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5 ways to avoid the Super Bowl slide


I really could care less who wins the Super Bowl.  I've never been much of a football fan, but I do love a good Super Bowl party.  I'm totally in it for the company, the food, the commercials, and the halftime show. I only wish it was Super Bowl Saturday instead of Sunday.  Or make Super Bowl Monday a national holiday.  But I digress...

For many, the Super Bowl party marks the beginning of the end of a great streak of healthy eating.  You make it all the way through January eating clean, exercising, and maybe even abstaining from alcohol.  Then along comes the Super Bowl and wham!  All those yummy treats start you on a slide that continues through heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, Mardi Gras beignets, and Spring Break beach drinks.  It's the holiday season 2.0.  

So what do you do?

First and foremost, make a plan.  Don't let it take you by surprise.  Make sure that plan is reasonable and doable.  Recognize the pitfalls in advance, and decide how you'll deal with them.  

Pitfall #1: alcohol.  Guzzling down a cold beer is so much more satisfying when you're super thirsty.  Make sure you go into a party already hydrated (with water!) and sip on water in between sips of alcohol.  Choose distilled spirits like vodka or tequila, and mix them with soda water and lime juice.  Dry wines are also a good option. Heavy beers and sugary cocktails will quickly spike your blood sugar, add a lot of extra calories, and make you pay the next morning.

For better sleep, try to stop drinking alcohol at least 2-3 hours before bed.  Otherwise the blood sugar crash (and hot flashes if you're a woman) may wake you up in the middle of the night.

Pitfall #2:  gathering around the food.  Make yourself a plateful of healthier options then go sit somewhere away from the food.  If everyone is gathering around a kitchen island, move yourself to the furthest end from the food.  Even the littlest adjustments can keep you from mindlessly eating.

Pitfall #3:  going in hungry.  Maybe you've tried to fast before going to a party, thinking that you'll save the calories for the party.  Unfortunately, that often backfires if you get so hungry that you want to eat everything in sight.  It also backfires when you think that you deserve to stuff yourself silly because you didn't eat all day. 

Pitfall #4:  the Last Meal fallacy.  If you tell yourself that you can eat all you want because you'll start over tomorrow, you may tend to eat much more than if you just give yourself permission to have a little and treat it like any other day.  There will always be more cookies/chips/little smokies drenched in BBQ
 sauce.  You don't have to eat them all today.

Pitfall #5:  taking food to the party that you wouldn't normally eat.  Take something you feel good about eating--a tray of veggies with a healthy dip, cheese, nuts, or baked wings.  I promise you, other people will appreciate the healthier options too!

Pitfall #6: (I just thought of one more!) eating carbs first.  Before you indulge in a sweet treat or a handful of chips, eat some veggies or protein.  That will blunt the glucose spike and insulin response, evening out the blood sugar roller coaster ride.

Remember that it's ONE day.  Jump right back into your healthy habits on Monday.

And if you want help doing that, I've got you!  I'm a certified Nutrition Coach who will create a simple, customized meal plan for you and coach you through how to implement it into your busy life.  We also talk about all the pitfalls that make it hard, and help you make it the anchor that keeps you healthy, energized, and sane through the whirlwind of your everyday life.

I'd love to talk to you about the program, so book a free consultation with me by clicking the Calendly button. I look forward to talking to you!


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