Season munchies.

Ahh the holidays, the time when you pretty much chuck all your self-will and self-control outta the window to do pretty much anything because hey, it's the holidays! Not gonna lie, I'm currently struggling in keeping my shit together when it comes to Christmas shopping because all I'm feeling right now is generous, Oprah-style. You know, that You get a gift! You get a gift! You get a gift! kinda vibe.  While I feel like I can eventually keep my Oprah vibe a check, the one I struggle to control is my holiday appetite. Everything just looks festive and jolly and yummy! So going into the holidays, I gave myself a serious pep talk. CONTROL. THY. SELF. 2019 is my year of fitness and change so I gotta apply that vibe to this season firmly. I'm not gonna deprive myself at all (lol good luck on that!) but I should, at least, remind myself of some things to keep everything balanced and in line. I'm not the holiday greedy glutton I was last year. Nope, not anymore.

So here are a few reminders from me to me for this season of holiday eating. Oh and in case you're wondering why this post is kinda late considering it's about 7 days before Christmas, it's because I love procrastinating and totally forgot to put this up last week. But I feel like it's still timely because I think there are more gatherings and parties on days leading up to the 25th so yay it's still okay! Haha!

1. Eat less carbs.

- This is a pretty hard rule for me to do since breads and pastas and potatoes are my kryptonite. The only carb I can easily eat less is rice so I think, in a way, I’m off to a good start. When eating out, whether in family gatherings or in restos in general, I always remind myself to eat less carbs and eat more protein. That way I can be full longer than when I binge out with carbs. Still, when there’s bread and pasta on the table, this might be a rather challenging rule for me to abide by. Not to mention sweets like pastries and cakes and doughnuts! Oooooooh boy.

2. Eat more veggies.

- Nowadays, I try to really load up on veggies more. I don’t mean to just munch on bowls of salad since that’s not the only source of veggies, right? So this holiday season, when I see a spread of food, I will try go to the dishes that already have veggies in them. That way, not only do I have my source of protein, I also have a ton of veggies alongside it. Yes, some dishes may be indulgent and loaded with calories, but veggies are there to restore balance, right?

3. Practice Intuitive Eating.

- During a season where food is abundant (whether you like it or not), it’s very easy to overindulge and overeat. One practice I’ve been recently keeping in mind is intuitive eating. What is Intuitive Eating? According to this article, Intuitive eating is “a non-diet approach to health and wellness that helps you tune into your body signals, break the cycle of chronic dieting and heal your relationship with food. In short: intuitive eating is normal eating. From a nutrition professional perspective, Intuitive Eating is a framework that helps us keep nutrition interventions behavior-focused instead of restrictive or rule-focused.

I like this approach because it’s very non-restrictive in a way. With diets, since you eat less than normal, you tend to feel deprived. So on special days or cheat days, you tend to overindulge. With intuitive eating, I feel like it’s all about your self-control and self-discipline. I love food so much that I tend to stuff my myself to the brim. With intuitive eating, I still get to eat whatever the hell I want but I listen to my body when it’s time to stop. I personally stop when I feel full but not puke-everything-I-just-ate full. I keep in mind that I have to make room for dessert and that I don’t need to overeat because I can still eat the food I want another time. Basically, intuitive eating keeps me from being the gluttonous pig I was once. And this will come very handy during the holidays. (And yes, this also applies to eating in buffets.)

4. Don’t overeat if you can’t burn them.

- it’s the time of eating, it’s very important to sweat out all the sweets and carbs I’ve eaten. That’s pretty much a rule I live by now, to be honest: don’t overeat if you can’t burn them. I’ve experienced first-hand how hard it is to exercise after days of pigging out and lemme tell you: it’s not the most pleasant experience. You’ll feel sluggish and heavy and you get fatigued easily. So I will try my hardest to still sweat out even when times get crazy because, you know, I still want to do burpees and jump squats without feeling like I’m getting dragged to hell just because of that damn lechon I consumed days ago.

Now I’m not saying that I should go crazy and burn all 3000 calories I just ate in one day. I don’t count calories (hehe) so all I have in mind is just burning as much as I can in my 45-55 minute morning sesh. If I burned 200, then great. If I just got to 90, it’s still good. I won’t beat myself up over that because all that’s important is that I was able to drag my fat ass out of bed to workout. Calories be damned.

5. Try to stay away from *the* table.

- Well, well, look what we have here. This year, and for the other years to come, I *will* implement this rule to myself. Why? Because I tend to overeat whenever I’m seated on or near the spread table, damn it. Everything’s easy to reach and munch on, you know? So I tend to get a nugget here and take a slice there mindlessly. Now, I will try to make sure I sit on a table where I’m required to stand up and walk back to get more. Why not throw in some cardio in there, huh?

6. Indulge more on "holiday food" than just food in general.

-  I watched Bailey Brown's video about holiday eating and one tip that was the most memorable to me was to eat or focus on holiday food, aka the food you only see or cook during the holidays. Why eat food you can eat on all year-round when you can indulge in holiday-specific food? This way, there's much more festive fuzzy feeling to it that just plain pigging out. So this season, Imma go get myself a slice or two of Mom's fruitcake and Imma go taste that holiday-themed pizza and burger. Gonna live some plainsies behind and go for the more special ones, you feel?

PS. I use "indulge" very loosely. Please refer to nos 3 & 4.

7. Keep your snacking on the DL.

-I know myself and snacking is my favorite and worst thing to do. There's nothing wrong with snacking at all but there are times when I snack too hard it feels like I've eaten a full meal but it's all just empty carbs, sugars, and/or sodium. So my plan is to make sure I snack on healthy or healthy-ish food and to control my portions. I'd still eat chips, I just won't finish the whole bag in one sitting. OR ever better, I'd share! Share the fun, share the calories!

Hopefully I'll be able to keep this list on my mind when it's time to chow. We'll see how this'll go and I hope you learn a thing or two. If not, well, happy eating and Happy Holidays nonetheless!