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Healthy Eating Tips for the Holidays

You can make it from Halloween through New Year’s and remain on your weight loss plan or at least avoid gaining weight—here’s how to eat right and still enjoy the holiday season.

There are so many temptations during the holiday season—an ever-growing period of time that stretches from before Halloween through New Year’s Eve (and returns for the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day).

Giving up great food isn’t an option so we have developed strategies to make sure our waistlines don’t grow along with the festive season. Read on for tips on how to enjoy parties and celebratory meals like Thanksgiving without gaining weight (or having to chain yourself to an elliptical trainer and subsist on air-popped popcorn for a month or so).

Healthy Eating Tips for Holiday Parties & Dinners

Choose Low-Calorie And Healthy Festive Foods

Baked Brie and creamy dips are festive calorie bombs, yet plenty of other party foods are naturally low in calories and seem equally merry. Go for crudités, lean deli meats, chicken kebabs, salsa (instead of using chips, spoon up thicker salsa straight from your plate or with a thin slice of English cucumber, zucchini, or a piece of chicken), steamed asparagus (one large spear has only four calories, boiled shrimp. Skip the cracker when eating hard cheeses.

Bring The Healthy Fare To Parties And Potlucks

To guarantee there’s something healthy on the buffet, volunteer to bring it yourself. Take seasonal salads, homemade bean dip, or a big batch of roasted root vegetables, all of which provide flavorful, filling alternatives to foods higher in fat and calories.

Don’t Hover Around The Buffet Table

When you’re at a party buffet table, choose three or four items you really want to eat, then step away from the table so you’re not tempted to graze. If you’re in the middle of an interesting conversation or standing on the other side of the room from the food, you’re less likely to keep absentmindedly refilling your plate. To entice yourself away from the buffet we suggest trying to meet at least one new person or checking out the decor in your host’s home.

Use A Napkin

An easy way to monitor portion size is to put food on a small plate, or even better, on a napkin. It’s a simple trick: You can’t fit as much on a napkin, so you won’t eat as much. Another option: Take a big plate and fill it up once, taking one spoonful—not multiples—of each dish. Do not return for seconds.

Hit The Veggie Tray

Filling up on high-fiber and low-cal raw vegetables, salad, or broth-based (not creamy) soups is a good strategy. Starting a meal with raw veggies fills the stomach with fiber-rich foods that provide a feeling of fullness. Eating raw veggies also slows down the eating process, giving your stomach the 20 minutes it needs to signal the brain that it’s getting full.

Follow The Three-Bite Rule

When dining at a restaurant, only take a few bites of a dish. Studies have shown that after the third bite, your taste buds don’t register the flavors as sharply, so unless it’s amazing, it’s not worth the calories. You can always take the leftovers home.

Drink Plenty Of Water And Avoid Alcoholic Beverages

Before you eat, drink at least eight ounces of water, tea, or coffee so that your thirst is quenched and your stomach already feels a little full. Drinking water before having an alcoholic beverage (and between alcoholic drinks) is also a good idea: You will be less likely to gulp down the alcoholic drink to quench your thirst. Avoid alcoholic beverages if possible. A diet 7 up or club soda with a lemon or lime in it is much better for you. If you must have an alcoholic beverage, limit yourself to one or two drinks for the evening, and in order to keep to it, tell a friend who can make sure you adhere to that.

Keep Liquid Calories In Check

Eggnog—the famously fatty beverage of the holidays—has a whopping 343 calories and 11 grams of saturated fat per cup. Get the flavor of the season with a shot glass–size serving of nog if you must, then stick to water, drinks made with seltzer, club soda or diet soft drinks. A five-ounce glass of red wine has only 125 calories. Not sure what five ounces looks like? Before a party, measure out five ounces of water and pour it into a wineglass just to remind yourself what a ‘serving’ looks like.

Healthy Eating Rules to Follow Every Day During Holiday Season

Bakers, Beware

If you bake during the holidays, keep one day’s worth of treats and give everything else away—either bring the surplus to work, give it to neighbors or family, or send it to your spouse’s or roommate’s office.

Regift Food Presents

If you get a food gift, share it with others so you can’t eat it all by yourself.

Say No To Junk Food

Don’t blow your calories on low-quality sweets. There are so many good homemade treats to enjoy at this time of year that there’s no reason to buy an ordinary candy bar or take something from the candy jar at work just because you’re having a craving. Try to save your snack “allowance” for better desserts that will really make you feel satisfied. Change dessert recipes to use sugar substitutes and low-fat, low carb substitutions when possible.

Consider Setting A Few Ground Rules

There are a few general guidelines you should try to follow. Avoid anything fried; use vegetables instead of crackers or chips for dips, and dip only every other vegetable instead of every one.

Don’t Turn Shopping Sprees Into Eating Sprees

The holiday season is incredibly busy, and we all are on the go. When shopping or out running holiday errands, try to set aside time to eat and plan what and where to eat. In lieu of fast food restaurants, seek out a healthier restaurant near the shops you’re going to, or eat before you go. Bring a bag of almonds, an energy bar, or dried fruit to tide you over if hunger strikes.

Eat Three Square Meals Every Day And Snacks, Eating Every 2 To 3 Hours

Sure, it might make sense on paper to slash calories by skipping meals during the day when you know you’re going to have a big feast later, but this strategy often backfires and can lead to overeating, low energy, and generally feeling bad. Take the time to have a decent-sized breakfast that includes plenty of protein, complex carbohydrates, and some dairy, all of which will help you feel full and keep your energy up. Eating every 2 to 3 hours avoids hunger and speeds up the metabolism. You can accomplish this by eating 3 healthy meals a day and a healthy snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

The same advice goes for lunch and pre-party snacks or dinners. If you’re going to a party where you can’t count on a meal being served, eat a healthy, satisfying dinner with plenty of protein, but make the meal a little bit smaller than usual, so you can justify a couple of healthy appetizers at the party.

Add Exercise Whenever And Wherever You Can

Further Evidence That Eating Slower Reduces Food Intake

Article Date: Nov 11, 2011

Two new studies by researchers at the University of Rhode Island are providing
additional insights into the role that eating rate plays in the amount of food
one consumes. The studies found that men eat significantly faster than women,
heavier people eat faster than slimmer people, and refined grains are consumed
faster than whole grains, among other findings.

Kathleen Melanson, URI associate professor of nutrition, along with graduate students Emily Ponte and Amanda Petty, presented their research at the annual meeting of The Obesity Society in Orlando this month.

In one laboratory study, which validated that self-reported eating rates reflect
an individual’s actual eating rate, Melanson and her lab team found that fast
eaters consumed about 3.1 ounces of food per minute, medium-speed eaters
consumed 2.5 ounces per minute, and slow eaters consumed 2 ounces per minute.
This work is the first to validate self-reported eating rates that have been
used in large population studies, which have shown relationships between eating
rate and body weight.

The researchers also found what Melanson described as “very strong gender
differences” in eating rates. At lunch, the men consumed about 80 calories
per minute while the women consumed 52 calories per minute.

“The men who reported eating slowly ate at about the same rate as the
women who reported eating quickly,” said Melanson, director of the URI
Energy Balance Laboratory.

The second study, which examined the characteristics associated with eating
rates, found a close association between eating rate and body mass index (BMI),
with those individuals with a high BMI typically eating considerably faster
than those with a low BMI.

“One theory we are pursuing is that fast eating may be related to greater
energy needs, since men and heavier people have higher energy needs,” said
Melanson.

In what Melanson called her favorite result, the study also found that the test
subjects consumed a meal of whole grains – whole grain cereal and whole wheat
toast – significantly slower than when eating a similar meal of refined grains.

“Whole grains are more fibrous, so you have to chew them more, which takes
more time,” she said.

According to Melanson, these studies have raised a number of additional
questions that she intends to pursue with future research.

“When you talk about eating rate, you have to talk about eating
techniques,” she explained. “It’s not just about how long it takes
you to eat, but how you eat.”

She plans to study specific slow-eating techniques to see how they may affect
appetite and weight loss. She will also examine other factors that might
influence eating rate in daily life.

“We also want to recruit fast-paced eaters with a high BMI, teach them how
to eat slowly, and see what role that might play in weight management,”
Melanson said.

While the link between eating rate and obesity is still being studied, Melanson said that
her research has demonstrated that eating slowly results in significantly fewer
average calories being consumed.

“It takes time for your body to process fullness signals,” she
concluded, “so slower eating may allow time for fullness to register in
the brain before you’ve eaten too much.”

The latest research follows up on a landmark 2007 study conducted by Melanson
that was the first to confirm the popular dietary belief that eating slowly
reduces food intake. That study found that women who were told to eat quickly
consumed 646 calories in nine minutes, but the same women consumed just 579
calories in 29 minutes when encouraged to pause between bites and chew each
mouthful 15 to 20 times before swallowing.

7 Simple Weight-Loss Tips by Dr. OZ

You know a question I get asked most? I mean besides, “How do I live longer?” and “Doc, is a cursive-Q-shaped poop acceptable?”

Yep, you got it: How do I drop pounds?

And I have to tell you, this time of year, it has to be one of the toughest questions around. You’re faced with the triumvirate of temptations in just a short span—bite-sized Halloween candy by the bucketful, then what seems to a be a 40-million-calorie Thanksgiving dinner, followed by a month of parties, meals, and more sweets than you know what to do with.

So in the face of the furious few months, anybody who’s trying to lose weight has to be up front about goals and expectations. Maybe you’re not going to lose as much as you want right now. Maybe it’s ok to indulge in Aunt Edna’s amazing pie (but just a little). Maybe your expectations should be about winning as many minor dietary battles as you can to get you through a rough stretch.

If that’s the case, as I believe it is with most folks who try to lose weight during the holidays, your strategy should be about finding places where you can make good, smart decisions that will keep you satisfied and ready to take on another day.

Quick Tips to Keep of the Pounds

• Download an app that allows you to track calories (or keep a food journal). Just that little sense of accountability to yourself will pay huge dividends when you’re face-to-face with 3,000 cheese cubes.
• Six of you out for a holiday celebration? Order one dessert and six forks. One or two bites? Not the problem. Twelve can be.
• End a meal with a glass of wine. It’s sweet, it’s not as caloric as some desserts and it lasts longer, helping you feel more satisfied.
• Pile the plate with turkey. Besides it being a source of lean protein, it also helps increase serotonin, which can help you improve mood and resist cravings.
• Perhaps your most powerful pre-party weapon is a handful of nuts and a big glass of water. Together, they’ll curb hunger and make you less likely to dive head first into a bowl ranch dip.
• Change up your snack routine. Instead of a bag of [anything you’re going to eat 50 of], try a cup of Greek yogurt mixed with a few berries a little 100% whole grain cereal.
• Before a big meal or party, take a 30-minute walk. It’s a reminder to your body that you’ve treated it right—and you’ll want to continue to do so.