Tips to get back on track now that the Christmas season is over

By Dr. Brenda Gill

One of the areas I address, especially after the holiday season is helping people get into a good routine again with eating and to try to lose those added pounds from the holidays. Here are a few tips to achieve that goal:

• Eat 3 meals a day to keep the fire burning with equal amounts of protein (chicken/fish/eggs/tofu/nuts/seeds/buffalo/lamb and carbohydrates(fruit/grains/ vegetables/beans and legumes)
• Always eat breakfast to turn on the engine--whole grain porridge oats or whole grain flakes with nuts/seeds or nuts/seeds with yogurt and fruit are a good choice. For those that have a hard time with breakfast, try a couple of tablespoons of almonds and seeds
• Minimize unrefined complex carbohydrates including: whole grain bread, whole grain pasta, brown rice, quinoa/millet, oats, rye and corn and use vegetables and fruit to feel full. This helps bind toxins accumulated over the holidays
• Make greens one of the main vegetables in the diet since these give you many of the micro-nutrients to the liver that help lose weight and accumulated toxins (all that extra chocolate, sugar, coffee, desserts etc. etc. etc-- you know what I mean!).  It also keeps the body more alkaline, which allows it to let go of inflammation and breakdown products
• Drink plenty of herbal teas, water or diluted fruit juice to flush out toxins and to prevent constipation
• Always eat so that you are satisfied, then stop.  Soups are great to start a meal to decrease the need to eat large amounts afterwards
• Eat slowly and savour your food so that your body has a chance to signal it’s full
• If needed, eat nuts and seeds between meals to add protein to stabilize blood sugar.  Often, after the holiday, the body gets used to more food.  This helps to re-establish the balance
• Reduce your intake of cow dairy products, pork and beef and trim off all fat, since these cause inflammation in the body and contain fat that isn’t utilized but stored
• Avoid foods that have been hydrogenated, which create trans fats that are stored as fat not utilized. Never use margarines or lard. It’s better to use coconut oil/butter
• Increase your amount of unsaturated essential fats, such as the omega 6 in nuts and seeds and of course their oils, and the omega 3 in fish such as salmon, sardines and halibut. These fats are utilized to lubricate your joints, keep your skin moist and prevent wrinkles, decrease inflammation in the body and produce hormones
• Use maple syrup, concentrated apple juice, barley malt and date sugar for sweeteners and honey sparingly
• Reduce salt intake which retains water, therefore weight--Interestingly when buying a free-range turkey for Christmas, the farmer told me they don’t feed the turkeys salt to increase their weight quickly!
• Investigate whether you have allergies, sensitivities or a yeast overgrowth, which can all lead to excess weight retention

This should give you some ideas on how to get back on the right track.  Next week we will look at specific supplements and herbs that will also help.

Dr. Brenda Gill is a naturopath practicing in Rossland and Nelson, B.C.