The holiday season is my favorite time of year, but for many people it is a time filled with stress, anxiety, and guilt. We all want to have a wonderful holiday with our loved ones, but sometimes, in spite of our best intentions, we get the holiday blues.
The demands of the season can easily get out of hand. The stress of finding the perfect gifts, wrapping them, and getting them to their respective recipients is time-consuming and can turn a typically pleasant activity into a stressful endeavor. Then there are parties and fundraisers and dinners and church activities and meals to prepare and presents to wrap, houses to decorate, and fudge to make—the list goes on and on. In the midst of everything, wonderful goodies are everywhere—the kind that are impossible to resist but that can cause the all too familiar holiday weight gain.
How is it that we still feel stressed, sad, and exhausted even when we are indulging in our favorite, nostalgic holiday treats? There is a clear connection between the amount of unhealthy holiday foods consumed and a person’s emotional status. High carbohydrate foods like desserts cause your blood sugar to spike and then crash. These fluctuations can become so problematic that they impair your body’s ability to manage your blood sugar. Even before your body reaches this point, sugar crashes can cause mood swings that easily take down your already stressed, Christmas-crazed self and lead to the holiday blues. If you turn to sweets when you are stressed, the temptation to overindulge this time of year can be too much.
Many of us will exit the month of December exhausted and completely worn out. We will make promises to ourselves to take better care, drink less alcohol, consume fewer sugary treats, exercise, get more sleep, slow down, make more charitable contributions, and lose weight. Maybe it is the month of December that drives many of us to make so many New Year’s resolutions.
What can we do to make this time of year all we would like it to be without losing control of ourselves and our emotions? The secret is staying ahead of the game. This year, my kids will be getting gift cards so they can buy exactly what they want during the after-Christmas sales. As a bonus, I get peace of mind knowing they will not open a gift I have spent too much time shopping for and ask me if they can return it. This will simplify my gift-giving a great deal, but healthy food is the biggest contributor to keeping the holidays fun for us and to keeping me stress-free. With enough planning, I can make sure there are regular, healthy meals available for myself and my family. Eating too many of the wrong foods will be less of a temptation if we fill up on healthy, nutrient-dense foods. Healthy meals will keep my blood sugar in line and will help prevent me from reaching for junk to keep my energy up. A serving of something made with an abundance of animal fat (example: Broccoli Chicken with Creamy Cheese Sauce) does wonders for my well-being and helps me feel satiated enough to pass on the Christmas cookies. Eating well during this time of year goes a very long way towards maintaining a healthy weight. Eating three healthy meals a day is the best defense against the office goodies you can’t get away from. I promise you won’t be as tempted to nibble.
I want to enjoy this season. I want to spend this precious time preparing healthy and delicious meals and enjoying the company of friends and family. I want to ditch the blues that come with too many expectations. “Simplify” is my new favorite word. The holidays really are about the simple things and feeling thankful for the many blessing we enjoy, especially our good health. Here’s to peace on earth and healthy, nutritious holiday foods.
Also see my article What are You Eating?