As I’m sitting here typing, I have a small bowl from B’s toddler years with me, now filled to the brim with organic tortilla chips. As I’m munching away, B asks me if I will ever buy “regular tortilla chips” again – to which my answer is a very sturdy, “No.” Eating healthy year round instead of dieting keeps you healthy for your entire life, and I think that’s reason enough. But the holidays are a certain kind of wonderful when eating healthy rules are often broken. So, here are some holiday healthy eating tips, brought to you straight from my daily habits and my friends over at The Vitamin Shoppe. (Keep scrolling for a chance to win some Vitamin Shoppe goodies and a $50 gift card!)
Holiday Healthy Eating Tips
It’s easy to eat healthy around the holidays (and year round) with these healthy holiday eating tips! You can easily take vitamins everyday (Vitamin Shoppe carries my favorites!), but it’s even more than that. If you are looking for many of these healthy swaps this season, seriously check out your local Vitamin Shoppe, as they carry organic olive oil, chia seeds, and so much more that can be incorporated into your daily eating habits. Here are some of my favorite healthy holiday swaps:
- Always go for real over fake. No canned cranberry sauce allowed!
- Replace sour cream with plain Greek yogurt.
- Swap out heavy mashed potatoes with spicy chipotle cauliflower mash (recipe below).
- Focus on portion control by using a smaller plate or bowls (like I mentioned above).
- Cut back on alcohol while enjoying your actual meal – alcohol acts as an appetite stimulant and causes blood sugar levels to drop, often leading to mindless snacking, instead of enjoying your more healthy meal.
- Scout a workout buddy for the day after a holiday party to keep you committed to burning off extra calories.
- Replace your beloved potato chips with kale chips (I promise I will get around to do a recipe post for these, as they are my new favorites!).
- If you are craving tart, sugary candies, stock up on kiwi fruit! I promise they will satisfy your craving for something sweet.
- Skip the salad dressing and stick with basic red wine vinegar with a touch of olive oil.
- Use cinnamon instead of sugar. I know this sounds nuts, but cinnamon not only has appetite suppressing qualities, but can also have a very sweet taste to it. I load it into my coffee and overnight oats every morning!
Spicy Chipotle Cauliflower Mash
- 1 fresh head of cauliflower
- 1 tsp chipotle chili seasoning
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- Sprinkling of sea salt to taste
- Boil or steam your head of fresh cauliflower until soft enough to mash
- Drain all excess water
- Mash your cauliflower as if you were mashing potatoes
- Mix in your seasoning and serve warm!
If you want this to come out creamier, Vitamin Shoppe suggests adding some coconut or unflavored almond milk to fluff it up a little bit. I only had unsweetened vanilla almond milk on hand, so that wasn’t happening for me! You can also easily swap out the chipotle seasoning if you aren’t interested in spicy, but I find that for me spices help get me drinking lots of water afterwards and ups the overall flavor of my food. You can also very easily double or triple the recipe in one large pot for bigger holiday get togethers.
Fashionably Yours,
Allison
This looks like an amazing recipe–I love cauliflower! Thanks for the awesome giveaway, too–just entered! Xoxo
I must try this! My little one is so picky, I don’t he will like it but it’s worth a shot!