5 Tips for Healthier Holiday Parties

Does your family host a regular holiday party? Does your workplace throw a huge end-of-year bash? Or maybe your neighborhood does some kind of mega-block-party to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year?

Whatever you’re celebrating, wherever you are, you can bet on one thing this holiday season—there will be food. Lots and lots of delicious, carby, sugary holiday food.

Making healthy eating choices this time of year is tough. On the one hand, the holidays come just once a year! We want to enjoy them, bake to our heart’s content, and feast on all our seasonal favorites. 

On the other hand, who wants to wake up on January 1 feeling overstuffed, bloated, dehydrated, or just generally icky?? I know I sure don’t. 

Of all the difficult things to navigate during this time of year, holiday parties are at the top of my list. Why? Because succeeding with healthy eating at a holiday party isn’t just a food thing. It’s also a social thing, a mindset thing, a practicing-your-decision-making/ testing-your-willpower thing . . . You get it.

So as we head into the last chunk of December (a time sure to be chock full of holiday celebrations of all types!), I wanted to offer you a few tips on making healthy choices at your holiday parties this year.

5 Ways to Make Healthy Choices at Holiday Parties

1. Eat PFC Every Three Before and After the Party
   Set yourself up for success by sticking to your PFC Every 3 plan on the day(s) leading up to/immediately following the party. Going off-plan for a special occasion is no big deal—as long as you don’t let your “special occasion” turn into a month-long sugar binge.

2. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate
   Know you’re going to be consuming excessive amounts of alcohol, fat, and sugar at a party? Give your body the water it’s going to need to process all that. Staying hydrated will help reduce that “blah” factor the day after a holiday party.

3. Be Intentional.
   Decide before the party whether you’re going to go off-plan, and how far off-plan we’re talking. Go into the event knowing whether you intend to scout out the healthy snacks, or whether you’re taking the evening off.

4. Watch Your Alcohol Intake.
   Obviously, alcohol has its own sugar/calories/etc. But the more dangerous thing about drinking a little too much is that it seriously increases the likelihood that you’ll also eat a little too much. Know your limits and don’t let that boozy hot cocoa trick you into eating four more gingerbread cookies than you meant to. ;)

5. Ditch the Guilt!
   No matter what happens, commit to enjoying your holiday party guilt-free. If you manage to stay on-plan, give yourself a pat on the back! But if you do go off-plan (as most of us will at least a few times this season), enjoy the food, have some fun, and get right back on track tomorrow.

Need some additional holiday health inspiration? Join me over in my free Facebook Group, Never Diet Again! We’re a community of like-minded women committed to living healthier lives that we love, without dieting, deprivation, or giving up our glass of wine with dinner.