Healthy Tips for the holidays!

Focus on a healthy balance of food, activity, and fun. Follow these few simple tips so you can stay healthy through the holiday season.

    1. Be realistic and don’t try to lose weight during the holidays, just try to maintain your current weight.
    2. Try to still make time for exercise. Exercise helps relieve holiday stress. Moderate exercise of 10- or 15-minute brisk walks twice a day.
    3. Don’t skip meals. Before going out, have a light snack like raw vegetables or a piece of fruit to cut your appetite. You will be less tempted to over-indulge at a party.
    4. At buffets, choose your favorite foods and skip your least favorite. Include salads or vegetables and fruits to keep your plate balanced.
    5. Eat until you are satisfied, not over stuffed. If you want to have dessert, eat small portions.
    6. Be careful with sugary and alcoholic beverages. Alcohol can make you over eat and can pack on the calories; non-alcoholic beverages can be full of calories and sugar, choose ones that are low in sugar like carbonated water.
    7. If you overeat at one meal like lunch go light on the next like dinner. Don’t worry if you over eat, you will never gain weight from overeating just one plate of fries.
    8. Practice healthy holiday cooking at home. Preparing favorite dishes lower in fat and calories will help promote healthy holiday eating. Incorporate some of these simple cooking tips in your holiday recipes to make them healthier.
      1. Gravy: Awesome tip! Refrigerate the gravy to harden fat. Remove the fat from the top layer. This will save a lot of saturated fat and calories.
      2. Stuffing: Use a little less bread and add more onions, garlic, celery, and vegetables. Add fruits such as cranberries or apples. Moisten or flavor with low fat low sodium chicken or vegetable broth and applesauce.
      3. Turkey: Enjoy delicious, roasted turkey breast without the skin to save saturated fat and cholesterol.
      4. Mashed Potato: Use low fat milk, homemade chicken broth, garlic or garlic powder, and parmesan cheese instead of whole milk and butter.
      5. Desserts: Replace heavy cooking cream with evaporated low milk in cheesecakes. Top cakes with fresh fruit, fruit sauce, or a sprinkle of caster sugar instead of frosting.
    9. On your New Year’s Resolutions, pamper yourself with a Healthy & Fabulous class at Top Chef!
Hala Barghout
Dietician & Health Promoter
www.nutritalks.com
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