How Can One Possibly Eat Healthier During the Holidays?

The holiday season is often filled with festivities that revolve around food. While there’s nothing wrong with indulging here and there, it can be difficult to stay on track with healthy eating choices when surrounded by so much temptation.

Rich Kilchrist, RDN, LDN, a telehealth virtual Registered Dietitian Licensed Nutritionist and private practice owner & CEO at Arbor Vitae Nutrition Consulting is asked the following question repeatedly. Let’s hear what he has been advising his clients for the last 30 years.

Q: How can I make healthier eating decisions during the holiday season?

RichLDNRD: Limit the sweets you eat. I think this is the hardest part about the holidays for most. We are given sweet treats as gifts and they are just sitting on our counters. 

To help limit the sweets, share the gifts you get with friends. I took a container of desserts across the street to my neighbor the other day—they have kids who will enjoy them. They will appreciate it now and it will lead to job security for me later! Just kidding. I teach that sweets i.e. refined sugars are like a drug. It’s a white powder, after having it you crave more, it causes energy to rise for a short time followed by a crash. People who partake in this drug often get withdrawal symptoms after periods of time without it and are be cranky until they get their next fix.

Cravings for sweets and refined sugar, and other food & non-food products, are usually due to a vitamin or mineral deficiency. In my practice I often recommend chromium picolinate with large success. Chromium plays a role in insulin function, which regulates glucose uptake by cells; insufficient chromium may impair insulin efficiency, leading to increased hunger, cravings, and fat storage.  Studies have shown modest reductions in appetite and body weight, larger and well-controlled trials often fail to demonstrate significant benefits in reducing sugar cravings or improving glycemic control in the general population or people with diabetes.

Staying away from sweets is the best approach because once a person has consumes simple sugar the have a higher propensity to crave more. If left untreated the craving can become an addiction requiring much more intense treatment options.

My clients report positive experiences, such as reduced cravings, improved energy levels, and better blood sugar control. The typical dosage ranges from 200 to 1,000 mcg per day, with 400 mcg often cited as a base level for most adults. Chromium picolinate is generally considered safe for short-term use, though prolonged use may raise concerns about potential genotoxic effects, and it should be used cautiously by individuals with diabetes or hypoglycemia under a dietitian supervision.

It is also advised to avoid chromium supplements during pregnancy or in cases of renal insufficiency.

If you happen to love the sweet treats you received and don’t want to give them away, bag them up into smaller portions and freeze them. This will help you stretch how long these treats last and you won’t eat as much at one time. Also, keep the sweet treats off the counter. If they are out of sight, you will be less tempted to graze on them.

If you are at a party where there are a lot of sweets, don’t stand near the table. Make a conscious effort to keep a distance. You can also fill your plate with other foods that prioritize protein foods & vegetables.

To avoid overeating at a party, don’t stand around the food table while talking with friends. Position yourself farther away to avoid constant eating. Instead of filling a plate to the brim with food, choose smaller bites and put them on a napkin. g the holidays.

What Should I Do Before an Event?

Be sure to eat a meal or snack that contains a good amount of protein and healthy fats to fill you up. You may be less tempted to eat as many sweets if your body is satisfied. It is advisable that everyone eat every 3-4 hours REGARDLESS if one is hungry or not. While it is definitely a good idea to have eaten before arriving to a party just like it is wise to do this before going to the grocery store. We must have an eating schedule to ensure we maintain a constant blood sugar level avoiding peaks & falls of insulin levels. From the time one wakes they must have a good breakfast to jump start the metabolism. Then using a personal watch, alert, notification system & apps to set REFUELING times every 3-4 hours and eat at those times to AVOID HUNGER from from ever occurring.

The sensation of hunger is also influenced by blood glucose levels; when they drop, the pancreas and liver release signals such as glucagon and epinephrine that stimulate hunger. Conversely, satiety—the feeling of fullness—is triggered by the rise in blood glucose after eating, which prompts the release of insulin and cholecystokinin (CCK) from the gastrointestinal tract.

Low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, significantly impairs the thinking process by reducing the brain’s primary fuel source, glucose, leading to cognitive decline. Glucose levels below (54 mg/dL), consistently results in measurable declines in cognitive function, including reduced attention, slower processing speed, impaired memory, and decreased accuracy in complex tasks, regardless of whether the individual has type 1 or type 2 diabetes. 

These effects are acute and can manifest as confusion, difficulty concentrating, slurred speech, blurred vision, and in severe cases, seizures or loss of consciousness. The impact is most pronounced during low glucose levels, with studies showing that cognitive performance deteriorates significantly, and this decline is independent of diabetes type, duration, or awareness of hypoglycemia.

It takes approximately 20 minutes for the brain to fully acknowledge that the stomach is full due to the timing of hormonal signals involved in satiety. While mechanical signals from the stomach stretching are transmitted to the brain almost instantly via fast nerve impulses, the full sensation of fullness is primarily regulated by hormones released during digestion. These hormones, such as leptin and others produced by the gut, take longer to travel through the bloodstream and reach the brain, particularly the hypothalamus, which regulates hunger and satiety. This delay allows for the gradual rise in satiety hormones and the corresponding drop in hunger hormones like ghrelin, which typically occurs around 20 minutes after eating begins. The process is influenced by the nutrient content of the food consumed, with the body needing time to metabolize and respond to these nutrients. 

During states of low blood sugar while your brain is depleted of it’s primary fuel source & one becomes less coherent how much poor choice food can you pack away in 20 minutes? Then after over consumption of whatever food is closely available, the brain start thinking rationally & logically again. That is when most people realize they made a bad decision of over eating unhealthy foods and then shame & remorse take over.

This moment of self-awareness involves the ability to recognize and understand one’s own thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and how they align with personal values and goals. If these goals happen to be those of improved health & fitness one begins to see how counterproductive their actions have become and are left with one of two choices.

1. Do they give in, give up, tap out and admit defeat to accept a quality of life burdened by sickness & despair?
2. Or does one get back to work on obtaining a healthier lifestyle by refusing to quit, continually moving forward after acknowledging the momentary trip and lapse of judgment then continue the LOGICAL, STRATEGIC and mapped out plan to victory.

Schedule fueling your body with healthy whole foods though out the day as well as scheduling workouts & exercise time is the absolute best way to minimize weight gain experienced from the holiday season over indulgence. At Arbor Vitae Nutrition Consulting we have specialized in designing & tailor making a individualized plans & scheduling out the entire week.