The Weekend Runner: Eid Battles

Eid is a constant battle between wanting to crazy on the good food while dealing with guilty feelings that would come later after stuffing myself too much. Eid after eid, I realized this is not a healthy mentality to have as I should be consistent with having a balanced diet all year round. There must be a better way to win this battle. Since no one eats avocado smoothies or protein shakes for Eid, and avoiding the good ol’ rendang is absoloutely impossible, I have devised 5 tactics to strike a balance to have a healthy and happy Eid:

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Yes kitty I feel you. (source: google)

 

1.The key word here is MODERATION.

Don’t totally deprive yourself of the good food or grandma’s cooking, but stop before you are 100% full. If you experience indigestion and bloating on the first day of Eid, you know you have gone overboard. Plus, your poor stomach will need some time adjusting because your food consumption has decreased in Ramadhan.

 

2.Use smaller utensils.

Buffet spread is the biggest culprit of overeating during Eid, because our eyes are bigger than our stomach. We want to take everything! A simple trick to curb this is by swapping the dinner plate (usually it’s the biggest plate) for a smaller plate. Bigger plate –> more space to fill in with food –> overeating. This will also significantly reduce food wastage, because we only take what we can eat.

 

3.Take time to savour your Eid cakes and cookies i.e. kuih raya.

Try to limit to just one piece for each type of cookie. Alternatively, if you know you have a weakness for your favourite type of kuih, pre-portion them out first on a piece of plate so you are less tempted to empty out the whole jar.

 

4.Drink plain water only.

This is simple and straight-forward. No soft drinks, no sugary drinks, as these drinks contain ‘empty’ calories (no nutritional value). Alternatively, you can have hot coffee or tea without sugar.

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A glass of syrup contains more calories than a stick of satay! (source: google)

 

5.Remain active through out the day.

Instead of lying down after stuffing yourself with good food (sounds tempting, right?), offer to help out instead. Volunteer to help prepare the meals, do some cleaning up, run errands, or just play with the kids.

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Ideally, you should schedule in time for a work out to burn that extra 500 calories.

 

Ultimately, Eid is a time to reconnect and socialize with your family and friends. Having a good time and nurturing relationships does not always have to revolve around food. Remember: we eat to live, not live to eat.

 

Until next week,

The Weekend Runner.

 

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