Tips to Avoid Sugar Overload During the Holidays

The holidays bring lots of sweet treats into your home, work and maybe even into your car’s console for later snacking. Many of us engage in internal struggles when it comes to putting down that third snack-sized Halloween chocolate bar. Likewise, saying no to seconds on Thanksgiving dessert isn’t easy either. While I will never tell you to abstain from sweets all of the time, you should monitor your sugar intake and be smart with clever tricks on how to keep the holiday sweets at bay.

3 Tricks to Prevent Holiday Sweets Overindulgence

1. Eat healthy, fulfilling meals in proper portion sizes before dessert time. If you pick at your dinner or scale down what you eat to “save room” for the sweets, you will overindulge in sugar. It takes a lot more sugar and junk food to fill you up than you might believe, which results in high sugar and unhealthy fat intakes. And, believe me, it adds up quickly!

2. Set a limit before you unwrap any candies or cut a slice of pie. Absolutely take part in eating a few sweets or enjoying a small portion of your mom’s famous pumpkin cheesecake roll at the holiday table, but implement portion control. For example, if you want to try every holiday dessert on Thanksgiving, then make it a bite-sized tasting.

3. Resign yourself to eating treats on the day of the holiday and only once per week for your cheat day. If you grab candy from the bowl at work and again when you get home or agree to take a Tupperware filled with your co-worker’s Heath bar cake, you will overindulge before you realize it.

Have you ever said to yourself, “Three Halloween mini-bars equal one large chocolate bar, so it’s okay to indulge today and tomorrow?” Or, “I will work out twice as hard to make up for eating as many sweets as I want tonight.” Talking yourself into frequent lapses in healthy eating can lead to future excuses why it’s okay to overindulge. Stay tuned for more tips and ways to alter your thought processes so you can become your best advocate for maintaining a healthy lifestyle!