The holidays are the worst time of year for a diet. With Christmas following hot on the heels of Thanksgiving dinner, and the New Year feasts after all those cookies and eggnog and turkey . . . it can be a pretty depressing season if you’re overweight. The great news is that you don’t have to deprive yourself over the holidays in order to avoid gaining weight.
It’s usually a bad idea to try and lose weight during this time of year, but you can certainly avoid gaining any with a few special tips. It’s all about making the right food choices and avoiding the binges that commonly occur after depriving yourself too long in the face of chocolaty, pumpkiny temptation.
To start with, avoid drinking alcohol, which is filled with empty calories. Instead, sip some sparkling water. Spruce it up with a dash of fruit juice, or try one of those new flavoured waters instead. A glass of champagne to toast the New Year is fine, but other than that, you should try to limit high calorie alcohol.
Moderation is the key to holiday feasting. You know how you just eat and eat and feel so stuffed you can barely move after each huge dinner? Well, this year, you’re going to enjoy all those same foods, but without that uncomfortable about-to-explode feeling! A good rule of thumb is to take no more than what fits on the palm of your hand. Apply this rule to each type of food and only put three different foods on your plate at a time. You can have more, but only if you are hungry.
It also helps to use less of all condiments. Love that creamy salad dressing that Aunt Martha makes? Use less of it and toss with your salad, rather than pouring it over the top. Or have a little dressing on the side and dip your fork before stabbing that lettuce, you’ll get the taste, with minimal calories. Gravy should be limited as well. You can still enjoy the taste without drowning your potatoes.
Christmas goodies are very tempting, but as long as you just have one or two instead of a dozen cookies, you should be fine. When it’s time for pie, opt for a plain slice, instead of loading it up with whipped cream or ice cream. Making a small sacrifice means you can still have your cake and eat it, too.
To avoid scarfing everything in sight, it helps not to be ravenous when you hit the Christmas buffet. In this case, coming hungry is a bad idea, so have a piece of toast or a salad before leaving the house to help fill you up a bit and keep you from making food choices based only on starvation.
You don’t have to eat just low-cal Jell-O for Christmas and it isn’t necessary to give up on your weight, either. While you may not lose any weight this holiday season, you can definitely stop yourself from packing on more pounds that will have to come off after Jan. 1st. So, enjoy your holiday meals, just in moderation.
