7 Life Hacks to Avoid Overeating During the Holidays

But let’s not forget, the 4th of July is also a time for food! It's a good excuse to let your hair down and have some treats. This brings variety to your life and helps you live a little. 

But at the same time, you don’t want to wind up with indigestion, a stomach ache, or feeling lethargic during the holiday. 

That doesn’t sound like a way to celebrate.

You want to experience this 4th of July to the fullest, without a ton of food cravings, food-induced low energy, or experiencing a bad mood due to poor food choices. 

Here are some tips for how to keep some balance over the holiday, so that you can enjoy this holiday to the fullest!

Tip 1: Cherish the experiences

While it’s fun to eat good-tasting food, many of us can focus too much on the pleasure of eating, causing us to eat or indulge too much. This can distract us from the finer pleasures, like time with family, laughs with friends, games, and fireworks. 

This holiday, focus on gaining pleasure from spending those around you and the experiences to be had, rather than placing so much emphasis on the pleasure gained from delicious food (though that is nice too). 

This will help you eat a more balanced amount and have a better time throughout the entire holiday, without experiences of low energy, indigestion, or low mood.

Tip 2: Practice mindful gratitude

When we practice gratitude, it can change many things in our lives. If you are someone who struggles with food cravings or have a hard time eating a balanced amount of fun foods, gratitude can help. 

Seriously. 

Take time to slow down and express gratitude for the little things or the people you are happy to have in your life. 

Focusing on gratitude will help you take your mind off of eating so that you can eat a more balanced amount. Then, you can have a few fun foods and be able to move on to other activities without being too excessive in your consumption. If you’d like to learn more about what causes food cravings and what you can do about it, read our article How to Stop Food Cravings.

Tip 3: Get an extra helping of the healthy stuff

At most events, there will be options that include fruits and vegetables, such as fruit salad, side dishes, side salads, etc. Do your body a favor and take an extra helping of these foods. This will help you to feel more full at the end of the meal, as you’ll be filling your body with the fiber and micronutrients it needs, rather than just empty calories. 

Remember that added sugars, white flour, artificial sweeteners, and bad fats cause us to feel hungry and crave more junk food. These foods are toxic to the body and void of most nutrients that our body needs. They leave our body wondering “I thought we were eating now...where are the nutrients that were promised me?”

Get an extra helping of healthy foods, that way you’ll still get to eat some of the fun foods that you want and end up feeling satisfied and hopefully a little more energized at the end of the meal.

4: Go on a hike or play sports

Burning some calories out on the trail or playing a good-natured, competitive game of basketball with friends or family can be one of the finest ways to get your metabolism up and help you feel motivated to eat a few more healthy foods this holiday. 

When we exercise, it increases many chemicals sent to our body and brain that motivate us to take better care of our health.

It’s especially great to exercise outside in the sun, as the sun gives us the best form of vitamin D out there and in addition literally makes us happier. 

Did you know that when sunlight shines in your eyes it triggers your body to release serotonin? Serotonin is one of the main neurotransmitters involved in balancing our mood and helping us to feel a sense of peace and well-being. It is one of the main neurotransmitters involved in depression. 

So get up, get out, and get a little dirty (and sweaty) this holiday. Your body and brain will thank you.

5: Drink a Ruvi or eat some fruits/veggies

Getting your metabolism going 20-30 minutes before you eat a bunch of fun food can help you feel full at the appropriate time. This is because it takes time for your “full button” to turn on in your brain, notifying you that you have had enough food. By drinking Ruvi 20-30 minutes before a meal, your metabolism will get a head start and you’ll be less tempted to consume vast quantities of food.

Drinking Ruvi before the meal will also fill your body with plenty of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that you might not get in the meal you eat at the holiday get-together. This will help decrease food cravings and give you energy. 

Ruvi makes it easy to get the micronutrients your body needs, keeping food cravings at bay and giving you sustained energy.

Good mood, great energy, and clean, healthy digestion? Sounds like a good holiday. 

6: Support Your Gut

When you’re partying with your buddies, it can be a little tough to digest all of that fun food. 

In addition to fruits and vegetables, probiotics help a lot with digestion. Taking a daily, quality probiotic supplement can be highly beneficial. Eating probiotic foods such as kimchi, raw sauerkraut, kvass, milk kefir, or raw apple cider vinegar are also highly beneficial for your digestion.

Plus, many probiotic foods and supplements contain Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains which are involved in the production of neurotransmitters in the gut and are clinically shown to improve mental health and energy levels. 

When buying a probiotic supplement, make sure it is high quality. You’ll want to look for these 5 things: 

1. High CFU count (at least 20 billion)
2. Doctor formulated
3. Clinically tested strains
4. Shelf-stable (does NOT require refrigeration)
5. Contains prebiotic ingredients to improve absorption

Get a probiotic food or supplement early in the day so you can enjoy the day’s festivities (and food) to the fullest. 

7: Have a Plan

Before you start eating, make a reasonable mental commitment for what and how much you are going to eat. 

The times we end up eating too much and feeling crappy are usually times we go into a meal with no plan or decision on how much is reasonable to eat. We go back for 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, etc. We say, “just a little more of this”, or “I still need to try that.” Before we know it, we’re stuffed to the brim, our energy is low, our mood is poor, and we don’t feel like doing much of anything. 

We all get it. Food is amazing! We just need some balance so we can live the rest of life’s moments to the utmost. 

Have some fun food, but be reasonable. This will enable you to fully engage with the good experiences you are yet to have this holiday. Your body and brain will thank you for making a wise decision and caring for your health. 

Happy 4th! Remember to drink your Ruvi so you can have sustained energy, great mood, and excellent digestion!