Simple tips on how to make the best choices this holiday season.   

Holiday social gatherings can present conundrums for patients looking to incorporate health-promoting practices into their everyday lives. How do you go to a holiday party and NOT drink? How do you refuse the pressure of candy canes, ice cream and marshmallow Santas? How do you go through the holidays without feeling totally deprived?

I’ve learned some tricks through years. Both clinical practice and personal experience have taught me that these shifts can make a huge difference in your holiday experience:

• Alcohol paired with sugar is a double whammy!

• Rather than a Cosmo, choose a clear alcohol and club soda, such as:

• Citron and soda with a touch of lemon, or a gin and diet tonic water

• Go VERY easy on the ice and keep adding soda or diet tonic water to your drink so it lasts longer

• Use 1/2 shot of alcohol per drink

• Every other drink just have club soda or tonic water

• This will keep well-meaning hosts from constantly asking you if you want a drink.

• I am not a fan of diet tonic water, but regular tonic water has SO MUCH sugar, as a general rule, diet tonic is a better choice if there is no club soda available

• Before going to a holiday party, be prepared for tempting treats

• Fill up on protein rich snacks before arriving

• Make your sugary treat count!

• Become a sugar snob. If you are going to indulge in something sweet, make sure it is worth it! What is your favorite sweet treat? Do not settle for anything less.

• Focus on protein, then vegetables and make white carbs the smallest portion of your meal.

• If the event is a potluck, or a gathering where everyone brings something to share, bring your own healthy treat. I typically bring dessert to my family’s holiday get together. It is sugar-free, but I don’t tell them that until after they try it. To date-no one has been able to tell the difference. When I tell them…they are shocked.

See below for a festive and easy sugar-free treat you can share with your loved ones this holiday season. Maybe you will even teach them something…knowledge of how to care for oneself is a true gift. 

The most important component of healthy holiday eating/drinking is re-framing your ideas about the definition of a “treat.” A treat or goodie should not be harmful, right? Forgoing foods that directly contribute to inflammation, pain, hormonal imbalances, diabetes and cardiac disease is…

PRESERVATION NOT DEPRIVATION.
This is important so I will reiterate. Humans have an amazing ability to change and adapt. Embrace it. If your body does not function well with sugar and alcohol, acknowledge that and move on in this vein. 

Lastly, take the time and effort to make your experience a learning one. If you do fall off the wagon, between several glasses of wine, a dozen dinner rolls and ice cream for dessert, take note how you feel. Rather than brushing symptoms aside, really notice what foods cause which sensations in your body, both in the moment and over the next few days.    

We, at Endless Possibilities Acupuncture, wish you a happy and healthy holiday season!