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2005/12/15, 10:22 PM
This is something we all seem to struggle with... Some good points here...
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10. Go into the holidays with the right frame of mind. Establish the objective of MANITAINING your weight throughout the holiday season. It would be ludicrous for someone to begin a diet in an attempt to lose weight during this most festive time of year. However, if you make it to January at the same weight you were in November, pat yourself on the back. Even if you do wind up gaining a few pounds over the holidays, don’t be discouraged. Even the best of us can become afflicted with a little holiday bulge. The main thing is to remember you can get back to where you want to be in the New Year with a little discipline.
9. Make and freeze some healthy meals. It goes without saying that time is at a premium over the holidays. With so much fun happening, it can be difficulty to find the time to prepare healthy meals. However, making a few before the season reaches full swing enables you to enjoy healthy meals in the time it takes to defrost them.
8. Eat a healthy breakfast and lunch the day of a party. Identify days that you know you are going to be tempted to indulge in big festive meals. On these days, make an effort to eat especially healthily before going to the event. Planning is very important.
7. Never go a party hungry. Thinking that you can "save up" your daily eating for one big event in the evening doesn't work. If you allow yourself to become hungry, you have a much greater chance of overeating. Having mixed meals (i.e. protein with carbohydrate and fibre) every time you eat is the way to combat hunger cravings.
6. Bring something healthy yourself. This way, you can be guaranteed you can go to at least one item with a guilt-free conscience. And most hosts won’t mind having something else to add to the snack table.
5. If you know you will be pressured into a second helping, make your first helping small. This way, both together will make approximately one serving. One of the keys to successful holiday eating is maintaining appropriate portion sizes.
4. You can choose the healthy alternatives. Snack tables at parties often include things like carrot and celery sticks, grapes, melon and strawberries. And don't forget that many foods, like cheese, milk and sour cream, have equally tasty low fat versions.
3. Eat SLOW. It is true that your brain realizes you are full after you actually are. By eating slowly, you get more enjoyment out of the meal, and minimize the risk of overeating.
2. Keep ACTIVE. The benefits of exercise are innumerable. Not the least of which is the fact that a bout of daily exercise over the holidays will help burn off some of those extra calories that you may be consuming (despite your best efforts). It may be beneficial to try and exercise in the morning, as more and more excuses not to exercise surface as the day goes by.
1. EAT HEALTHY ALL YEAR! This is the most important piece of advice of all. If your diet is good for 50 weeks of the year, two weeks of festive eating over the holidays WILL NOT destroy your health! The holidays are a glorious time of year - a time for fun and for breaking from the routine. Food is one of the ways in which the holidays are celebrated. By eating well all year, you'll feel less guilty about indulging over the holidays, and rightly so! What’s more is that by abstaining from these "forbidden" foods all year, you'll actually enjoy them more over the holidays!
Adapted from CSEP December 2005 Newsletter article by Dennis Collier, RD, M.Sc., PFLC
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