By Caitlin Forbes, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach at Revive Café
This is the time of year when the days shorten, bringing us inside earlier. Our activities turn inward. Rather than enjoying the summertime sunshine and tending to our gardens or getting out for a morning walk, we find it easier to hibernate indoors where we are greeted with perhaps a slower life pattern. It’s easy to bulk up in these coming months, as mammals do to prepare for a long winter sleep. It’s in our natural rhythm to want to indulge in more fats and carbs, as we sit in our cozy cave we call “home.”
The only real problem with the coming of winter is not that we like to “bulk up,” because, like I said, that is a natural rhythm of mammals. The real problem is that we are bulking up with the wrong things. Industrial foods, commercialized alcohol, and an abundance of sugar (mostly in the form of corn syrup) are taking us into a hibernation that we are finding hard to get out of.
As the holidays approach, it’s easy to start the season out with overindulgences. Thanksgiving brings pumpkin pie and turkey that is eaten as leftovers for days. If you’re trying to stick to healthy eating this holiday season, then stick to these helpful tips for keeping it clean, while still enjoying yourself:
- Eat before you go! Make sure you eat a balanced breakfast that is satisfying. A lot of the times, we crave the things that we deprive ourselves of. Depriving ourselves of breakfast means that our bodies will fight for calories later in the day!
- Fill up on the fruit and veggie tray. This works like a charm for me. I get so many nutrients in right from the start, and it satisfies my urge to pile on the mashed potatoes.
- Bring something healthy to share that you and your loved ones will enjoy. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring!
Revive Café has family sized salads and our famous hummus platter in a sharing size available for pre order just in time for Christmas!
At Revive and Renew, we would love to help you start or continue on your healthy eating lifestyle. Stop by our location at 4360 Kennedy Dr. in East Moline, call us at 309-207-3271 or visit our website at reviveandrenewtherapies.com.