Christmas is one of those times when everyone pays a lot of attention to the food choices and traditions. Foods and beverages are plentiful but, unfortunately, it is accompanied by overeating and the result is the overload of our digestive system. If you are one of those who feel heaviness in the stomach, fatigue, and guilt over unhealthy eating habits during the Holidays, here are 4 tips on how to make your food choices and holiday traditions healthier and thus feel more energetic and lighter!

Eat regularly

There is a lot to do during the holidays – gifts need to be bought and big family meetings need to be organized. However, don’t forget that you still must regularly eat these days! Even if you know that big holiday meal is coming up in the evening. It is mistakenly thought that meals should be skipped during the day to eat more in the evening. Our digestive system is not able to digest a large, unexpected amount of food, and such meals tend to lead to digestive problems (bloating, heaviness in the stomach which results in fatigue).

Therefore, we recommend eating regularly on festive days, every 3-4 hours. We recommend consuming healthy snacks between main meals. For example, fruits, berries, and nuts. You can find raw bars with different flavors in the Be More store, which are also ideal for a snack. This way, the stomach stays full during the day, digestion works normally, and it is more likely that you will not want to eat huge amounts of food at the dinner table.

More plant-based choices

Animal source food is the most difficult to digest and it also takes much more time. We recommend adding more vegetables (especially green vegetables), berries, nuts, and legumes to your menu. These food groups are high in fiber, help speed up digestion and are a good choice for weight loss. Legumes are excellent sources of plant protein and are a good alternative to meat. For example, you can make the legume loaf, pâté from legumes, or just add them to salads and cutlets. We recommend consuming vegetables throughout the day: make salads, add different vegetables to the smoothies and be sure to have a varied selection of vegetables at the dinner table. Unhealthy snacks can be easily replaced with carrot and kohlrabi sticks. Hummus (smashed chickpeas) can be used as an alternative to sour cream dip. In the classic recipe for ham rolls, ham slices can be replaced with lightly fried thin zucchini slices.
Even during the holidays, our body needs vitamins, and minerals for all functions in organism and for the digestive processes to work properly. For a snack, we recommend, for example, making a berry-vegetable smoothie with added superfood powder from the Be More selection. To get inspiration, check out our collection of recipes.

Make traditional Christmas meals healthier

Traditions are undoubtedly important and carry a certain emotional value and memories. But traditional Christmas meals can also be made a bit healthier, making you feel better and more energetic. Because who would like to miss out on fun activities with their family because their stomachs are uncomfortably full? The classic pork steak can be successfully replaced, at least partially, with less fatty meat (such as chicken fillet) or even fish. Red fish is extremely tasty, easy to prepare (requires only seasoning and little cooking time) and contains high-quality omega3 fatty acids. Instead of ready-made marinade products, we recommend choosing raw meat and seasoning it yourself.

When preparing roasted or stewed cabbage, we recommend avoiding the use of lard or pork fat. Add just a little natural vegetable or chicken broth. Instead of adding white sugar, more blood sugar-friendly alternatives can be used, such as stevia or coconut sugar. Why not make a raw salad with sauerkraut, add in it a little apple pieces, cranberries, and high-quality olive oil? Raw sauerkraut contains many good bacteria that take care of our gut health. We recommend consuming fermented foods on a daily basis.

Be Active

Physical activity also helps speed up digestion. The festive meeting with the family and friends doesn’t have to be just sitting quietly at the Christmas table. If the weather is fine, you can go walking, skiing, or sledding. Even at home, you can think of fun and memorable games or activities that involve physical activity. This way we can spend the energy we get from food and the body does not need to store excess energy as fat.

A holiday eating habits should generally follow a normal daily rhythm. We recommend following the principles of a healthy diet, which consists of adequate daily consumption of vegetables (except potatoes) and berries, also the fatty acids (such as nuts, seeds, avocado, vegetable oils) and fermented foods. Excessive consumption of meat and animal-sourced fats should be avoided, as it puts more strain on our digestive system. It is also worthwhile to limit the consumption of sugar and artificially sweetened products. Fruits and dried fruits or berries (such as dates) are good choices for sweetening desserts. For dessert lovers, we recommend trying Be More Christmas guilty-free chocolate with collagen! It is a handmade chocolate that does not contain white sugar or additives.

Author: Nutritionist Diana Zintšenko