October 26, 2009
Eating Healthy Over the Holiday Season
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, New Year's Eve—these holidays have several things in common, including family togetherness and food. While the family togetherness aspect is a wonderful part of the holiday season, it is unfortunate that the average person gains seven pounds during this time frame due to too much energy intake and not enough energy output. Food is at every event, and is usually the center of it. As human beings, we have gotten into the habit of making every holiday about the food. The trick-or-treating candy, Thanksgiving pie, and every meal and drink associated with the other holidays have really gotten out of control. While there is probably no immediate societal solution for this food-centered tradition, we can choose to make different lifestyle choices individually by making family bonding more important and food preparation and consumption less important.
By focusing more on the actual family relationship-building time rather than sitting around a table and eating, we can be sure to get the most out of the time we spend with our loved ones. According to Kelley Lindberg, a member and chapter president of the Utah Food Allergy Network, food has become the essential part of our parties and reward systems. "This has contributed to why America has more obese and overweight people today than twenty years ago," she said. Lindberg has a son with food allergies and says it has been an important aspect within their family to teach the fact that not every celebration needs to revolve around food because that leads to bad eating habits. In Lindberg's family, they try to focus more on the actual conversations or achievements going on in each other's lives rather than a special meal that comes as a result of some special award or holiday.
Instead of eating second courses, replace the extra food-eating time with games, exercise and conversation. Of course, food must be served over the holidays; consumption of food is an essential part of life, however it should not be the core of and reason for family get-togethers. Try exercising together. For Halloween, walk the neighborhood as a family instead of driving the car. On Thanksgiving, have your family run a Turkey Trot. For Christmas, participate in a family football game. There are all sorts of fun sports that can be played as a whole family. And if you are not the sports type, consider playing an indoor game like Balderdash, Charades or Pictionary—get everyone involved! And if nobody wants to participate, get out of the dining room, into the living room and have a good, old-fashioned conversation.
Another idea to reduce food consumption is to prepare less food. There are always leftovers at my house over the Holiday season. The result is that we continue eating rich, bad-for-you foods for a week, not just one holiday. Another unfortunate aspect of making food is that if you prepare it, you feel obligated to try it when it is done. The person cooking always eats more than the party-attendees. Try delegating some of the meal responsibilities so that you are not stuck sampling everything. By preparing less food, your company will feel less obligated to load their plates up too; they will realize there might not be enough food for everyone to eat three servings at one meal, so maybe they will only eat one or two servings. Try reducing the amount of desserts too; instead of having an assortment of pies and cakes, just offer one or two different types.
The holidays are really wonderful. I love them. But just like many of you, I am tempted by food. It is important to note that you will feel much better about yourself if you listen to your body as you eat; do not eat until you are ready to explode, stop when you feel satisfied and not when you are full. Most importantly, remember to focus on the family—not the food.
It is no secret that the typical person gained seven pounds over the 2008 holiday season; will this year be the same, better or worse? If we all strive individually to place more of an emphasis on the family over the holiday season rather than the spread of food, we will not be as likely to overeat and will be able to better foster our familial friendships.
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