Navigate the Holiday Season

It's holiday time, time for celebration, love and joy - not worrying if you will fit into that dress or pair of jeans for New Year's Eve!
This holiday make some simple efforts to feel better about what you eat and what you do with your time off.
Everybody deserves to have a splurge here or there, but remember that overeating on a daily basis for a week or longer can do some real damage.

Tips for eating:

• Remember to drink plenty of water - People get busy and off their usual schedule leading to very low fluid intake which can actually be mistaken as hunger.
• Try to eat balanced meals through the day. Starving yourself for a big meal tends to backfire. Nobody can control themselves around tempting, scrumptious food when they are starving.
• Put small amounts of a variety of foods on your plate. Slowly eat each thing taking the time to really taste it and enjoy it. If you try something new and don't like it; you don't have to eat the rest. If you are still hungry, return to get more but only of the 1 or 2 things you enjoyed most.
• Load up on veggies! A lot of people get so caught up in all the other food options that they forget their veggies that can help to make your plate seem more full and your stomach feel more full too so you don't overdo it on the higher calorie dishes.
  
• Is there room for dessert? Usually after the large holiday meals held in American homes people are too full for dessert, but of course they eat it anyway. If you have a favorite dessert that you want to partake in this holiday GO FOR IT! but make sure that you wait until you are hungry again before you eat it, even if that means waiting 4-5 or even 6 hours after the meal.

Along with lots of holiday food, the holidays usually involve more sitting down and relaxing than activity. Use these ideas to get active in a fun way.

Get moving:

• Get the family involved in an active game like charades or Guestures.
  
• Take a walk around the neighborhood to look at decorations and lights.
• Have the family clean up together - cleaning dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the floors, etc
• Play with the little kids or pets in the family.
• When spending long periods with relatives, have a different relative pick their favorite activity each day and have everyone participate. Great way to find some new activities that you may enjoy more than you thought.
  
• Every little move adds up more than TV/Movie watching or sleeping.

Safety first:
Buffet style eating, casseroles, and leftovers all have something in common - they tend to be a breading ground for bacteria and parasites that cause foodborne illnesses.
Make sure that you cook your foods to the proper internal temperatures.
Poultry, whole or ground = 165 degrees F
Ground meats = 155 degrees F
Pork, beef, fish (not ground) = 145 degrees F
Don't leave foods out for longer than 2 hours, and when going to enjoy them reheat them thoroughly to at least 165 degrees F for 15 seconds before eating.

Have a Happy Holiday!