This time of year there is no shortage of available options to help sabotage your healthy lifestyle.

It’s mostly about the food, but the weather doesn’t do us any favors when it comes to keeping active so it’s pretty easy to feel overwhelmed and put your healthy lifestyle on hiatus. At least until that New Year’s resolution kicks in. Then you’ll pick it back up for say…a week or two until another excuse comes along.

No more excuses!

You don’t have to stop being healthy to enjoy the holidays. You don’t have to sabotage your nutrition. And you don’t have to sacrifice enjoying all of the yummy holiday goodness while the rest of the world indulges. Everyone knows that feeling when you eat too much of the wrong food, but you can avoid that feeling and indulge even if you are gluten-free or have considered changing your diet to eliminate gluten.

You just have to be smart about it.

Eating Healthy

• I have a couple of tips to help you stick with a healthy eating plan and still enjoy some of the tastes and deliciousness of the holidays. It takes a little bit of pre-planning but it is doable!
• First thing you need to do is limit your treats to one day a week. Give yourself a break! Life is short and you deserve to enjoy it. Allowing yourself one day a week to splurge will eliminate the guilt and help you prioritize which indulgences are worth it.
• Next, limit your treats mostly to ones you make at home. This will give you total control over the ingredients and you can make healthier substitutions like honey instead of sugar. And if you are gluten-free, you can make just about any holiday recipe that calls for flour with a gluten-free flour. If you are going to a holiday party, ask if you can bring a dessert or a healthy side and make one that is delicious but meets your dietary needs.
• Another option when dealing with treats is the one-bite rule. At parties limit yourself to one-bite of up to 4 different desserts.
• Speaking of parties, don’t be shy about letting your host know if you have any dietary restrictions like gluten-free. You can tell them not to do anything special but if they can let you know which items on the menu are safe for you, it will make the party a lot less stressful.
• If you are going to spend the day at the mall power shopping, bring along some better-for-you treats like fruit or limited ingredient date bars.
• Opt for a broth soup with a side of vegetables if one of your shopping trips finds you needing to eat out. If you are gluten-free, always ask about the gluten-free menu options, it’s becoming more and more common.
• Another great tactic for sticking with your healthy eating plan is to come up with a system of “paying” for your indulgences. If you eat a cookie, schedule in 50 squats and 100 jumping jacks the next day. If you know you have to “work” for the treats, you might be a little more likely to be more careful.

Again, I believe it is healthy and necessary to deviate from a healthy diet every once in awhile. But I also believe that you can do it reasonably so you can still enjoy the holidays but not need to buy bigger pants when they are over. And if you follow a gluten-free diet, even by choice, that is one compromise you don’t have to make. You’d be surprised how many delicious holiday goodies are naturally gluten-free!

Staying Fit

The wind-chill here is below zero right now, which makes it next to impossible to get outside and get active. Sure, I could get a gym membership but that means leaving the house, and we all know how many gym memberships go unused for that very reason. But you can get a good workout in at home with little to no equipment.

Some of them are even fun!

To help stay fit and warm this holiday season, my Below Zero Workout should keep you in tip-top shape and help you earn some of those delicious treats.

Udi’s Gluten-Free knows that food and fitness go hand-in-hand and they have so many great tasting products for people with celiac’s, gluten-sensitivity or those who just want to remove gluten from their diets because it makes them feel better.

There is a Udi’s Gluten-Free product for every need you may have. Breads, muffins, cookies, pizza crust, brownies, tortillas and more. Using Udi’s products can help you stay on track during the holiday season.

How do you stay fit and healthy during the holidays?

Learn more about living gluten free! Visit http://udisglutenfree.com/community 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Udi’s Gluten Free. The opinions and text are all mine.