Holiday to Healthy again!

Chandi Schwab
It's so common for a healthy lifestyle to seem completely doable, until some sort of interruption comes along. Then, after a holiday or trip, you feel like your diet is ruined, and you don't have the desire to start all over again. The holiday season can derail the best of healthy intentions. It starts with "just one bite of this" and "maybe just one small piece of that" and can progress to wanting every sweet in sight just because it sits there and calls your name. If healthy eating is important to you, the attempt to get back to healthy eating after overindulging should be just as important. Luckily, it is doable! Here are some quick steps to help you get there:)
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it's time to put the brakes on. The free-for-all atmosphere of too many parties, cookies and rich desserts is over. Here are some helpful tips to help us get back on the road to health and well-being.


1 Recommit to healthy eating. Put away all the cookies, candy and other treats. Out of sight is out of mind. Give away extras, and take the excess to work or to a social gathering. Embrace vegetables and whole grains again.

Realize that although mistakes were made, you have all the same reasons that you did before to value healthy eating. I like to call it getting back on track or jumping back on the band wagon.

2 Start right away. It's always easier to think you will get back to healthy eating after overindulging as long as you can do it next week, but next week it will seem just as hard as it does today. If you absolutely can't bring yourself to start eating healthy right away, set a firm date to return to your plan.

3 Make sure you have plenty of healthy food options that satisfy your cravings. For example, if you've got a sweet tooth, try to keep fruit in the house. Doing this will help you feel less deprived as you start to get back to healthy eating after overindulging.

4 Consider creating a healthy eating plan that includes the occasional indulgence. For example, if you allow yourself to eat any treat you want on holidays, or even once a week, realizing that, this has happened, won't make you feel that you have failed at healthy eating. Maybe it would be better to eat healthy food all the time, but the important thing is to make a constant effort and not become discouraged. Make your goals very specific and realistic, write them down, and post them somewhere very visible.

5 Maintain a positive attitude and get active. Increase activity and get outside and walk. Join a gym if you are not already a member of one. Exercise helps you to take a break from all the food, and it gets you moving.

Find activities to do with people that don't involve eating. If you live in a snowy area, try snow-shoeing, cross country skiing or sledding. If you live in a warmer climate, get outside and bask in the fact that you don't have to deal with snow.