OK, I know some of you out there can actually walk away from endless dishes of candy, platters of cookies, scrumptious loaves of banana and cranberry breads, to-die-for homemade pies, and “more-often-than-usual” family dinners. Bravo to ya! I struggle to relate.


But for the rest of us, here’s another installment on how to survive the holiday eating frenzy. This nutritionally-designed, practical plan can help us avoid the weight gain that’s as traditional as the holidays themselves.

Give these 7 easy steps serious consideration:

1. Eat a high fiber cereal for breakfast, one with more than three grams of fiber per serving. Try muesli with stevia-sweetened yogurt. My favorite stevia is Sweet Leaf, vanilla flavored.

2. Eat low-glycemic fruit for a mid-morning snack (blueberries, cherries, grapefruit, dried apricots, apples, strawberries).


3. Eat a sandwich for lunch with 100% whole-wheat bread, thinly sliced deli meat, and minimal mayonnaise. Eat two good handfuls of baby carrots, celery, or sugar snap peas. If you’re dealing with candida albicans, then you’ll want to use yeast-free bread (found in the refrigerator section of a whole foods or natural foods store).

4. Eat a leafy green salad or a steamed vegetable for dinner, accompanied by a small (6 oz), lean piece of fish or skinless poultry.

5. Drink water, with chlorophyll added, often throughout the day. Chlorophyll is rich in minerals, vitamins, proteins, and micro-nutrients—all important in maintaining health, especially in balancing acids and bases in the body. I get mine at our local natural foods store.


6. Enjoy just one sensible portion of a holiday treat—without the guilt. If you have self-control (I can’t relate to that) then you can perhaps do this once every day during the holidays. But beware: Sugar is addictive. Like one tiny drink to an alcoholic, one taste of a sweet to a sugarholic can mean a “lost weekend.” It may be better to just walk away.

7. This is a great time of year to be reading some inspiring and motivating self-help or nutrition books and science-based documentaries. When my resolve weakens, I turn to good reading and viewing. For instance, here’s what I’ve either read, have been reading, or watching the last couple months:

• Food Rules (Michael Pollan)
• How Not to Die (Dr. Michael Greger)
• How Not to Diet (Dr. Michael Greger)

• Flax for Life! (Jade Beutler)
• Secret to Hunza Superior Health (Carl Classic)
• The Gift of a Year: How to Achieve the Most Meaningful, Satisfying, and Pleasurable Year of Your Life (Mira Kirshenbaum)
• Dare to Be 100: A Point-by-Point Program for Living Long and Enjoying Life to Its Fullest (Walter M. Bortz, M.D.)
• Man’s Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)
• “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”
• “Forks Over Knives”
• “What the Health”
• “That Sugar Film”
• “Food Matters”
• “Hungry for Change”
• “Fed Up”
• “Bite Size”
• “Food, Inc.”
• “Vegucated

Finally, research shows that if we can practice the above-mentioned tips on a regular basis at home and work, the when we happen to participate in a holiday gathering, the little bit of insanity (i.e. eating anything contrary to good health and well-being) we do engage in, won’t be as damaging. Good food for thought (pun intended!).