Day 2 of Holiday Healthy Coaching...What is Emotionless Unrefined Eating (EUE)?.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my 
Registered Dietitian recommended to me... 

Emotionless Unrefined Eating (EUE) ! 

We were doing so well...learning the basics, weeding out the refined foods and then the holidays hit. It all started at Halloween, the scary processed, sugar laden and chemically clustered foods started lining the shelves and continued to hang out for a quarter of the calendar year. Many of my clients tell me how they are emotionally drawn to the foods that they eat especially around the holidays. I can relate to this attachment personally and professionally, whether its grandmas pecan pie, dads fried turkey or just store bought white rolls. Whatever the favored holiday food may be its time to change the way we look at the foods we eat at holidays in order to make a real change in our overall health. My advice  is to enjoy the holidays but to try and focus on other activities with the family that do not involve food. Food should not be the center of the holiday, it should accompany and provide enjoyment, but not be the focus of the season. Here are a few tips that I recommend for a holiday with emotionless unrefined eating.

1. Plan ahead and provide an outdoor and indoor activity that will draw the family away from the kitchen or food preparation areas. This year we brought a football and attempted to play a variation of flag football with the 3 generations that were in attendance. For the indoor activity we had a multitude of crafts that all ages loved to do.

2. Consider compromising. If that snack cake shaped like a Christmas tree is a must have for your holiday enjoyment then consider swapping it for that canned ham topped with maraschino cherries. Just because it is the holidays does not mean its a free for all and all the traditional foods have to be eaten at once. Spread it out and work on replacing the refined foods with unrefined foods.

3. Load up on fruits and vegetables. Set the table with fresh fruits and vegetables that are easy to grab and go. Instead of dips and chips or crackers and cheeses as an appetizer consider laying out fresh vegetables and fruits. The fiber will fill you up and allow for less room for the other stuff.

4. Talk to your family about the changes you would like to see this year during the celebrations. Encourage them to adapt healthier recipes and to participate in physical activity during the celebrations.

5. Consider preserving traditional recipes in a family made cookbook that can be shared with all family members and friends. By writing down the recipe the entire family can still participate in the event without drawing on the emotion of disappointment which may accompany a family event when someone is asked to make their recipe a little healthier. This method allows grandma’s 4 sticks of butter stuffing to be more of a heart warming memory and less of a heart stopping food item. 

When the holidays are over you don't necessarily remember the food,  the real memories are made by the time spent with family and friends. Consider changing how you and your family view your food related family traditions. This change to healthy, unrefined foods will provide the best gift you could give to your family and friends.

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