5 Tips for Getting Back On The Rails with Your Diet After the Holidays

The holidays are a time for indulging, but you might wonder once you've gotten started how you will stop. The five tips below can all help you get back on track if too much rich food and other indulgences have put your diet plan in jeopardy. 

Eat on schedule

Holiday snacking and big meals served mid-afternoon can all contribute to losing track of the good health habits you've been working on. Make sure that you start eating your meals at regular intervals again with healthy snacks built in as needed.

Drink water

The holidays are ripe for overindulgence in eggnog, sugar-laden punches, alcohol and other unhealthy beverages. Get back into the habit of staying healthily hydrated by drinking water regularly again. Add a sliver of lemon, lime or cucumber if it tastes too plain.

Get rid of temptation

If your house is still stocked with holiday treats and leftovers, it's time to get rid of them. Take them to work, give them to a neighbor or throw them out, and put healthy food back in their place. If it isn't there, you can't be tempted by it.

Don't be discouraged by holiday weight gain

A big diet derail can occur if you feel as though there's no point in trying to reset your healthy habits just because you've been indulgent. Whether it's one meal, one day or several weeks of unhealthy eating, you don't have to throw your hands up in despair. Just shift back to your old healthy habits and you'll start to see results.

Rethink your diet

This can actually be a great time to do a reset of some of your habits. You might want to look into signing up for a meal planning service, doing more cooking and freezing of food on weekends or cutting back on your restaurant meals in the year ahead.

The holidays can be a tough time for healthy eating. However, you can follow the above steps to shift to a healthier mindset and better habits no matter how indulgent you've been.

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6 Tips to Curb Cravings

Healthy foods don't always have the best taste, and dieting is even more difficult when the cravings start to kick into high gear. While you may have an easy time adjusting to smarter foods overall, it's important to find ways to avoid falling for every craving. It might be okay to cheat every once in a while, but our 7 helpful tips can help you gain complete control over your desire for junk food. 

Eat Before You're Hungry
An empty stomach causes a temporary feeling of desperation to put a stop to the hunger pains, and you may feel tempted to grab a bag of chips or settle for fast food. Cravings aren't likely to show up if you space out meals and healthy snacks well enough to avoid hunger. Baby carrots or fresh cut broccoli make a great crispy snack when you feel the urge to munch between meals. 

Distract Your Mind
Thinking about sweets and processed foods is ultimately going to make these temptations more difficult to avoid. Rather than sit around fantasizing about foods you're determined to not consume, get up and find a distraction. Get out of the house and get some fresh air during a walk around the block, or take a little drive listening to your favorite music. If you're finding it hard to overcome a sweet tooth, switch to a sugarless gum between meals to satisfy the urge without breaking your diet. 

Splurge on Water
Pour yourself a tall glass of cold water before every meal, and don't be afraid to drink another anytime you feel the urge to snack. After a few minutes, the craving is likely to fade because the body often confuses thirst with hunger. Eating before meals is a handy trick to eating smaller portions if your ultimate goal is to lose weight. 

Eliminate Daily Stress
It's not secret that people tend to look to their favorite foods when trying to cope with stressful or upsetting situations. Meditate regularly, relax with some herbal tea, and increase light exercise to eliminate stress that may influence bad eating habits. Excessive stress may also spike your cortisol levels, making it very difficult to lose undesirable belly fat. 

Never Shop While Hungry
Plan to head out on your shopping trip after finishing a meal, and stick closely to the intended grocery list. Temptation will be high when you are faced with your favorite junk items and the delicious aromas of fried foods at the deli counter. If you go into the store hungry, you'll end up leaving with a cart full of items that reflect the same foods that you're working so hard to avoid. 

Sleep Well
The relation between sleep and eating habits may be more significant than you realize, especially when it comes to poor dietary decisions. If you're accustomed to staying up late for any reason, you're more likely to partake in a little snacking right before you lay down. Not only is this bad for your diet, but it's normal for people reach for packaged snack items instead of preparing a healthier option. Inadequate sleep is also going to cause hormone fluctuations that enhance normal cravings to a greater intensity. Make sure that you get to bed a a decent time each night, and don't be afraid to use remedies like melatonin supplements or a glass of warm milk to help you fall asleep. 

Learning a New Language Can Help Keep Brains Young

If you are looking for ways to delay dementia and possibly even prevent Alzheimer's, you may want to consider learning a second language. A number of studies have shown a link between the ability to speak two or more languages and the prevention of brain deterioration. This is true whether you have spoken two languages your whole life or you learn it later, and regardless of your education level. Multiple languages is, in fact, a better indicator of long-lasting brain health than education levels in the opinion of some experts. Here is a look at why this may be the case, and how you can learn two languages quickly and easily:

Languages Can Mean Flexibility of Thought
Part of the reason that being bilingual, trilingual or otherwise multilingual leads to a younger brain is that it offers flexibility in the way you view things. The phrases that are used to describe things, and even words themselves have within them a bias that creates a change in how you view the world. Eskimos have multiple words for types of snow, but no general snow category. The word for potato in French translates directly into "apple of the earth." The Swedes have a word that means just enough-- not too little, not too much, which emphasizes the importance of moderation in the culture. When you speak two or more languages, you begin to think in multiple ways about the same items. This creates new neural connections that allow your brain another way to access a word or concept if one of these nerve routes is impaired.

How to Learn a New Language
There are a number of different ways to learn a new language. The most successful way for you to learn will depend on your access to time and travel combined with your personal learning style. For those who only have a little time and want something free, there are a number of online apps designed to help you to learn languages a little at a time. If you want something a little more formal and you learn well in a classroom setting, consider taking a university extension class. For those who learn best in an immersion setting, there are intensive classes in foreign-language speaking countries that you can take where you stay with a host family and do half-days of class. Once you learn, try and find a friend to practice with. One great partnership is to find someone who speaks the language natively and will converse with you. If they speak English as a second language, it gives you the opportunity to help one another. 

Keeping Your Second Language Fresh
If you spoke another language in high school or college, or you learned a language as a child from grandparents or parents, then your brain health can benefit from keeping that language fresh. Travel to places where it is spoken. Join a local language club. Read websites, newspapers or even novels in that language. Watch foreign films. Call your relatives from other countries. It can be done any way that works for you and your lifestyle, provided you remember to practice as often as you have a chance.