Kim Alton, RD, LD / Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center
medical contributor
May Your Days
Be Merry & Bright:
Living Healthy Through the
Holidays and into the New Year
You may be looking forward to a “holly, jolly Christmas” or you are all ready to
“deck the halls,” but I am looking forward to the “all is calm, all is bright” part of the
holidays. It seems as if Christmas starts earlier each year, but also gets here faster.
We’ve no sooner put away the Jack O’Lanterns, and we are stringing garland and
lights. Through all the hustle and bustle of the preparations, we often forget to live in
the moment and enjoy the season. The lists are never ending, the chores are never
done and what should have been a time of joy can become a time of high stress.
This year, I challenge you to become mindful of your eating habits. Mindful eating is
designed to connect you more to the food you are eating and the experience of eating.
A few things that you can do this holiday season to become more mindful and live in the moment are
Mindful eaters tend to have lower body weights and an overall better sense of well-be-
small, but simple steps. First, eat slower. We are always in such a hurry that this is one of our biggest chal-
ing. It’s more focused on savoring the experience of eating and focusing on physical
lenges. Eating slower allows you to realize when you are full so that you don’t overeat. Another thing you
cues such as hunger versus emotional cues. When we let the stress and mindless eat-
can do is make mealtime electronics-free time. No phones allowed at the table or TV watching. That’s not
ing take over, we are more likely to choose fast foods, skip meals, choose foods for
to say that you can never sit and watch a show and eat, but when you do it should be a conscious decision
comfort not health and make poor beverage choices.
that you’ve made. Savor the flavor of your food. Remember years ago when you used to actually taste your
A couple of years ago, I talked about this topic with a group of students. In that
food? Go back to those days. Enjoy flavors, smells and textures of the food that you are eating.
class, I handed out a Hershey kiss to each student. I asked each one to unwrap it and
In the Mediterranean culture, mealtime is family time. This is the time to enjoy fellowship with family
look at it closely. They noted that the chocolate was smooth, not rough. I then asked
and friends. Without the electronic distractions, this is the perfect time to tal