Maintaining a balanced diet over the festive period
The festive period is a great opportunity to focus on the things we love and the social connections we have with friends and family. Food is often a central part of what brings us together with family barbecues or Christmas lunches creating enjoyable experiences and plenty of memories.
While we should never feel guilty about consumption over the festive period, here are 5 helpful tips to stay on top of our food intake during this time:
Keep an eye on alcohol consumption
Alcohol is quite high in overall energy (even if it’s a low carbohydrate beer). While having a drink is completely fine, the alcohol content itself also adds up to energy intake. Each standard drink has at least 290KJ (70 calories) with some ready to drink spirit mixes being above 1,300kj (310 calories).
Understand your own hunger cues
Slowing down and being mindful when we eat can enhance the joy in Christmas meals. Feeling your hunger cues can be really handy over this time and helps us not overconsume when having a meal or a cheeky snack. Listening to our hunger cues and stopping when we are satisfied can help prevent any unnecessary kilos leading into 2022.
Monitor portion sizes
A big difference for meals around the holiday period is the availability of food. The fridge is full and there is no space on the table between the plates, glasses of wine and bon-bon hats. This isn’t a ticket to let loose and finish it all. Often it isn’t the quality of the food over Christmas but the quantity. Give it a second thought when reaching for seconds. Do I want this or is it just available to eat?
Fill up on the good stuff
Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats can be a great part of Aussie Christmas meals. Think mangoes, cherries, roasted veggies and fresh wholegrain bread. These foods give us plenty of nutrients alongside them also being delicious. Foods which are high in fibre and protein are also going to help fill us up across the day so seek these out when looking at the Christmas spread. Just because we are enjoying ourselves at this time, doesn’t necessarily mean all foods are unhealthy.
Keep moving
Even though the holiday period is a time to relax, it’s also handy to value movement & enjoy some exercise. The beauty of having a bit more time over the holiday period is finding time to kick a soccer ball with the grandkids or going out for an extra loop on your walk. Food shouldn’t ever just be a trade-off between intake and output with exercise but when we tend to overeat and sit indoors for the day, it’s easy to overconsume. I challenge you to find a new activity to enjoy in the festive period and bring a friend or family member along as a bonus.
Overall, it’s about understanding hunger cues, regulation of intake where you can and not feeling guilty for enjoying some comfort foods. Food is more than just some calories or a source of energy. It gives us value in cooking, preparing and sharing stories over.
Enjoy the Christmas break and the food, family and festivities that come with it.