Orlando, Fla - For those striving to maintain a healthy lifestyle, holiday celebrations can feel like a minefield of dietary pitfalls, bound to derail the progress you've made through diet and exercise the rest of the year. In fact, a new national survey by Orlando Health finds nearly two in five (39%) Americans worry about how much they eat over the holidays. The good news is that dietitians say there's no need to feel guilty about a few holiday treats.
"Holidays come around once a year, and indulging in a few traditional foods and favorite recipes that may have a little extra sugar or fat is not going to affect your health or derail your healthy habits," said Sara Riehm, RD, LD/N, CSOWM , a specialty registered dietitian at the Orlando Health Center for Health Improvement . "In fact, I see a lot more anxiety about weight gain than actual weight gain from my patients around the holidays."
The survey also found the measures many take to combat overindulgence and holiday weight gain may be misguided, putting pressure on themselves to overcorrect for a few holiday treats. For example, 25% of respondents believe they should skip meals to save calories before a holiday gathering, something Riehm says can actually lead to binging on more calories when you finally eat.
"It's a lot easier to make healthier decisions when we're not hungry. Having a light meal that includes satiating nutrients like protein and fiber before a party will help you feel fuller and make mindful choices about what you're eating," Riehm said. "When you fill your plate, go ahead and have a helping of that special food you've been looking forward to, but also balance it with nutritious options like a vegetable or fruit salad."
Another common misconception is that we need to "detox" or "cleanse" our bodies after having foods deemed unhealthy, something the survey found a third (33%) of people feel they need when the holidays are over. Riehm says, not only are these tactics ineffective, but they can be potentially harmful.
"We can't really detox the body from the so-called 'toxins' that we're getting from our food. The liver and the kidneys do a great job of removing toxins from the body already, and they don't really need our help with juices and other marketed supplements," Riehm said. "Furthermore, they often require extreme dieting measures that leave us at a very significant calorie deficit and can cause dangerous blood sugar decreases. Flushing out the system with cleanses may also disrupt an otherwise healthy microbiome in the gut."
Instead, Riehm recommends seeking the guidance of a registered dietitian to make a plan to carry you through the holiday season and beyond.
"With so much information, misguided advice and pseudoscience out there, registered dietitians are going to be your number one source for evidence-based nutrition information," Riehm said. "Technically anybody can call themselves a nutritionist, but in most states, dietitians are the only ones that are allowed to practice medical nutrition therapy in healthcare settings."
She works with patients in the Orlando Health Center for Health Improvement, which offers a six-week lifestyle modification program designed to establish healthy habits and meet each participant's goals using research-backed nutritional guidance.
It's something that helped Joshua Walker understand more about his overall health and how his body reacts to certain foods. Walker puts a lot of effort into living a healthy lifestyle and is very disciplined in his diet and exercise routine. But he learned that some of the foods in his diet that he believed were healthy choices were beginning to lead to some not-so-healthy outcomes.
"I was eating tons of carbs and fruit, and that turns into sugar inside the body," Walker said. "When I completed my health assessment at the beginning of the program, I was shocked to learn that my blood sugar was approaching prediabetic levels."
Riehm helped him make small adjustments to stabilize his blood sugar, and as he approaches the holiday season, he's confident that his health will not take a hit, even if he strays from his normal plan.
"If Grandma made an apple pie that I'm just looking at and it's speaking my name, I'll go ahead and eat a slice. I know it's not going to hurt me," Walker said. "You can always get back on track, and enjoying a few foods you normally wouldn't have over the holidays shouldn't make you fall off your plan and abandon your goals."
"No diet or healthy habit is going to be successful in the long term without a little bit of flexibility," Riehm said. "Consistency is really the name of the game when it comes to healthy living. So, the same way that one healthy meal is not going to make a huge difference in your health outcomes or your lab metrics, having one unhealthy meal is also not going to make a huge difference."
Survey Methodology
