Tips to reset and eat healthy after the holidays

DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I overdid it with the holiday indulgences again this year. I’m feeling guilty and uncomfortable. What can I do to reset?

ANSWER: Resetting from holiday indulgences doesn’t mean you have to go on a strict diet or eliminate your favorite foods. With nutrition, there is no all-or-nothing. You can still enjoy festive treats, desserts and beverages — it’s all in how much and how often you have them.

Here are some tips to help get you started:

1. If you have any remaining food items or beverages that lingered after the holidays, give them away or throw them out.

2. Begin introducing vegetables and fruits back into your diet.

3. Pay attention to the portion sizes of your entrees and how much you’re putting on your plate.

4. Center your meal around a healthy source of protein, such as chicken, turkey, lean beef or plant-based protein. Plant-based protein foods such as beans, nuts and legumes can provide a good source of protein, healthy fat and fiber.

Fiber is important to include as part of our daily eating patterns. Fiber aids our digestion by feeding the microbiome in our gut and can help prevent high cholesterol and high blood sugar levels. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. It is not found in any animal-based product or animal protein. As Americans, we tend to eat more animal-based or animal proteins as our main food sources, which is why some of our diets lack fiber.

Fruits and vegetables, in general, are your greatest sources of fiber. Foods such as carrots, cauliflower and broccoli are all great sources of this nutrient. The skin on fruits such as apples and pears provides you with fiber. Berries, including raspberries and blackberries, are also excellent sources of fiber because you’re eating the seed, and that’s where most of the fiber is found.

Additionally, fruit also can be a great source of vitamins and minerals, but it’s important to pay attention to portion sizes particularly if you have high blood sugar levels. You don’t have to eliminate any fruits — just simply pay attention to the portion you eat. Consider using avocados, which are a healthy fat, as a salad or sandwich topping instead of fatty dressing or mayo. Not only will you get the added benefits of the healthy fat, but it can also shake up your meal routine and make it a little more interesting.

With New Year’s resolutions approaching, we do want to pay attention to our eating habits, but the other component is our activity level. Often, after the holidays, everyone wants to join a gym and accomplish lofty fitness goals. The key is to start off slow, particularly if you are not used to a certain type of activity. Engage in something as simple as walking, yoga, bicycling or another activity that you can tolerate and truly enjoy. Once you decide what activity you want to accomplish, aim for a couple of days a week for five to 10 minutes each day and then slowly increase the frequency and duration of that activity.

Oftentimes, when we start off with a big goal and go all in, it becomes too much, and we get overwhelmed. When that happens, we tend to give up and we don’t keep up with that activity or goal we had in mind. Remember to not be too hard on yourself — change takes time. Take it slow and steady as you navigate through this time of food, celebration and resolutions.

Andrea Delgado is a registered dietitian at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.

Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. This Mayo Clinic Q&A represents inquiries this healthcare expert has received from patients. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.org.