Stress eating habits are made better by celebrating occasionally, practicing moderation, and developing the habit of eating healthy foods daily.
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Last time I shared some healthy de-stress tips… so it’s fitting to add the healthy relationship we have with food as a way to stay healthy.
I know that sounds like “easier said than done” advice considering all the tempting stuffing and holiday sweets that deck the holidays. 🎄
Plus, winter season is a natural time to bring out our Kapha body and mind tendencies that welcome in accumulating and comfort foods (stored in our comfort pants 😉). That’s what we don’t want or wish for, but happens unless we make alternative healthy, daily plans.
I thought I’d never get to a savory breakfast as sweet was my go-to all my life. But with healthy desires, one breakfast led to another and these days, it’s almost always savory. So don’t sell yourself short. Your tastes will change with your habits. And you never have to go back to old habits.
This article is meant to inspire your delicious healthy, anti-inflammatory eating habits to kick the holiday stress eating habits to the curb and inspire a healthy eating new year.
Ready?
…Here we go!
1.Lean into the seasonal produce foods that interest you. Like squashes, citrus, apples, and winter berries. You can find so many new fruit varieties like jackfruit and dragon fruit on the grocery shelves (and so many others haven’t even made it from our tropical climate lands to our markets).
2.Reinvent sides. The stuffing sides can be what gets some of us in trouble, and if the carbs is what you’re worried about, you can reinvent the starchier side carbs to work for your body.
Stick with veggies carbs that are the opposite and with very few calories, and some have great flavors such as mushrooms, asparagus, and onions that you can turn into a Provencal herby-forward experience with a little tarragon, white pepper, vinegar or sherry.
Carrots (raw and cooked) are so versatile for sweet and savory dishes where you can substitute the fun marshmallows with a divine anti-inflammatory diet pairing like ginger and textures like nuts or seeds. You can also learn to appreciate food textures as a no-calorie add.
3.Make healthy desserts. This is my specialty area and weakness turned into a positive. It’s no baking secret that butter and refined sugar add to weight gain. And ingredients like white flour and white sugar are inflammatory foods. Moderation is still the modern way. Plus incorporating healthy foods.
Keeping a balance between tasty and healthy is the dynamic pairing duo. And the sweet spot is they are usually easy bakes in minutes like a healthy pear or apple pie with cinnamon sweetness.
You can make a pumpkin pie from pumpkin puree that’s loaded with antioxidant Vitamin A and beta carotene. Mix in some plant-based almond milk. And add allspice that’s all anti-inflammatory goodness as the sweet five-spice version! Think creative sweet potato and green veggie dishes.
For holiday stress eating prep dish habits, you can start with those whole food ingredients, a ‘lil milk, and holiday spices… and then zhugh up with the celebrational peppermint sticks and marshmallows… you don’t have to give up the party sides 😉 (I personally wouldn’t want to because I breathed hospitality party planning for years. Some of the sweet celebratory joy sides are worth a few calories).
Still, it’s all about balance and moderation.
Easy Fatayer Holiday Appetizers
Equipment
- Knife or pizza roller for classic pyramid empanada shapes
- Drinking glass for empanada half moon pie shapes
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- Flour
- Olive oil or butter
- Water
Instructions
- Slice and dice up your fillings. spinach and feta or ground meat is traditional for fatayer. Or use what you have in your freezer likeI brussels sprouts (good bitter ingredient like spinach) and fresh red onions. And soft green beans from a can that worked great for blending textures!
- Make your hot water pastry. No planning or prep time! Just add warm-hot water to flour and a ‘lil butter or olive oil to form a soft ball that holds together. Flatten and roll out with a rolling pin. Fold in half moons like empanadas. and for 3-D triangle shapes you’ll want to cut out squares (at least two inch squares so you can hold enough filling).
- For classic 3-D pyramid triangles, it’s like origami. You just fold so the corners meet. and then the third side closes it all up into a pyramid-type shape that doesn’t have to look perfect. You don’t need egg water to close like wontons, but you may want to brush with egg for a glossy look.
- Bake on 350°F for about 25-35 minutes
…Compared to sugar, cream, and butter that was used for daily Grandma southern cooking that didn’t prioritize healthy or wearing our best sized clothing.
And maybe a few pats of butter instead of a stick will do?
Those less healthy daily cooking styles grow on us Vatas, Pittas, and Kaphas alike.
And, sometimes we’re not the ones in charge of doin’ the cookin’, so the better way would be to be choosy and show some love to the host cook by adding a dollop on your plate to try. That doesn’t have to be your main meal leaving leftover regrets.
4.Get inspired by longevity as a goal. We can all learn a thing or two from the Blue Zones that have the largest pocket of Centenarians in the world. They’ve changed our concepts of health. As an example, instead of growing their waist sizes, they’re lowering Earth waste and preparing fresh meals from their natural land.
They’re daily climbing hills while we’re sitting in front of our devices. They’re gathering naturally grown ingredients while we’re foraging in the weekly store. Even though our modern lifestyles are so different, we can still do our healthy bit…
We can be healthy selective.
We can use a list like this rainbow variety 200 Anti-Inflammatory food list to be our angel side guide into the store. And we use our healthy awareness as our cart checkout guide instead of robotically picking up the boxed processed versions.
We can also select the fresh, healthy ingredients that are usually 2-step dish easy.
Such as, abundant whole potatoes can be our purple imo like in Okinawa Blue Zones where they have a high number of living 100 year olds.
Like them, you can peel and boil simple potatoes. Compare that to a processed spud packet loaded with preservatives and sodium. The open packet instead of peel effort is a minimal difference. The extra minutes in cooking is worth it for your body… don’t ya think?
Sometimes what’s needed most for better stress eating habits is a ‘lil freshened up education between our daily eyes. Then when you have a healthy way or recipe in mind, you beeline to those healthy ingredients in the stores… 🐝
You can usually find the unsexy whole potato bags along the sides of the grocery stores in bins.
5.Eat fiber. When I professionally planned parties, I almost always recommended a starter platter called Crudite which is the fancy French word for a raw veggie platter. When you start with celery or carrots every day, you add fiber roughage that helps move along the heavier foods. It’s a good way to prep and rev up your stomach engines.
6.Eat spicy foods. If you can’t do cayenne pepper or hot peppers because of the spice, try red hot chili pepper flakes that are mild and still have capsaicin that’s anti-inflammatory and known to burn calories (and not tongues).
Fresh wasabi and horseradish are other hot sauces you can use if you can tolerate. They not only help clear out sinuses and toxins, but if you’re eating those foods, then you lose your hankering for the sweet and buttery.
7.Skip the high beverage calories. You can skip the loaded coffee beverages and eggnog calories and go for the plant-based milk latte drink that will be even better with a strong flavor pairing.
If you like licorice, you can lean on anise and fennel spices. And if you like peppermint, go for the mint leaves. And for a brighter drink, zhugh with some citrus zest. These are all calorie saving ideas that are pleasing to the gut, mind, and body.
Add some warming spice with your daily beverage habit when you want something comforting to drink or taste. Now that’s a great stress eating habit you can toast to! And you can make it fun and easy if you keep the spices by your beverage making station. You’ll always have a decked out drink.
Cheers! Cin cin! Salut! ☕️
