article provides some reasonable alternatives to high-fat, calorie-laden foods you might eat at a holiday party and still enjoy yourself. The second provides a quick 12- to 15-minute exercise routine you can use to burn off several of those calories and give you a head start into the New Year. The third one busts some myths about holiday eating that are often quoted as absolute truths.

I like these articles because they recognize you have choices. You don’t have to be a “victim” of the holidays, unable to withstand the onslaught. Likewise, you don’t have to be a “hero” either. Just be reasonably sensible.

1. Usable Eating Tips for Holiday Parties

I just read a good article about how to cut 1500 calories and a lot of fat from your Christmas meal. I saw it in a newsletter from eDiets.com. It was written by Susan Burke, a frequent eDiets Contributor and someone I know and trust. She starts off this article by asking:

How can you stay healthy throughout the holidays? It’s easy, when you’re a little creative, and a little disciplined too.
– Susan Burke, MS, RD, LD/N, CDE

Susan says a few simple substitutions can save you hundreds of calories and many grams of fat. She then goes on to offer examples of how to do that throughout a meal, from appetizers to dessert.

2. Quick Workouts for Busy Times

For some good advice about how to fit in some exercise in a quick timeframe, I suggest you read Simple Workouts for Busy Women. It’s targeted to women, but men can use it too. This was written by Raphael Calzadilla, who is the eDiets Chief Fitness Pro. He is an amazing source of inspiration and advice for anyone trying to lose weight and/or improve their fitness. I have been a member of the eDiets.com community for several years, and I met Raphael in person a couple of times.

Raphael has written many similar articles, but I particularly like this one for the holidays, when we are often very time-crunched. Here’s how he describes this series of five exercises:

No hour-long sessions in the gym or long bouts of cardio and no living with the guilt of dreading the thought of exercise. Just a realistic alternative to all the “noise” in the world of fitness that makes us hate exercising. No anatomy lessons today, simply something you can do in your living room. The only weight you’ll need is your own body.

This series of movements will take about 12 to 15 minutes. Yep, you are reading correctly. You can do them three to five times per week, and your entire body will be stimulated, and you’ll feel rejuvenated.
– Raphael Calzadilla, BA, CPT, ACE, RTS1

Raphael describes several variations you can do to make each if the exercises both easier and harder, depending on your fitness level. I think he explains how to do the exercises more clearly than many other articles I have seen written by others. If none of these sound doable for you, he gives you some other alternatives as well.

3. Busting 3 Myths

Finally, I found a good article from Cooking Light magazine’s website. It discusses three of the most common myths, describes the reality of them, and suggests “eat-smart” strategies to fight them.

Myth #1: Most people put on five to seven pounds during the holidays.
Myth #2: Eat a lot of turkey, and you’ll be snoozing shortly.
Myth #3: Great cooks and festive parties place our willpower at risk.

I hope you have a joyous and healthy holiday and a happy New Year!

For disclosure purposes:
I have been a member of eDiets.com for several years. It’s a member site that provides excellent advice on both nutrition and fitness. I’m just a member; I don’t have an affilation with them that would make me any money from writing this–at least not as of the time of writing.

cat photo credit: Per Ola Wiberg (Powi) newspaper photo credit: alancleaver_2000