I know that staying on track with an eating plan can be challenging at this time of the year so I’ve devised a few tactics that help me stick with my commitment to wellness. Some of them may work for you too.
- Don’t go to a party starving! If you walk into a buffet of holiday candy, cakes, pastries and high sugared drinks hungry, the likelihood of you getting into something scandalous is high. Take it from me, have a little something healthy in your stomach before you go. This will reduce the “I’m starving and need something now” feeling which in turn reduces your splurge and gorge capacity.
- Eat your calories, don’t drink them! It’s so easy to fill up on high calorie, sugar laden drinks at this time of the year. I find that if I just have a few bites of a crappy food over a bunch of eggnogs and hot cocoa that it satiates me quicker and longer. Satiation is the key and drinks typically don’t fill you up. Don’t underestimate how much sugar and calories are in your pumpkin lattes and caramel macchiatos.
- Find some healthier holiday recipes. For example, I found these almond flour chocolate chip cookies that are awesome!!!! And, they are 2/3 the sugar of a regular chocolate chip cookie AND they come in a mix so I don’t even have to make them from scratch. They aren’t cheap but they taste awesome and don’t leave me sick like other sweets do, so they are worth it!
Here’s a recipe for something sweet that you can make at home from scratch and that satiates your sweet tooth.
Simple Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
2 ½ lbs apples
1 Tbsp. Arrowroot powder
or corn starch
¼ tsp. sea salt
¼ tsp. stevia
1/3 c juice (apple, pear or orange)
1. Mix all of the above ingredients together and stir.
2. Layer this mix in greased baking pan.
3. Combine topping ingredients below and layer on top of apple mix.
4. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown and bubbly (about 40-50 minutes).
Topping
Combine:
1 c. rolled oats
½ c sorghum or br. Rice flour
1 tsp. apple or pumpkin pie spice
1/4 c unrefined coconut oil
1/3 c maple syrup, honey or agave
