One of the most difficult times of the year for those trying to lose weight or eat healthy is the holiday season. While the holidays are a time to get together with family and friends, every party and gathering is also an excuse to take a holiday from your healthy heating habits. A cookie here, a chocolate there, washed down with some egg nog, and before you know it your pants are too tight and you are feeling guilty.
The good news is that with a little foresight, those holiday pounds can be easily avoided while still enjoying the holiday season.
To start off, here are our tips for getting through Thanksgiving:
• Start the feast on a healthy -- and filling -- note. Instead of caloric dips and fatty appetizers, have low-calorie pre-dinner munchies available during food preparation and pre-dinner socializing.
• Place bowls of different-colored veggies without sauces on the table first, either at the start of the buffet or as the first dishes passed around the table. That will allow people to cover a good portion of their plates with healthier choices before serving calorie-denser foods like stuffing and mashed potatoes.
• Serve salad as a first course. Go heavy on greens, light on non-veggie add-ins like cheese. Try using antioxidant-rich types of greens such as kale, mustard greens or arugula.
• Make the vegetable side dishes the star of the show -- or at least the co-star. Try new, eye-appealing and interesting veggie recipes that pack plenty of flavor without extra calories.
• Avoid adding hidden calories during food preparation, such as adding butter to mashed white or sweet potatoes, or butter, oil or cheese to veggies.
• Sneak a few veggies into the dressing, such as diced onions, celery, leeks, shallots, carrots, even cauliflower.
• Instead of using store-bought high calorie cranberry sauce, try making your own. You can add in healthy fruits such as pears or apples in place of sugar.
• Make gravy a choice, not the default. Instead, the default serving should be turkey without gravy. If someone wants gravy, they should add it themselves.
• Be mindful of served portion sizes; someone can always ask for more.
• Get everyone up and moving before dessert. Always have plain fruit options along with traditional choices.
• Have plenty of water on the table and readily available. Make non-caloric beverages the default option.
Green Light It Up!
Holiday meals don't have to pack such a high-calorie punch. Simple makeover tips can lighten a meal and keep the taste just as good:
• Baked turkey -- choose a plain bird over a self-basting bird to lower the sodium content. To ensure a moist bird, bake un-stuffed, leave the skin on while roasting and remove from the oven when internal temperature reaches 170 degrees in the breast.
• Gravy -- use a gravy cup or refrigerate the pan juices (to harden the fat) and skim the fat off before making gravy. Save around 656 grams of fat per cup!
• Candied yams -- leave out the margarine and marshmallows. Sweeten with a little fruit juice, such as apple and flavor with cinnamon.
• Green bean casserole -- cook fresh green beans with chunks of potatoes instead of cream soup. Top with almonds instead of fried onion rings.
• Mashed potatoes -- use skim milk, roasted garlic and a little parmesan cheese instead of whole milk and butter.
• Bread -- serve smaller pieces or omit it altogether.
• The plate method -- imagine your plate divided into thirds. Use the first third to fan out white meat turkey, no skin. Use the second third for salad and low-fat vegetables. Finally, the last third is for all the starches (sweet potatoes, stuffing and cranberry sauce).
Via Joanna Dolgoff, M.D. (Huffington Post)
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