1. Know your boundaries.
Do not wait until the meal, dessert, alcohol, late-night is upon you to decide what your boundaries are on the path of health accumulation. Make your decision now. How you are going to respond, what are you going to do when presented with tempting food or drinks?
2. When making desserts, strongly consider substitutes and using real food across the board.
- Eliminating a half cup of sugar or even a cup of sugar or using raw unprocessed sugar with some mineral content instead of refined lifeless sugar is a great way to enjoy the same dessert you have been more many years, that carries some level of nostalgia while taking a step in the direction of health accumulation.
- Make desserts from scratch….this way you are actually seeing what is going into the dessert.
- When eating desserts stick to only homemade food and consider eating only what comes from particular individuals who you know take health precautions when making food/dessert.
3. Be the last one to start eating your brunch, dinner.
4. Use smaller plates
- Small plates over and over again show decreased caloric intake of greater than 20%.
- Simply using a plate that is 10 inches in diameter instead of 12 inches is sufficient to gain subconscious satisfaction from a meal while actually consuming less food.
5. Stay hydrated.
Many dishes and desserts over the holidays are dehydrating. Dehydration makes it harder for us to make the decision we want to make related to food. Dehydration also increases cravings and decreases satiation from food.
6. Hang out somewhere that is not right next to food or alcohol.
If you are spending your day and night with food sitting in front of you while trying to enjoy conversation or play with your grandkids you are going to be wasting untold amounts of energy.
7. Watch for liquid sugar.
Alcohol, apple cider, juices, Martinelli’s. Liquid sugar spikes your insulin and is far less satisfying then eating actual food or dessert that requires chewing.
8. Zero guilt.
Remember you are not on a diet…you are in health accumulation mode…a couple of meals or a couple of days off course in isolation will not make or break your health accumulation.
9. Go for a walk before and/or after meals.
Make a sharp delineation between food ingestion and the rest of life by taking a walk is a full-blown habit for long term health accumulation success.
10. Know your weaknesses, play to your strengths.
If food or sugar addiction is something that has run or is maybe still running your life, then it is going to be paramount that you find other ways to create dopamine surges during the holidays. Because indulging in food reward-seeking behavior will very likely send you spiraling down the pathway of continual indulgence and put a wrench in your health accumulation story. Here are some Dopamine supporting activities to try out.
- Exercise
- Go for coffee
- Meet with friends, not around food
- Let someone know how grateful you are for them in your life
- Read a book
- Supplement with Stress Metab, Adrenal Refresh or Mag Complete
