Many are times you’re faced with a lot of temptations like eating the wrong kinds of food that will make you feel puffier or feeling more lethargic and less motivated and that leads you into an intense nervousness. You’ll find people who say “”I know a lot about nutrition and I want to change, but I can’t seem to make this happen. I don’t choose the healthy options – even when they are available.” The problem is the decision about what to eat doesn’t frequently match the way you wish to eat.
One of the factors that affects your choice in selecting the right food is being stressed. when one has stressed it is easy to return back to old habits including their status quo. Doing what you have always done is less demanding on the brain when you’re stressed. Also, stress pumps cortisol through the body, which makes you crave sugary, salty and fatty food. So, as the credit card bills come rolling in and you get phone calls from your mother asking about your holiday travel plans, you may make a beeline for comfort foods like chocolate and pumpkin pie. It’s key to take control over stress during a vacation in order to defend against upset diets.
The following acronyms (EAT) will help you eat and stay intelligent towards party food during vacations.
E: Eat Consciously
Make use of the four “S’s” of conscious eating: Sit down. Savor each bite. Slowly chew. And still your mind (take a few centering deep breaths before taking a bite).
A: Act Consciously
Use what the Marshmallow Method, named after the famous Stanford delay of gratification studies by Walter Mischel, which taught kids that if they waited until a researcher returned they could get two marshmallows instead of one. If you’re able to slow down your first response to “I want to eat that,” sometimes the craving passes or cools down. Stuff mints into your pocket before you go to a holiday party. Pop one into your mouth. Make a deal with yourself. If you still want the extra piece of pie after the entire mint has dissolved in your mouth, have one. You may be surprised that the urge passes if you wait a few minutes. The mint helps to gauge the time – which at first can feel like an eternity.
T: Think Decisively
Eat your favorite foods last. People tend to encode and remember the last thing they eat best. It stays freshest in your mind and makes you more satisfied later. Also, eat with your non-dominant hand at holiday parties. Research indicates that this reduces how much you eat by 30 percent because it breaks up the automatic hand-to-mouth flow.
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