Happy Holidays! A time for cheer and cheers, friends and food, and laughter and love. It’s so enjoyable to let the good time roll leading up to Thanksgiving and extending through the Christmas and New Year holiday. It is also enjoyable to try all the cookies, nosh on an array of those heavy appetizers (many loaded with cheese) and scrape those plates clean. Food is as much a necessity to our bodies as it is an emotional connection for many of us. A warm cup of coffee on a winter’s morning brings us joy and comfort. Those Christmas cookie recipes from our grandmothers take us back to our childhood. But with trying to stick to mindful eating, the temptations can sometimes be too loud. So here are a few tips for not letting our efforts to eat healthy trickle down the train in a short six weeks of holidays:

• If you are going to a gathering where you know the food is likely to be on the unhealthier side, eat before you go. You will be more full and less likely to indulge in extra foods that don’t fit into your eating plan.

• Bring a healthy dish if you were asked to contribute food. That way, if there is at least one healthy item, you will be able to eat something without offending the host or leaving the party starving.

• Go to the gathering with a plan. Let’s be honest with ourselves…it’s OK to enjoy some of the delicious, but maybe not the healthiest, food from time to time. So don’t make it all or nothing. Allow yourself the pick of a couple of cookies, or one scoop of that cream dip with chips, but fill the rest of your plate with some veggies or fruits.

We wish you very Happy Holidays from FIT4MOM DuPage County! Look forward to watching you all grow towards your goals in the new year!