Christmas is a hard time of year to
stick to any eating regime, but the changing habits lifestyle is a great
one to stick to around this time of year due to the  fact I do have a
cheating chapter in my book, but also when you feel good and have been
feeling great all year you don’t really want to undo all the wonderful
health you’ve enjoyed due to good food choices.  So what do I do to
survive Christmas cocktail parties?

Avoid Food Hangovers

Food hangovers are the worse!  They are those days when you wake up
after a night of eating everything going, at the Christmas cocktail
party.  Even though you may have slept, the sleep would have been very
restless as your body was trying to digest all the different types of
foods.  When you combine too many foods, different meats, fats, dairy,
flours, drinks, additives, preservatives and flavourings then the
digestive system has the worse time trying to get rid of it.  If it
doesn’t get rid of it the food begins to putrefy sending out toxins and
making you feel worse.  The best thing for a food hangover is not to get
one but if you do have one; consume a bunch of fresh fruit and
vegetables with greens (herbs and leafy greens), in order to help in
digestion and drag out as many of the toxins as possible.  Throw into
the blender spinach, parsley, cucumber and freshly squeezed orange juice
– blend till smooth.  Drinking ginger tea will also help. The hair of
the dog does not work in this instance.

So rather than looking at the cure lets look at what you can do in order
to survive the Christmas Cocktail party.  Prevention is a far better
way.

When you are standing around drinking and talking it is hard to
concentrate on the food coming around, the hand just seems to go out and
grab whatever is in front of you.  An important part of surviving the
Christmas cocktail party without ending up the next morning with a food
hangover is to think before you grab.

Decide when you get to the party what you are going to eat and not going
to eat.  Decide on one type of meat, so when the chicken wings circle
then decide that chicken will be the only meat you will be eating,
(definitely do not touch the fake red little boys) do not mix your
proteins, this is a sure way to end up with a food hangover.  Another
good choice would be to have the vegetables and the dips, this will
ensure that the chicken wings will be well digested and you’ll get a
good night sleep.  It is good to avoid the fried foods, as the fat slows
down the digestive process.  By making good choices you’ll avoid
feeling horrible the next day and on January 1st 2013.

I know, I know it’s great to try everything, but face it, you have
probably tried most of the food out there and it won’t be much
different, so why suffer the next morning.  It is your choice!

I use to love trying everything at a cocktail party, but I decided many
years ago that the love of trying everything was not worth the way I
felt the next day, or at the end of the silly season when I had a
protruding stomach and couldn’t fit into my jeans.  Once you’ve made the
decision then it’s easy.

So have a wonderful Christmas and be kind to your body, it is the only
one you have and if you ruin it, it won’t take you far into this life.

Happy Changing Habits
Cyndi O’Meara