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Evo Terra (Host):  This is the Health Podcast, the show from Pullman Regional Hospital. I’m Evo Terra. I don’t know about you, but to me, holidays and food go hand in hand. Or, more accurately, plate to mouth. And why yes, I do think I’ll have a second helping of turkey and mashed potatoes. However, that’s not so good on my waistline or for keeping my cholesterol manageable. I think I need a better plan for this holiday season. So, today, I’ll ask Dietician, Wellness Coach and Weight Management Specialist Melissa Francik for some tips on eating healthier over the holidays. Now I don’t think I’m alone Melissa, so can you share with me some of the challenges people face with healthy eating during the holidays?

Melissa Francik, MS, RDN, NBC-HWC, CSOWM (Guest):  Yeah sure Evo. Yeah it is very, very common and then I think there’s a variety of challenges. Some of these tend to be that people correlate food and special holiday foods with the sense of community, with happy memories and so, consequently that food tends to be everywhere, and it tends to be richer in calories often. And with that, people have it’s kind of the mindset of scarcity where they think that if they don’t eat it now, they’re going miss out somehow in some way from the holiday season if they don’t eat the actual food or have that second helping for example.

Food is a beautiful thing that brings families, and people together and there’s many traditions around it and special memories and so, often people have a hard time separating the memory or the connection with the quantity of food needed to fulfill that need or that desire. Other challenges are that these tiny tastes sneak in, there’s often food everywhere, even in like a dentist’s office. There’s treats on the counter of stores and so those kind of tiny tastes, there’s gatherings and such; they can really add up. Oh I’ll have a bit of this, or I don’t want that to go to waste and those tiny tastes can be really significant. From this long season that really starts from October as you said, it’s Halloween or before all the way through January.

And so that can contribute significantly to this small ratcheting up of the body weight. And then there’s also like the cold weather can challenge people not to be as active maybe as they had been. And then there’s more stress. Often good stress but stress of travelling and gatherings and trying to fit a lot in. and so I think all of those things impact one’s eating during the holiday season.

Host:  It’s funny you mentioned the scarcity issue because you’re right, our brains think scarcity yet facing our eyeballs is an abundance of food. I mean not just during the meal, but also all the little plates of candy that aren’t out at any other time of the year that are now plunked on every single flat surface. It’s really strange the way that the mind thinks about these. So, with that in mind, maybe you could help with some tips. What should we do to avoid those candy plates and just overeating in general during these holiday seasons?

Melissa:  Yeah, absolutely.  I think you mentioned earlier about having a plan for this upcoming holiday season and I think it’s really choosing to have that mindset of wanting to navigate the holidays without gaining that weight and yet not missing out either. And so some of the ways you can do that are – one is that you can – if this is really important to you, you can keep track, keep a food diary during the holiday season. Some people can use a phone for that or snap photos or write it down or use an app, but that keeps your awareness about all those tiny tastes that can sneak in so that’s there no surprise when your weight is going up and you don’t understand why. So, the fact of tracking in some way, keeping track, really helps us to be aware of why we are eating, and what we’re eating and how much. So, I would say, that’s really a powerful way.

Along the lines for those that can do so, maybe monitoring your body weight maybe weekly. Just to check in through the season and make sure that you’re pretty stable or where you want to be moving. If you are going somewhere, bring food that you know is good for you and offer to share that. So, being proactive about bringing foods that are nourishing and right for you. If you go to a place that has pot lucks or there’s a lot of food, a really great strategy is before picking up a plate and starting to go for the food is to survey all the options first. So, like walking around and seeing what are all the choices and kind of a curiosity, almost like a food reporter, someone on a food network being curious about the foods and which ones are worth it for you.

And then focusing on those special foods that you do want to enjoy. And enjoying them mindfully, which we will talk about more later, but just to really savor and appreciate those foods. Along those same lines, a lot of our satisfaction out of eating comes from using all of our senses so appreciating the setting where you are. Appreciating the holiday and the community, being aware of all of the enjoyment and not just about putting food in the body. And I would say limiting your drinks can be very important. Alcohol has quite a few calories and you don’t get the fullness that you would get from eating food. So you could be really mindful of what you are drinking and save your calories for a food that’s very special for you.

I have a lot of these tips Evo because they are very helpful. I work with a lot of people in this. But a really powerful question is before you go to a party or go to a gathering with food, asking yourself how do I want to feel after this gathering before I go there and start eating. And you can have a game plan and that vision of how you want – what you want the rest of your evening or time to look like. And then eating in accordance with that. Asking yourself maybe what you’re really hungry for. Are you really hungry for food or you want to socialize. So, instead of standing around the food table and talking to people; if you are really not hungry, maybe moving the conversation elsewhere away from the food.

Host:  Yeah, that’s really a great suggestion and what I think is often underthought about is the fact there is more to the holidays than just eating the food. So, let’s talk about that for a moment. So, maybe you can give us some of your favorite nonfood activities we might do during the holidays.

Melissa:  Sure, yeah because as you said there are so many needs that we have that are not actually just for physical food. Needs of community and fun and adventure. People need to have play and novelty and connect and relax. So, some ways I like to do that would be just taking a winter walk by myself or with others. So, bundling up and being out in nature. I love playing board games or card games. Sitting around the fire and sharing stories or hot tea. Holiday music. That even can really spark a fun mood or movies, classic movies that you’ve enjoyed watching that don’t involve eating. You could even just sit around and share stories about holiday memories without food being the trigger for those. You could explore other types of activities that are specific to the winter such as ice skating, snowshoeing, or cross country skiing; those are some of my favorites. Yeah, so just finding a way to meet those needs that have special memories that aren’t revolving around food.

Host:  And then tell grandma to stop putting out and refilling the candy dish every time would probably be helpful. Let’s talk about a topic you brought up a moment ago, this concept of mindful eating. Mindfulness seems to be everywhere these days and so I’m not surprised to learn that there’s a mindful eating option although I’ve never heard of it before. So, tell me, what is mindful eating?

Melissa:  Mindful eating is the way of being fully present so that you can savor or use all of your senses to enjoy each moment, each bite of whatever you’re having. So, it’s a way of similar to wine tasting, right when you wine taste, if those of you have done that; you don’t taste it to get drunk. You take small sips and you appreciate all the qualities of the wine. And so, it’s sort of eating like that where you balance the desire to eat to nourish your body but also you want to have pleasure and enjoyment. So, I use the word instead of calling junk food, I like to say the word play food. And play food is like part of normal eating. About 10% or so of normal diet of a normal eating is play food and that 90% really would be more for your nutrition.

So, getting that mindset, you can have the intention to feel better after you eat. So, really before eating, really knowing how you want to feel afterwards, paying attention. So putting all of your awareness into that and enjoy the entire food experience. And what this is, is it’s a way of – we eat because we’re hungry. We have the need for nutrition but we also as humans, have another system the hedonic system that drives our eating behaviors which is all about the satisfaction value or pleasure value of food. And that’s one’s very important. So, the dessert, right, anyone who’s hungry for ice cream, you know I’m done with carrots, but I could eat ice cream, that’s an example. So, knowing that about our bodies and what cues us to eat. Eating with mindfulness helps us to actually get that satisfaction factor with a very small portion of the food.

Host:  I’m really intrigued by this concept of mindfulness and mindful eating. So, where could I turn to get more information about mindful eating during the holidays?

Melissa:  Yes, I guess I can give you – I will give you a couple of sites that I have used for some of my work and their training. One is www.thecenterformindfuleating.org and another one is a website, it is just like it sounds, www.amihungry.com and there’s some great tip sheets and guidance on both of those sites to learn more.

Host:  Great information Melissa and happy holidays. Once again, that is Melissa Francik, a Dietician, Wellness Coach and Weight Management Specialist. Thank you for checking out this episode of the Health Podcast. Learn more at www.pullmanregional.org. If you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels. And be sure to check our entire library of past episodes for topics of interest to you.