With the holidays soon at hand we tend to eat all the goodies people put in front of us. And even if we are conscious of what we eat, most of us get caught up in the holiday spirit by eating a lot of refined foods and sugars. What can we do to reduce our cravings for so much food and not gain weight?

This holiday season let's combat this sugar fest with another approach; let's stop the cravings before they start. Let us take a moment to look at why we eat so much during the holiday season.

1. We get caught up in the spirit of the holiday and eat things we don't normally find all year round.
2. We start eating sugary treats and our bodies begin to crave them
3. We get bored at work or in our office and we head right toward the kitchen or candy dish in the office.
4. We are invited to all kinds of holiday parties just to find foods that are not friendly to our hips.

Let's look at the craving situation; we get caught up in the holiday spirit and begin eating sugary foods. Now most sugary foods are made up of High Fructose Corn Syrup. While you may not know what HFCS does in your body I can tell you it isn't good. High Fructose Corn Syrup, in addition to refined sugars lowers your immune system leaving you open for colds and flu. HFCS blocks chemicals like leptin and grenlin, these chemicals help the body stop eating by telling the brain it is not hungry any longer, they also help you get off the couch to exercise. Eliminating HFCS from your diet will give you a boost in will-power so you can lose weight. When HFCS was eliminated from 15 of my clients diet all of them lost weight more easily than when it was in their diet. They reported not feeling hungry an hour or so after eating.

In addition to not feeling full, HFCS and refined sugars use up minerals in your body like magnesium, chromium, calcium and copper all which help the body function properly. HFCS isn't processed in the body the same as regular white sugar and therefore is stored more quickly as fat. In addition to the sugars we eat more of during the holidays we also eat more carbs, which help produce more weight as most of them are simple carbs and refined carbs.

How do we get off the roller coaster of hunger and weight gain?  Eat as many raw veggies as you can during the holiday season. Keep your intake of refined foods to a minimum, exercise at least 30 minutes a day and eat portions. If we take the time to eat smaller portions that alone helps. Eating raw foods like apples, salads or celery/carrots it will not only boost our immune systems but also give your body the enzymes it needs to help in the digestive process. Pay attention to what you are eating most of your weight gain and sluggish feelings come from over doing simple carbs. If you reduce the sugars, breads and pasta dinners during the holiday season and take at least 30 minutes out of your day to exercise you will reduce the risk of gaining weight, you will feel better and have more energy.

Another thing you can do to help stop cravings of sugar and aimlessly search the refrigerator for whatever might be in there is to take the supplement Chromium. Chromium helps stop carb cravings by working with our digestive system and pancreas. There is a supplement called Sugar Control which has chromium and a few other minerals added to stop the cravings while your body adjust it's sugar levels. I have used it and it works within 20 minutes. Of course the best way of not getting cravings is to not eat the refined sugars to begin with. Peppermint tea is another good way to stop the stomach from feeling hunger pains. It also soothes the stomach if you have eaten to much.

Those are a few tips you can use to help you keep off the pounds during the holidays. At Sacred Mountain Massage we offer a comprehensive diet plan for each person who comes in for our Healthy Living Program. It is designed specifically for the needs of each person. I believe every one is unique and has unique dietary needs. Our program is designed with that in mind. Take time to give us a call and find out more.

Denise Basteiro - CMT/Nutritional Consultant

Denise is a Certified Massage Therapist, from Massage Therapy Institute of Colorado. She's also certified in Iridology and Nutrition, which she studied from the Jensen Institute. She combines her knowledge of nutrition and herbs with her massage to bring a better balance of healthcare to her clients.