Find a food and grog 'substitute' for Christmas and beyond

What are the best foods to snack on, and what 'health foods' should you eat over the silly season and beyond?

What about mangoes and stone fruit? You kicked sugar, but you're having a few pieces of fruit a day leading up to Chrissy. Is that OK?

You also stopped having sugar in your tea and coffee and so are a few Christmas biscuits OK to nibble on?

And grog? You're going to kick beer and only drink red wine, is that OK?

Chocolate? You only have the really dark stuff (sure you eat a lot of it). It's just got to be good, right Mr Nutritionist?

The truth is, if you really want to not pile on the weight this Chissy and over the holidays, the bottom line is you need to stop eating and drinking so regularly.

If your body could talk, it would tell you take a break from eating and drinking, and maybe just stick to three square meals a day. Your body would also tell you that grazing is for cows not humans.

But the problem is we are caught in a web of stress-eating.

It's why eating food both high in fat and carbohydrates like takeaway, has an almost drug-like effect on the brain. It fires up all those feel-good neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins. It's why we can't get enough of the burgers, fries, pizza and pies. Our brain says, whatever you just ate, eat it again and again.

And high carbohydrate food like bread, cereal, rice, pasta, starchy veggies (like potato, corn and sweet potato) snacks and fruit are the same. They quickly become glucose, and our brain loves glucose and wants more. Yes, even those foods high in fibre or wholegrain.

These foods also play havoc with our blood sugars. It's like being on an eating rollercoaster. We are either full to the gills or starving. We get cravings, 'hangry', fat, bloated, foggy and tired. We are almost forced into going back for more and more.

And yes, we must talk about grog. It doesn't matter if its red, white, clear or dark-our brain loves the stuff as it acts like a sedative. The brain wants more soothing, and it's why we can't get enough.

So how do you break out of this vicious cycle of stress eating, constant snacking and drinking, especially over the Christmas period?

Start by finding a comfort-eating replacement (that doesn't involve chewing or drinking).

Instead of eating/drinking can you: go for a walk, a jog, a bushwalk, take up a hobby, learn to paint, to sing, to tinker, exercise, have a cup of tea/coffee, go for a bike ride, a drive, learn a language, learn a musical instrument, do some yoga, meditation, or breathing exercises

Start the search. A comfort-eating 'replacement' might just fall in your lap. It might require a journey to find, but you'll learn a lot about yourself along the way, and it will help you shed those few kilograms in 2020.

- Anthony Power is a registered nutritionist and works in private practice in Brisbane, Queensland.