Healthy Weight Management Tips For The Holidays
(continued)
One of the most common questions I get from folks who
require medicine for any condition that also requires a restricted diet is "Why
can't I just eat anything I want and just increase my dose of medication?"
Insulin-controlled diabetics are the exception here; they generally must adjust
their medication levels to cover anything they actually eat. For people with
salt-dependent high blood pressure or highly elevated cholesterol, however,
you're much better off staying within the limits of your diet. If your cholesterol
or blood pressure are only moderately elevated, a one-day feast shouldn't put
you in jeopardy, but a 5-week holiday food binge certainly could.
Alcohol may be a great social lubricant, but it is also
high in calories and saturated fats. If you're looking for easy ways to trim
holiday calories, start by trimming your alcohol consumption. You may want
to think in terms of having an extra drink or dessert, but not both. Of course
the most important health recommendation I can give for the holidays as well
as for everyday is don't drive if you've had more than one alcoholic drink-
and don't let anyone else drive in that situation. Deaths due to driving under
the influence of alcohol increase significantly over the holidays, but they
are not accidents. They are the result of someone's deliberate decision to operate
a potentially deadly vehicle despite their physical inability to operate or
control it safely.
If you eat better, you will generally feel better, thus
reducing some of the stress of the holidays. Be aware of your food weaknesses
that seem to add more stress than nutrition. Watch out for the common traps
of sugar overdoses; drinking too little water; drinking too much caffeine; holiday
cookies at everyone's desk; and chocolate, chocolate everywhere. For those
cooking, watch out for eating your own meal while still preparing it; for those
cleaning, watch out for post-meal round-up nibbling.
For many, the holidays are a joyous time; for others, they're a stressful
or depressing time. It's also cold and flu season. Support your weight management
and other healthy goals by continuing to take your daily vitamins and any regular
medications properly as directed by your physician. If you are in an exercise
or weight management program (e.g. Weight Watchers®), make the time to continue
your regular sessions. If you are depressed, see your physician, therapist
or best friend/shoulder to cry on instead of your refrigerator.
Finally: it's always refreshing and a great aid to perspective to focus on
the true meaning of the holidays. The holiday spirit is not defined
by preparing and consuming massive quantities of food and drink, but by being
thankful for these bounties which we share and our ability to help others who
are less fortunate. In the course of your preparation for and celebration of
Thanksgiving, give thought to how you and your family can help others, not just
on Thanksgiving; think about ways in which to continue this great tradition
upon which the survival of our forebears depended throughout the year. The
original Thanksgiving celebrated harvest, not consumption; it celebrated friendship
over feast. It celebrated true strangers helping others. It celebrated the
fruits of the labors of genuine kindness. What will you and your family really
be celebrating this year?
This comes with my best wishes to you and your family for a happy and healthy
holiday season.
Created: 9/27/2000 - Donnica Moore, M.D.
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 Eating a huge Thanksgiving Feast is as American as apple pie. It’s also the unofficial beginning of a 5-week holiday season whose hallmark is merry-making, usually involving large quantities of food and drink. The end of the season, however, often culminates in regret and recriminations for having eaten all that we did-and putting on often unhealthy and unwanted pounds. 
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