BODY PLAN, DON’T STRESS OVER, YOUR HOLIDAY EATING

STORY: MICHAEL A. VISCONTI, NMD, DOM

Every year, people will look at the turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes — dripping in melted butter and brown sugar —, pies, cakes and all the rest.

They’ll stop briefly and sigh, thinking how bad it all is, then say “damn the potatoes, full-steam ahead!”

Afterward, the table will look like the aftermath from Hurricane Andrew and each person will feel like a stand-in in a Pepto-Bismol commercial, facing the depression and guilt for falling off the diet wagon they hadn’t really been on since their last New Year’s resolution.

And every year I repeat: “You haven’t eaten well the whole rest of the year, why worry about it now?”

Many of us are already stressed about the schedules, money issues and family problems. Adding stress over food doesn’t help. There are things you can do to keep your sanity during the holiday season:

1. Plan ahead: If you’re going to a party, don’t go hungry. Have a healthy snack beforehand and it will lessen your risk of overindulging.

2. Sample, don’t binge: Take small samples, one of each cookie instead of five, one plate of food instead of three, etc. Everything in moderation, including alcohol.

3. Damage control: If you binge one day, don’t keep going for the rest of the month. Go back to eating well the next day.

4. Keep your mood up: Plan activities that will keep you busy and upbeat before you start feeling down. Have your favorite comedy ready. Keeping your moods up will lessen stress eating.

5. Enlist a support team: Find “positive” friends or family members to help you stay in control. Have them slip a secret code word into the conversation that will remind you when to say no. (And, be nice to them, since you asked them for help.) If you have a group going to the same party you can all bring healthier food with a few “gourmet” desserts.

This is the time to have fun and enjoy the people and the season. The feelings of love and joy should be about sharing time with one another, not the food. You can still enjoy the holidays without eating every cake, cookie and turkey in sight. After the first of the year we can work on really getting you healthy.