Last year Laura on Starling Fitness had a post asking what to eat when you were out Christmas shopping and I commented “Just don’t eat”. She called me on it and rightly so, it is not a good strategy to just let it go when you really do need to eat. Christmas is a bit of a marathon here near the end where if you have been putting your Christmas shopping off you will be stuck with the just shop and shop and have no time to really eat healthy so I thought I would knock off these tips in hopes that my experiences this year would help a few others.
1. Don’t go to the mall hungry. This is the same as going to the grocery store hungry. If is just not good as your defences are down and there are way to many enticing treats to eat at the mall.
2. Stay away from the food fair. OK, so all the food is in the food fair and you have a choice, greasy pizza, greasy McDonalds, greasy chinese food or greasy…well you get the idea. Nothing good can come out of the food fair. There are restaurants around the mall and even outside the mall as real choices when you are out so that you can sit down for a break and a meal in a relaxed atmosphere instead.
3. Try power drinks instead. I like two different foods at the mall and hopefully you have them as well. One is Yogen Fruz. Yogen Fruz is frozen yogurt and I think it is good for you (let me know if I am wrong) and it tastes great. The other is the drink places like Booster Juice or the equivalent. These places offer fruit drinks with vitamins and minerals added are a little pricy but they taste good and keep your sweet tooth happy while giving you some liquids in the dry shopping mall.
4. Bring snacks in your bag. Just because you are in the mall does not mean that you can’t bring some nuts or fruit. With the kids always wanting a drink or a snack in the mall we can always pull something out of my wifes bag for them to eat.
Just in case you need a reminder, only a week until Christmas now.