Tis the Season to be Healthy

'Tis the Season to be Healthy Photo by George Eastman House via Flickr.com Overindulging is one of the many reasons people experience health issues around the holiday season. Eat several smaller meals throughout the day rather than trying to “save your appetite”. Starving yourself until that one special holiday meal might sound a fantastic idea until you realize that you are overeating during your meal. Smaller and more frequent meals allow your metabolism to increase. You are less likely to binge. You can still enjoy that slice of apple pie, rather than the entire dish! While you’re enjoying more daily (and healthy) meals, take advantage of the Internet! This is not a demand to spend countless hours online (although that is enjoyable…and time consuming). Make use of that time by looking up healthier alternatives to traditional holiday meals! Websites such as Pinterest contain creative and fit recipes, including tofu pumpkin pie and low sugar and high protein muffins. Several of the traditional holiday foods that we enjoy are already full of nutrition. Pumpkin is an excellent source of iron, and there are simple low-fat alternatives such as using egg substitute and skim milk. Cranberries are an excellent fruit during this season, and artificial sweeteners can easily make the dish lower in calories. The white meat of turkey is considered low-fat. However, the dark meat has more iron. Turkey makes a great meal, just remember to stay away from the skin! Food is the center of celebrations during this time of the year. Do not be afraid to embrace that! Just do so in moderation. Switch up the holidays with different and nutritional recipes that still express the atmosphere and tradition of this season! Like the boy in the picture, you can still share excitement about holiday favorites…but with a better outcome.