5 Healthy Holiday Eating Tips
The holiday season is a time to partake in festive celebrations, spend time with loved ones and enjoy seasonal food. It can also be a time overloaded with not-so-healthy temptations.
Here are a few ways you and your loved ones can relish the holiday season and proactively stay on a healthier track to The New Year:
1. Add Color
Ensure the dinner table has more than just brown and white foods (e.g., dinner rolls, stuffing, meat, potatoes). Add color to the table and brighten it up with a green salad and/or a vegetable/fruit tray.
2. Get Creative
Healthy food can be fun, simple and beautiful at the same time. For example, you and your loved ones could make an easy, cheese and fruit Christmas tree spread or Grinch fruit kabobs. The options are endless… And, the quality time together is an added bonus!
3. Shift Attitude/Focus
Rather than assuming this will be yet another holiday season of food overload and potential weight gain, proactively go into the season with a conscious, healthy attitude to enjoy food, but not overdo it. Shift your focus to other types of holiday goodness, such as quality time with loved ones.
4. Eat One Plate
Strive to eat just one serving of holiday food on a single plate vs. going back for seconds or even thirds. Additionally, focus on filling up the majority of the plate with fruits and vegetables, followed by other foods. Lastly, stick with an actual plate! Avoid mindless grazing at appetizer and dessert tables.
5. Savor Dessert
Rather than sampling many desserts or enjoying multiple servings of sugary treats, look forward to a small sample, eat it slowly and mindfully and savor and enjoy every bite. Focus on other types of sweetness in life!
These tips can make your holiday season much healthier. To get you started, here is one of my favorite holiday go-to recipes from nutrition school. It’s delicious, healthy, beautiful and so easy to make!
Acorn Squash with AppleSauce Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Yields: 2 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 Acorn Squash
- 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
- ½ to 1 Cup of Organic Applesauce (regular or different flavors)
- Sprinkles of Cinnamon
- Optional: Top with dried fruit, such as raisins, cranberries or currants
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut the acorn squash in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
- Place the acorn squash halves skin side down on a baking sheet (resembles little bowls). Note: If the acorn squash rolls around, you can shave off the pointed end with a knife to make it sit flat on the baking sheet.
- Rub olive oil over the acorn squash halves.
- Fill the acorn squash halves with applesauce.
- Sprinkle cinnamon on top of each.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until a fork inserts smoothly through the acorn squash meat.
Let it cool and enjoy!
Happy Holidays and Happy, Healthy Eating!
Natalie Drugan
Natalie Drugan is a nutrition and lifestyle health coach. Natalie is dedicated to helping others make healthy choices centered on clean food, toxic-free environments and happy living. Natalie received her nutrition health coaching certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC, the world’s largest nutrition school. As a Certified Nutrition Health Coach, she studied over 100 dietary theories and learned from world-renowned experts and doctors including Andrew Weil, MD, Walter Willet, MD, Mark Hyman, MD and Deepak Chopra, MD. Natalie is board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP). Additionally, Natalie received her BBA in Marketing from Texas A&M University.