Tag Archives: holiday

Surviving Thanksgiving and Holiday Parties ~Part Two

So you planned ahead, did some exercise on the days and hours leading up to your Thanksgiving or Holiday dinner, ate a normal breakfast and lunch, you even made some low calorie and healthy alternatives to the traditional foods. But now you are at the party and confronted with piles and piles of delicious fatty foods. What do you do?


Grand Central, originally uploaded by Steven Jareb.

Passing on the snacks and hor dourves

Continue drinking water or other zero calorie drinks before the meal. (Tea, coffee, crystal light) Find or create an activity for you and the kids that will keep your hands busy. (Games, crafts, a round of football outside) Chew some sugar-free gum to keep your mouth busy and full.

If you do plan to eat some food before the main meal, stick to the veggie platter but skip the dip or have hummus instead of the fatty standards. Consider dishing up a small plate of snacks and sit down (away from the food) to eat them. This will help you keep track of how much you have had and avoid the standing and grazing pattern.

If you are helping in the preparation of the food, avoid tasting, sampling and picking. If you DO need to sample, COUNT each bite and track for your overall calorie count. Weight Watchers suggests 1 point per sample.

Be assertive. You don’t have to say yes to every offer of food just to be polite.

Dish up your plate consciously

Remember your portion sizes and control how much you serve up. Think like a kid. Remember when you didn’t want any of your foods to touch each other? Make small islands of each dish but remember gravy is NOT your ocean. Fill at least half of your plate with healthy salads and vegetables. (NO, the green bean casserole with butter and French fried onions does not count as a healthy vegetable!)

Pick white meat over dark meat and give the skin to the dog. Have your gravy (and salad dressing) on the side and dip your fork in it before getting a bite of turkey or potatoes. This will give you the flavor without drowning your day in calories.

Pay Attention

As you eat, do it slowly and pay attention to your level of satisfaction. Listen for the groans and sighs around the table. These are obvious signs of fullness.

Don’t get distracted by multitasking while eating. Activities like watching TV or reading takes your focus off how much you are eating and your sense of fullness. Stop when you pause while eating or sense that you are full no matter how much food is left on your plate. Eat slower and drink water with a meal. Food takes 20 minutes for a message to get from your stomach to your brain that you are full so meals should take at least 20 minutes and preferably longer. Chew each mouthful thoroughly. (the dietitian)

Track your calories by writing down what you have eaten. Or write it down ahead of time, and keep the list close at hand to remind yourself of the plan. Look at your list before you go for seconds. Seeing those HUGE calorie counts can really help you avoid seconds.

After the Main Course

As soon as you are done, help your host by washing dishes, starting with your dinner plate. Excuse yourself to the powder room and brush your teeth. This is a great signal to your body and mouth that you are done eating. Or freshen your breath and avoid more nibbling with another stick of gum.

If possible take a little walk before the desserts come out. Again, select your desserts carefully. Pick ones that are special or that you never get a chance to have on a regular basis. Have little slices and savor the taste. Avoid the whipped topping and ice cream or have the fat free versions.

Leaving without Baggage

I really love Thanksgiving leftovers. But Thanksgiving is a holiDAY… and shouldn’t become a holiWEEK. So if you can, try to escape without leftovers, or conversely if you are the host, get rid of as many as possible. But if you end up getting stuck with some leftovers you have a couple of choices. As my Weight Watcher’s meeting Leader said, “They can go to waste or they can go to your waist!” She suggests stopping at the nearest garbage dumpster and getting rid of them. I was thinking perhaps hand them off to a needy soul if you happen to run across one (pretty easy to come by in Seattle.)

If you stuck with your plan and survived the meal, give yourself a big pat on the back. But if you didn’t brush it off and move on. Tomorrow is another day and the holiday should not derail your overall health and fitness plans.

Next, Part Three The day after!

Surviving Thanksgiving and Holiday Parties ~Part One

We interrupt our normal art programming with some special articles on food, stress and heathly living through the holidays.

by cococello

Holiday Cookies Photo by cococello

Thanksgiving and the holiday eating season is upon us and personally I don’t want to be ‘thankful’ for extra pounds afterwards. So I have been collecting tips to avoid excess eating and weight gain. I fully intend to enter the January “resolution” season with a total pounds lost, not gained scenario. I realize that all the pounds I have gained over the holidays of past years continue to haunt me.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, most Americans can expect to gain at least one pound during the winter holiday season. One pound of weight gain doesn’t sound all that bad; the problem is that most Americans never lose that one pound. As a result, we gain 10 pounds every decade of our adult lives, and that contributes to obesity in later life. (Check out mypyramid.gov for more holiday eating tips)

First some tips for before the event, dinner or party.

Usually, I would avoid eating any breakfast or lunch prior to the annual thanksgiving feast. The theory being that I was saving my calories so that I could splurge at the meal. I have since come to find out that this is actually not a good plan. Think about it, what happens if you go to the grocery store when you are hungry? Personally, I will deviate from my list, get more food than I need and make unhealthy choices, simply because I am hungry and everything LOOKS good. Healthcastle agrees that going to a thanksgiving or holiday meal hungry will only cause you to overeat and make bad food choices.

Don’t go to the Thanksgiving dinner hungry: we often eat faster and more when we are hungry – therefore eat a wholesome breakfast and lunch on the day to avoid overeating at dinner time. HealthCastle is the largest online nutritional database run by registered dietitions.

EXERCISE!

In addition to eating in a normal healthy way, prior to festive meals, you should also exercise in your normal healthy way. This is completely new to me… since exercising with any consistency is fairly new for me. Most health sites and resources these days will tell you 30-60 minutes of exercise per day is required to avoid holiday weight gain. But moving even just a little bit can get you into a positive movement cycle. I plan to continue my weekly 3-5 days of exercise throughout the holiday season.

One great thing about the holidays is we often have vacation time away from work and could have more time for movement. Although family events and trips might be part of those days off, if you plan activities that center around movement you can keep your fitness built into your day. Winter sports such as sledding, skiing, snowboarding, ice skating and even just crisp winter walks can be a fun fitness treat when done with friends and family. I look forward to some jogs around Greenlake with my nieces, walks to the dog park with fellow dog lovers and even some ice skating.

PLAN AHEAD!

Know what will be served at the meal and think about what you will eat. If you are hosting, make low calorie healthy versions of old favorites. Try this low-cal Pumpkin Pie and compare to the evil cheesecake version of almost 500 calories! Look for calorie cutting substitutions for regular recipes. Or if you are going to a meal, offer to bring healthy alternatives, like salads, low calorie or even sugar free desserts.

Know your serving sizes! MyPyramid.gov has some great visuals to help you recognize a healthy portion size. Usually, we are eating 2 or even 3 portions without even realizing it, especially if you are eating at a restaurant. Using inanimate objects as a size reference is one way to keep realistic with regards to portion sizes.

  • A serving of cereal is not whatever fits in your cereal bowl-1 ounce of cereal (1 serving) is the size of a tennis ball.
  • A computer mouse or deck of cards is the size of a medium 5-ounce (150 g) potato that’s equivalent to 2 carbs and a small bar of soap is the size of a 3 to 4 (90 to 120 g) ounce serving of chicken, fish, or meat.
  • If your meal plan calls for 1 ounce of cheese, that’s the size of four dice.
  • If you’re eating spaghetti, 1 serving (1/2 cup or 1 carb) portion would be about 32 strands.
  • A hockey puck is about the size of a 3-ounce (90 g) bagel (1 serving or 1 carbohydrate).

Plan to have those foods that you only get this time of year. If you love your Aunt’s special sausage stuffing and she holds the recipe top secret, plan to enjoy and savor a healthy serving of it. But forgo the chips and dip, since you can have that anytime of the year.

Lastly, don’t forget WATER! Drink it, lots of it. It will keep you feeling full and help your body flush out the salt and toxins ingested during your holiday meal.

Next, tips for DURING the holiday meals and parties.