Bright Smiles Blog

The Holidays are a time that is traditionally all about food and family. This is one of the few times during the year that you have license to eat emotionally. We all need to eat emotionally at times to help give us that inner sense of celebration and fulfillment. We all learned at a very young age that the holidays equal joy and plenty of goodies.

That being said it is all a matter of Moderation. While eating try to savor every bite and not shovel your food into your mouth. Be present mentally while you eat. Look at it, smell it, really taste all the flavors. This will help you gain that mental satiety with out the volume. Keep in mind that it takes an hour and a half of brisk walking to burn off the calories in a small piece of pie. It is also a well established fact that you can’t exercise away in one day, the amount of calories you can potentially pound down in one or two meals. I suggest drinking plenty of water during these eating events. It will help you feel fuller prior to eating a big meal. Another piece of advise I practice is only eating the things I love versus anything put in front of me. When snacking prior to dinner, pick the veggies and fruit if offered and nuts are a great way to take away the hunger.

Remember the goal is to enjoy the holiday and be healthy. The choices that you make should not lay the ground work for future disease

like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity etc..

It is a matter of enjoyment not volume. You want to wake up tomorrow with joy not remorse over undoing the choices we made yesterday.

Sal Graziano DDS, MAGD, MS (Nutrition)