Top 5 Summer Holiday Eating Tips

It’s that time of year again: SUMMER. We love the weather, vacations, and wonderful times with friends and family, but with this can also bring an overabundance of packaged, processed foods and sweets. At a time when we are showing more skin we are apt to add on the pounds.

1. Keep Up Your Routine. One of the best ways to say fit and healthy during the summer holidays is to keep to your routine as much as possible. Be sure to get your rest and shoot for 8 hours sleep. It’s much easier to pass up extra food if you are well rested. Get to the gym or do your workouts regularly. Remember, exercise increases your energy and reduces your cravings!

2. Bring something healthy that you enjoy to the holiday BBQ. It’s hard to be surrounded by our favorite foods and not to overindulge. So bring something to the party that you enjoy eating and that is healthy. Summer has an abundance of fresh, local and organic produce. When it comes to the other foods at the party/picnic take a tiny portion of all that is offered, so you can have a bite of everything. Eat slowly and savor the taste, the color, and the texture of each bite you take. Remind yourself there will be more BBQs and parties all summer long. You don’t have to eat it all at once!

3. Limit Your Alcohol. Save the alcohol until after you’ve eaten something with protein (nuts, turkey, cheese). All that sugar on an empty stomach will just spike your blood sugar levels. When your levels plummet, you’ll end up ravenous! Alcohol also quells our inhibitions (it’s harder to say no to yourself) and that often leads us to mindlessly snacking on chips and dip ending up consuming larger quantities than planned. Remember to drink water between alcoholic drinks as both the alcohol and the heat are dehydrating. Try mixing a bit of seltzer with a small amount of fruit juice for a refreshing and satisfying drink. Staying hydrated will help you with any potential residual affects the next morning, and will also help you sleep better that night.

4. Emotional Connections to Food. Any holiday or special occasion that includes food can be infused with emotional connections that we may not even recognize. For example, every 4th of July your family may have a tradition of serving ice cream. The memory of that cake can be a strong emotional food connection. Consuming sugar releases serotonin, the “feel good” hormone. So when we reach for the cookies, brownies and such, we may be striving to feel happier in the moment. But if we are conscious of the connection between sweets, serotonin, and feeling better, we can help ourselves feel better by naturally increasing our serotonin levels in healthier ways, such as going for a walk in nature and having a laugh with a friend. Go for the fresh veggies first. Fresh veggies can tame a sugar craving! Then, if you want to taste more, go for a small portion of your favorite sweets. The trick is to delight your taste buds without overloading on sugar.

5. Starvation Before an Important Meal May Backfire. Some people decide to starve themselves in preparation for a big meal or party. If you arrive starving, it will be just that much harder to keep yourself from eating everything in sight. Why sign up for disappointment and self-judgment? If you eat some protein at breakfast and then a light lunch with protein before the party, you will be much less likely to overindulge. Make a plan in advance of the party such as starting with veggies and salad with a burger, no bun and a small sweet for dessert. Setting a goal in advance of the party will help you stick to the plan. Another option is to enlist a friend for support.

Regardless of the celebration, remember to focus on the people you are with and the conversation flowing around you. Take a moment to be thankful and appreciative of all the abundance in your life. All these things “feed” us, and when we are nourished this way, food and drink fade in importance, rather than being in the spotlight. When we are successful at putting our attention on the good things in life, the law of attraction draws even more to us.