Warriors always have a strategy. If you leave your health to chance, especially during the holidays, you are setting yourself up to fail. Christmas is the most anticipated day of the year, but did you know that it is also the one day of the year that hospitals all over the country admit the most heart attack patients? Yep, Christmas Day! Try these five simple tips that we use to keep our Brain Warriors on track during the holidays because, if you think eating healthy during the holidays is a drag, try eating hospital food.
Every warrior knows that the most successful battles are the ones you never have to fight, but because you’ve prepared so well, you win before you engage this holiday season. By keeping healthy snacks with you, eating prior to attending the junk food fest, and taking your own healthy desserts (leading by example), you will likely prevent the necessity for these six steps. But as a Brain Warrior, we want you to have a plan for your back-up plan.
Five Tips for Holiday Success:
- If you just can’t resist Aunt Sally’s apple pie, remember the “Three Bite Rule.” It’s the first three bites of anything that give your taste buds that big “hit” of pleasure. If you stop after three bites (not elephant bites), you’re less likely to trigger the addiction center in your brain that will keep you hooked. Be fully present. Enjoy it, but don’t become a slave, or worse, a “zombie” and keep going. After three bites, get up and throw the rest away.
- Do NOT schedule cheat days that trigger addiction and inflammation. I’ve seen people eat as much as 4,000 calories of garbage with “self-permission,” which is nonsense if you plan to win! On average, it takes about three days to get back on track and lose your cravings again after only one day of gorging on sugar and fat all day.
- Avoid your trigger foods and be brutally honest with yourself about your addictions. If you know that you are still vulnerable to relapse, give yourself a couple more weeks, or even months, before loosening the reigns. Instead find healthy replacements like the dozens of delicious desserts such as Nutty Butter Cups, Pumpkin Muffins, Sugar-Less cookies, and many others that can be found in The Brain Warrior’s Way Cookbook.
- Make the healthiest possible choices from the selection available when faced with less than optimal selections. Ask yourself these questions, “Is this healthy? Compared to what?” Then choose accordingly.
- Turn bad days into good data. When I make a decision to eat food that doesn’t serve me, I don’t feel great. Being aware helps me to be truthful and empowered, and not feel like I’m “deprived” for eating healthy. Instead I’m aware that choosing healthier options helps DEPRIVE me of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and obesity. Know the truth and the truth will set you free!
Our desire is for you to feel vibrant this holiday season so that you may focus on all that is truly important to you. If these tips are helpful to you please send me your feedback and forward them to someone you love. Whether you’re a health warrior now or a warrior in training, I want to set you up for success!
