Ready for a new approach to festive healthy eating?

What do you think when you hear the words ‘healthy eating’ and ‘festive season’? Maybe your heart sinks. Or you start to feel anxious. Perhaps you think “well that’s never going to happen!” Or even “why would anyone try to think about weight management in December?!”

Often, when we think about weight management or healthy eating, what comes to mind is a strict diet where we’re sticking to a plan, making time for intense workouts, and saying no to all treats or alcoholic drinks. And it’s hard to tally that up with how the festive period often feels.

December can also be a really stressful time for many people, so you might think you can’t focus on weight management because it’s simply too much on top of everything else. Managing your festive stress in healthier ways can actually make the season more manageable and lead to you eating and drinking less.

But what if you could be mindful of your weight and healthy eating over December without having to say no to every party invite or eat a salad while everyone else tucks into a roast dinner? What if there was another way to think about it?

How do you want to feel?

One of the biggest barriers to making behavioural changes is often how we feel about those changes. If it feels like deprivation or hardship, you’re unlikely to stick with it. Especially when all the messages around festive celebrations are about indulgence. But what if you choose how you want to feel and let that guide your actions?

Think of a word or two that you’d like to use when reflecting on your festive season, when you think about your weight. Examples are: boundaries, loving, caring, light, healthy, strong, determined, or grateful. For each action you take, you can ask yourself “does this help me feel more [of this feeling]?” If the answers are mostly yes, then you’ll know you’re staying on the right track and taking actions that move you towards your goals rather than away. And, it can help you stay clear of any guilt, ‘should’ or ‘all or nothing’ thinking that might knock you off track.

Movement

Moving your body throughout the day keeps you healthy in tons of different ways. Everything from making weight management easier as you burn more energy, to strengthening your muscles and improving your heart health.

Focusing on getting the feeling you wanted for the season, think about how you can include movement into your festive calendar. A trip to the park with the kids on a sunny and clear day, putting on some music and dancing at a party, hitting one of Essex’s best-loved walking spots, cycling to a local pub to meet friends, doing a walking tour of Christmas lights – there are so many ways to include movement into your plans for the season.

Getting outside helps you clear your head and manage stress as it comes up during December. And managing your stress in more proactive ways can actually help support your weight management goals too! Lower stress leads to a lower likelihood of emotional eating.

Food

Using the feeling you want to create, come up with some ideas about how to get that feeling, while also eating more healthily.

• Connect with family and friends by shifting the focus of a get-together from food to activity. Board games, a festive film, gaming or taskmaster-style challenges create tons of connection, pushing the focus away from just food.
• Practice gratitude in the midst of a big family meal by eating mindfully – savouring each mouthful and taking time to think about the love, care and work that went into preparing it, from field to fork.
• Show yourself love by thinking about what your body will thank you for tomorrow. Actions like filling half your plate with veggies, reducing your portion size, sticking to a single helping or eating slowly are small ways to put this into practice immediately.

Drinks

Alcohol contains ‘empty calories’ and it also reduces your inhibitions, therefore encouraging you to eat more. Not to mention its other health dis-benefits.

Focusing on what you want from the season, think about how you could reduce your alcohol intake. And which alcoholic drinks will you choose to drink, knowing they’re going to give you the most enjoyment?

That warm wine at the office Christmas drinks? Probably not as fun as the cocktails at your festive evening out with your friends, or sharing your traditional tipple with your parents.

You can:

• Try a tasty mocktail recipe for an indulgent and fun alternative to alcohol. 
• Stock up on staples such as wine and beer, opting for lower alcohol versions.
• Invest in ingredients that make water more interesting – such as mint, cucumber, orange, grapefruit or festive spices. 
• Drink more slowly and mindfully.
• Learn how to make delicious warm mulled apple juice.
• Get some zero alcohol options in your fridge. Alcohol-free beers and spirits are both easy to buy and seriously tasty! 

Rope in your tribe

Let friends and family know that you’re aiming to be more health conscious this festive season. You may even find that many of them are relieved by the opportunity not to over indulge! Imagine all of you going into January feeling good about your health and being able to ignore all that ‘New Year diet’ messaging!

If you need more support, tap into Essex Wellbeing Service’s weight management resources or get involved in our Mindful Eating programme. Take our assessment to see how we can help you celebrate this festive season more healthfully!