Follow these healthy holiday eating tips over the winter holiday season, when there’s so much temptation around.
Eating rich traditional food for one meal of the year won’t hurt you. The problem is, that the over-indulgence can go on for days, or even weeks. Use the strategies in these healthy holiday eating tips, and you can still enjoy festive food without overdoing it.
The key to eating healthy at times like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, is to control those portions. The danger lies not in what you eat, but in how much you eat.
Have a light healthy meal or snack to take the edge off your hunger before you go to a party.
Don’t leave bowls of chocolate, candy and nuts around where it’s all too easy to keep helping yourself.
Serve nuts in the shell, rather than ready shelled. It takes time and patience to crack them, which makes consumption lower.
Cut cakes, desserts and savoury tarts and quiches into portions before placing on a buffet table.
Buy dark chocolate, with a high cocoa content. You’ll get a useful dose of minerals, and its sumptuous richness means you’ll be satisfied with less.
Following these healthy holiday eating tips doesn't mean you have to miss out on the delicious foods. Just take smaller portions of unhealthy foods, and savour them slowly. Try a sliver of cheese, a small spoon of cream, a couple of roast potatoes.
Fill up your plate with vegetables and salad, but hold back on creamy dressings, butter and mayo.
Don’t major on meat. Look for dishes using vegetables, fruit and grains.
At a help yourself buffet, use a small plate and fill it just once.
Get children following the healthy holiday eating tips, too. Don’t say no when they ask for sweet treats, but don’t give them free rein, either. Agree a time when they can have their candies, and distribute them yourself, rather than let them loose on the pack.
Get off the couch at least once a day and go for a half-hour brisk walk. Take the kids along too.
Keep up with the fresh fruit and vegetables over the holiday season. Keep a bowl topped up with easy-peel citrus where people can help themselves. Before a meal, put a dish of carrot sticks, apple pieces or cubes of fresh pineapple on the table – you’ll be surprised at how they disappear.
If you’re watching your weight, commit to rationing yourself to just one or two treats a day, in the weeks leading up to a big feast. Enjoy choosing, relish the flavour - then put the box away.
Avoid too much alcohol. Alternate alcoholic drinks with sparkling water, soda or fruit juice. Designate some days as non-alcohol.
Eat slowly, savour the flavours and enjoy the food. You’re less likely to overeat.
Bring some healthy foods along to the party. People are often glad to have something crisp and fresh, alongside heavier food.
Remember this sobering thought – eating 250 excess calories every day for a year, would lead to a weight gain of 26 lb.
