Thanksgiving is here, and that means it’s officially the start of the holiday season! With the holidays comes a lot of additional stress and also sooo many opportunities to find yourself overeating and binging on high fat, high calorie foods.

So because of this, today I’m sharing my best tips on how to avoid overeating during the holidays! It can be a struggle since this is the time of year when there always seems to be delicious food around – but it is possible to get through the holiday season feeling good about yourself and your dietary choices!

Keep reading to find out my best tips on how to avoid overeating:

 

1. Drink Lots of Water

Water is great for creating a feeling of being full without actually eating anything. I’m definitely not saying to starve yourself and only drink water so you can lose weight, but the more water you drink the less you’ll feel tempted to overeat.

Water takes up space in your stomach and leaves less room for food, and it also keeps you hydrated so you’re not getting as many side effects like bloating from eating too much salt or sugar!

I talk more about how much water I try to drink in a day in my what I eat in a day as a vegan post.

 

2. Eat Slowly

When you slow down while eating, it allows your body more time to properly digest your food and then you’ll start to notice yourself feeling full more quickly than you would if you were scarfing down your meal in a hurry.

Try to really enjoy the flavors of the food and eat with intention. It also helps you eat more slowly if you don’t go into a holiday meal starving! Have a light healthy snack, like carrots and hummus, before you eat your next meal.

 

3. Wait Before You Get A Second Serving

It takes about 30 minutes for your food to digest before you start to notice the feeling of being full, so another good tip on how to avoid overeating is if you feel like going for seconds, pace yourself and wait a while.

Then if you decide that you’re still hungry, then go for seconds but get yourself smaller servings this time!

 

4. Follow Your Intuition

If your body is telling you that it’s full, it’s best to just listen to yourself and stop eating. This will take some willpower and practice, but you get better at it over time and developing this skill will also help you in other areas of your life.

If you’re having a hard time turning down food, it really helps to think about how you won’t feel your best afterward if you eat way too much!

 

Related Posts:

• What I Eat In A Day As A Vegan

• Tips On How To Eat More Plant Based

• How To Not Get Sick + Glow Up This Winter

 

5. Allow Yourself A Treat or Two

The one thing that will probably cause you to binge more than anything else this holiday season is being restrictive! You definitely want to allow yourself some breathing space and have a treat when you want one (that’s one of the best parts of the holidays, right?!).

The key is knowing when to stop. Do you really need a second slice of pie or can you be okay with just having one? Most of the time just one is enough 🙂

 

6. Consume More Healthy Fats

Did you know that animal based products are some of the most fat and calorie dense foods you can possibly eat? The more you can avoid them during the holidays, the better.

Luckily, there are a lot of easy things you can do to reduce your meat and dairy intake this holiday season! Try eating corn without putting butter on it, or use your favorite unflavored plant milk to make your mashed potatoes with instead of dairy milk, etc!

In terms of the types of fats that you should be eating, try to eat lots of avocado, nuts, and seeds. These kinds of foods will help you feel more full since plant based fats can also be a good source of fiber!

 

7. Eat More Plant Based Foods

Going along with the last point, you want to try to eat as many plant based foods as you can during the holidays. When I say plant based foods, I’m not ONLY talking about greens and veggies (although try to eat as many of those as you can too), I mean swapping out animal products for plant based substitutes!

There are so many good vegan products on the market these days that you won’t even notice any difference between, for example, a vegan butter and a dairy based butter.

By making simple changes and using plant based products wherever possible, you’re doing a great thing for yourself, animals and the environment.

And as a huge bonus, generally speaking you’re shaving off fat and calories by choosing plant based instead. Did you also know that cholesterol only comes from animal products? So when you’re eating plant based you’re literally not consuming any cholesterol!

 

8. Do A Workout

Even if you do happen to overeat during a holiday meal, don’t punish yourself! We all make mistakes, and my best advice for when this happens would be to do a really good workout the day after, or whenever you feel up to it.

You will feel a lot better about yourself if you work out and it will help negate some of the damage as well.

And just keep in mind that it’s the best time of the entire year, and you should be enjoying yourself anyway! Just give yourself freedom but don’t go too crazy – it’s all about a healthy balance.

 

Thank you for reading my best tips on how to avoid overeating during the holidays and happy Thanksgiving! If you liked this post, please share it on Pinterest! 🙂

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