 Start New Year on diet track
Happy New Year, everyone!
How are you doing? If you are feeling bloated and remorseful from overindulgence, it's time to forgive yourself and move on. The holidays and their continuous gastronomic assaults are over. There is absolutely nothing you can do to change what happened over the last few weeks, so please, don't dwell on it. Let's move forward.
One thing you might be dealing with right now is a terrible sugar craving. A recent article declared: "Research Shows, Sugar May Be Addicting." For many of us, this is no surprise. Our bodies get used to the sugar high and are now feeling deprived as they cope with a deep sugar crash. This can also add significantly to your post-holiday depression. Alcohol indulgence also intensifies this effect. Not while you are drinking it, of course, but afterwards. Alcohol acts like sugar in your body and creates similar reactions and consequences, such as depression and cravings.
There are several things you can do to help get those simple carbohydrate cravings back under control.
• Stay away from high-fructose corn syrup. Its effects are similar to sugar, but on a larger scale.
• Eat more protein. Protein helps to keep your body more stable. It evens out the highs and lows that sugar creates. Decreasing sugar "lows" will decrease cravings. Stick with lean protein - chicken breasts, lean fish, cottage cheese and protein shakes.
• Eat whole grains. This will help to satisfy your carbohydrate cravings and fill you up while keeping your blood sugars steady. Go for things such as brown rice, 100 percent whole-wheat bread and oatmeal.
If you are a coffee drinker, a cup or two can also help with those post-holiday doldrums. My favorite guilt-free treat is to get a very dry cappuccino. The coffee shops can foam up 2% or skim milk like meringue. I get one with all foam and then sprinkle just a bit of cocoa powder on top.
One activity that can give you a sense of taking control is to make some notes about the holiday. What worked for you this year? What didn't? I do this every year and always come up with new things to add to my list. My personal examples for this year are:
I did well by not depriving myself too much going into the Holiday Season. This way I was less tempted to inhale every treat in sight. I did not, however, anticipate the very short time we had this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This caused extra stress and pressure and forced me to eat out more often than I like to. I have made a note to review the calendar next year around the beginning of October. |
