How to eat right at the holiday meals?

Rosh Hashanah is upon us and the festive tables are filled with temptations that can cause weight gain. How do you deal with the big holiday meals without adding extra pounds?

The new year is upon us and this is an opportunity to start adopting new habits that will help us maintain a healthy lifestyle, such as delaying gratification, which is an important tool for resisting temptations and helps maintain a healthy diet and a healthy weight.

A typical holiday meal can contain a lot of calories (2500 calories and even more) and lots of temptations, so you should plan your meals wisely. Here are some tips that will help you maintain balance and enjoy the holiday without guilt:

• Start the day right - the goal is to arrive at the holiday meal reasonably hungry and not in a state where you are really starving, so start the day with a good and nutritious breakfast within two hours of waking up. You should eat a meal that contains proteins, complex carbohydrates and vegetables, provide the body with what it needs, maintain a feeling of satiety throughout the day and reduce the desire to snack on sweets.
  
  
• Eat something light before going out to the holiday meal to avoid uncontrollable overeating. Eating a lot in one meal can cause a load on the digestive system - when you eat a lot at once, the digestive system finds it difficult to digest the food efficiently, the digestion process is prolonged and you feel heaviness, fatigue and even stomachaches. Eating too much can also cause a sharp rise in blood sugar levels, which can cause high insulin secretion leading to feeling tired and craving sweets later.
  
  
• Drinking: remember to drink enough water between meals - water contributes to a feeling of satiety throughout the day. Try to drink water or soda before, during and after the holiday meal and avoid sweet drinks that contain a high amount of sugar and calories. It is recommended to drink herbal infusions after the meal, which relax, prevent stomachaches, absorb gas and relieve a swollen stomach such as chamomile, fennel, cardamom seeds, mint, lemon and ginger infusion and green tea with lemon - you can drink them hot/cold.
  
  
• Make sure to eat consciously - avoid unnecessary load on the plate. Stop every now and then and ask yourself if you are eating out of real hunger or out of habit.
  
  
• Eat slowly and chew your food well - eating slowly and chewing your food well helps with better digestion, allows you to feel full and reduces the chance of overeating.
  
  
• Planning the meal: start with the vegetables, they are relatively low in calories, make sure that half of the plate contains vegetables. Prefer fresh vegetable salads, soups and vegetable pies that contain plenty of dietary fiber that gives you a feeling of satiety and fullness - so you will eat less of other dishes that will probably contain more calories. Try to avoid salads with fatty dressings containing mayonnaise, tahini, nuts and dried fruits and, of course, fried and high-fat food - this way you will avoid eating excessive calories.
  
  
• Choose no more than one or two types of protein (such as chicken, roast beef or fish), excess protein burdens the digestive system in the evening.
  
  
• Choose one dessert that you really like and enjoy it in moderation instead of tasting all the desserts.
  
  
• After the meal - start moving, get up to help and move away from the table - when sitting around the table, exposed to overeating without any justification or feeling of hunger. If possible, go for a light walk that helps reduce sugar levels and reduce the feeling of heaviness after finishing the meal. If you overdid it at the holiday dinner, try to offset it the next day and incorporate physical activity that will increase the daily calorie burn.
  
  
• In conclusion: a reasonable deviation, with a decision in advance, will allow a good feeling without feelings of guilt. Don't deprive yourself of foods you like - allow yourself to indulge in the special foods to an extent, but make sure to eat the rest in moderation and in a balanced way so that you feel good even after the meal.

Remember - the purpose of the holiday is the happy family gathering, make sure to enjoy it!

Noa Oliel, the writer, is a certified naturopath and coordinator of naturopathy studies at the "Adama" School of Complementary Medicine and Advanced Therapies, Givat Washington