Ten Tips For Healthy Holiday Eating

Ten Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating

Be realistic. Don’t try to lose pounds during the holidays, instead try to maintain your current weight.

Plan time for exercise. Exercise helps relieve holiday stress and prevent weight gain. A moderate and daily increase in exercise can help partially offset increased holiday eating.

Don’t skip meals. Before leaving for a party, eat a light snack like raw vegetables or a piece of fruit to curb your appetite. You will be less tempted to over-indulge.

Survey party buffets before filling your plate. Choose your favorite foods and skip your least favorite. Include vegetables and fruits to keep your plate balanced.

Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed. Savor your favorite holiday treats while eating small portions. Sit down, get comfortable, and enjoy. Be careful with beverages. Alcohol can lessen inhibitions and induce overeating; non-alcoholic beverages can be full of calories and sugar.

If you overeat at one meal go light on the next. It takes 500 calories per day (or 3,500 calories per week) above your normal/maintenance consumption to gain one pound. It is impossible to gain weight from one piece of pie!

Take the focus off food. Turn candy and cookie making time into non-edible projects like making wreaths, dough art decorations or a gingerbread house. Plan group activities with family and friends that aren’t all about food.

Gravy — Refrigerate the gravy to harden fat. Skim the fat off. This will save a whopping 56 gm of fat per cup.
Dressing — 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.
Turkey – Enjoy delicious, roasted turkey breast without the skin and save 11 grams of saturated fat per 3 oz serving.
Green Bean Casserole — Cook fresh green beans with chucks of potatoes instead of cream soup. Top with almonds instead of fried onion rings.
Mashed Potato — Use skim milk, chicken broth, garlic or garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese instead of whole milk and butter.

Desserts — Make a crustless pumpkin pie. Substitute two egg whites for each whole egg in baked recipes. Replace heavy cream with evaporated skim milk in cheesecakes and cream pies. Top cakes with fresh fruit, fruit sauce, or a sprinkle of powdered sugar instead of fattening frosting
Practice Healthy Holiday Cooking. Preparing favorite dishes lower in fat and calories will help promote healthy holiday eating. Incorporate some of these simple-cooking tips in traditional holiday recipes to make them healthier.

The Spectrum Diet

The Spectrum Diet
The Spectrum diet is the latest lifestyle and weight-loss plan created by Dean Ornish, MD, the pioneer researcher who showed that a low-fat, vegetarian diet can reverse heart disease in his past best-seller, Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.

The Spectrum diet has three components: nutrition, stress management, and exercise. The Spectrum is not a diet. It’s really about lowering your risk for diseases by making better food and lifestyle choices. 

In the Spectrum diet, foods are sorted into five groups:

Group 1 is the healthiest. Foods include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and non-fat dairy products.

Group 2 is also primarily plant-based foods, but they have slightly more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, or healthy, fat such as avocados, seeds, nuts, and canola oil.

Group 3 includes some seafood, such as salmon and anchovies, and reduced-fat dairy.

Group 4 foods have higher fat and animal protein and fewer nutrients. These foods include poultry, whole milk and dairy products, mayonnaise, cakes, cookies, and pastries.

Group 5 is the least healthy category and includes foods that are highest in unhealthy fats such as saturated fat and trans fatty acids. The foods include hot dogs, fried food, butter, and red meat.

If you consume a lot of foods from group 5 and very few from group 1, you’ll want to make changes in what you eat. “People need to move toward group 1 as best as they can,” says Dorfman.
But the Spectrum diet is not all or nothing, says Gidus: “Ornish says to eat from groups 1 and 2 and try to eat only once in a while from groups 4 and 5.”

As an example of healthful eating, breakfast might be quinoa (a whole grain) and dried fruits. For lunch, you can start with a base of Asian noodle salad with onions, peppers, and carrots, and possibly add chicken or shrimp. A dinner recipe might be zucchini squash stuffed with soy burger, onions, and tomatoes. The Spectrum diet plan has recipes created by chef Art Smith with variations that include ingredients from the different Ornish food groups, allowing you to decide when you want to add meat to a meal for instance.

The Spectrum diet offers good nutrition. People will eat more fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and less animal protein. It also gives you exercise guidelines.

Joy Bauer's Your Inner Skinny Diet

Joy Bauer's Your Inner Skinny Diet:

Joy Bauer offers four steps for successful weight loss in her diet book Your Inner Skinny. Her program emphasizes healthy eating and exercise and includes tips for preparing the food you will need to succeed.
People who suspect they have a skinny person (or at least a fit and trim person) hidden inside can turn to dietitian Joy Bauer’s diet and exercise plan and book, Your Inner Skinny, to learn how to make the changes that lead to weight loss and let the smaller you out.

Her book and program divides dieting into four steps. The four basic steps of the Joy Bauer program are:
Release (Stage 1). This is an intense week to eliminate all “bad” food habits from your life.
Relearn (Stage 2). During this time, you will start to practice new diet habits.
Reshape (Stage 3). This period lasts until you are satisfied with your weight-loss results. This is when you make a regular habit out of the new healthy diet and lifestyle choices emphasized by Bauer.
Reveal (Stage 4). At this point you can enjoy your new weight while continuing to practice your new habits.

The book contains many strategies for weight loss, including:

Exercise — 30 to 60 minutes daily,
Identifying and avoiding trigger foods
Turning off the TV (or at least not eating in front of it)
Stocking up on healthy snacks and foods
Planning and shopping for healthy meals in advance
Ending your loyalty to certain types of foods or certain ways of eating, if those loyalties continue unhealthy habits.

On this diet you will be eating three meals a day and one afternoon snack. Bauer recommends eating within 90 minutes of waking up in the morning and not eating after 9 p.m. The following foods are emphasized:
Good carbohydrates. These come from foods that are high in fiber, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans.
Healthy fats. In moderation, you can have olive oil, canola oil, nuts, flax, walnuts, and avocados.
Lean protein. Bauer recommends lean proteins, eggs, fish, chicken, soy, beans, lentils, and low- or non-fat dairy.
Unlimited snacks. For those who want to snack between meals, Bauer provides a long list of “unlimited” snack foods (non-starchy vegetables) and beverages (zero-calorie drinks and coffee with milk). As you progress toward your weight-loss goal, more options for healthy snacks are given.

The diet provides lots of variety. Bauer recommends filling up with her vegetable-rich salad or vegetable soup before meals, especially early on in the diet. After one of these appetizers, dinner might feature poached salmon and steamed broccoli.

The diet has not been tested clinically, but weight loss is likely for most people who stick to the plan.

What is a Healthy Diet?

What is a Healthy Balanced Diet?
A healthy diet doesn't mean surviving solely on bird seed, rabbit food and carrot juice! The new approach to eating healthily means we’re positively encouraged to eat a wide range of foods, including some of our favorites – it’s just a question of making sure we get the balance right. As no single food provides all the calories and nutrients we need to stay healthy, it’s important to eat a variety of foods to make a balanced diet. Meanwhile, most nutrition experts also agree that mealtimes should be a pleasure rather than a penance. This means it’s fine to eat small amounts of our favorite foods from time to time.

A balanced diet means eating plenty of different foods from four main groups of foods and limiting the amount we eat from a smaller fifth group. Ultimately, it’s as simple as eating more fruit, veg, starchy, fiber-rich foods and fresh products, and fewer fatty, sugary, salty and processed foods.

Bread, Other Cereals and Potatoes:
Eat these foods at each meal. They also make good snacks.
Foods in this group include bread, breakfast cereals, potatoes, rice, pasta, noodles, yams, oats and grains. Go for high-fiber varieties , such as whole grain cereals, whole grainl bread and brown rice. These foods provide carbs, fiber, B vitamins and small amounts of calcium and iron. They should fill roughly a third of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:
2 slices bread in a sandwich or with a meal, a tennis ball sized serving of pasta, potato, rice, noodles or couscous, a handful of breakfast cereal
Fruit and Vegetables:
Eat five different servings every day.
Foods in this group include all fruits and vegetables, including fresh, frozen, canned and dried products, and unsweetened fruit juice. Choose canned fruit in juice rather than syrup and go for vegetables canned in water without added salt or sugar. These foods provide fiber and a range of vitamins and minerals. They should fill roughly a third of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:
a piece of fruit - apple, banana, pear, 2 small fruits - plums, apricots,
a bowl of fruit salad, canned or stewed fruit, a small glass of unsweetened fruit juice, a cereal bowl of salad, 3tbsp vegetables

Milk and Dairy Foods:
Eat two or three servings a day.
Foods in this group include milk, cheese, and yogurt . Choose low-fat varieties where available such as semi-skimmed milk, reduced-fat cheese and fat-free yogurt. These foods contain protein, calcium and a range of vitamins and minerals. They should fill no more than a sixth of your plate at mealtimes.

Meat, Fish and Alternatives:
Eat two servings a day.
Foods in this group include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds. Choose low-fat varieties, such as extra-lean minced beef and skinless chicken and don’t add extra fat or salt. These foods provide protein and a range of vitamins and minerals, especially iron. They should fill no more than a sixth of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:
a piece of meat, chicken or fish the size of a deck of cards, 1-2 eggs, 3 big tablespoons of beans, small handful of nuts or seeds

Fatty and Sugary Foods:
Eat only small amounts of these foods.
Foods in this group include oils, spreading fats, cream, mayonnaise, oily salad dressings, cakes, biscuits, puddings, crisps, savory snacks, sugar, preserves, confectionery and sugary soft drinks. These foods contain fat, sugar and salt and should only be eaten occasionally.

Typical serving sizes:
a small packet of sweets or a small bar of chocolate, a small slice of cake, a couple of small biscuits, 1 level tbsp mayo, salad dressing or olive oil

The Flavor Point Diet

The Flavor Point Diet
Is based on the neuroscience of appetite and teaches dieters to reduce hunger by organizing meals based on flavors. Learn the pros and cons of the Flavor Point Diet and whether it could help you lose weight. You organize your eating according to the flavors of food, while still eating a balanced diet.
When a flavor is tasted repeatedly throughout the day, the brain’s appetite center is more quickly satisfied, so the body senses satiety more quickly and we eat fewer calories. 

The Flavor Point Diet: The Plan

The diet is organized into three phases.
Phase one involves planning your meals around one particular flavor, called flavor themes. For instance, all of the meals for the first day of the diet emphasize the flavor of raisins and currants. Breakfast consists of whole-grain cereal with raisins; lunch is a currant-lentil spinach salad. On day two, or pineapple day, there is a pineapple smoothie for breakfast, a pineapple-walnut chicken salad for lunch, and pineapple shrimp for dinner.

“Phase two of the meal plan includes a greater variety of daily flavors whereby only meals, not entire days, are flavor-themed,” says Gazzaniga-Moloo, a dietician and a spokesperson for the
American Dietetic Association.

Phase three, which is intended to be the phase you can continue indefinitely, allows you to choose your own meals based on the principles you have learned in phases one and two.

Flavor Point Diet: Sample Menu
As an example, here is “Spinach Day” from the third week:
Breakfast: Spinach and feta cheese omelet with whole-grain toast
Snack: Crackers or baby carrots with spinach-yogurt dip
Lunch: Turkey and spinach salad
Dinner: Pasta with spinach marinara sauce, salad, and mixed berries.

The flavor themes throughout the book build on an abundance of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, and poultry, and encourage limiting fat and opting for healthier snacks.
The diet emphasizes weight management through calorie reduction. All meal plans are 1,000 to 1,500 calories. “Even cheat day [which involves flavors such as chocolate] is calorie-controlled,” says Clark.

The plan is well laid out. Gazzaniga-Moloo says the book is easy to understand. There are over 100 recipes. According to the book, it is possible to lose up to 16 pounds in six weeks.

P.I.N.K. Method Diet

P.I.N.K. Method Diet

The Promise

Like many other diet plans, you go through different phases on the P.I.N.K. method. In the first phase, which lasts 3 to 14 days, you’ll be eating very few calories: about 1,000 a day, according to the sample menus.

In the second phase, protein, vegetables, and fruit are on the menu, and you’ll start the plan’s DVD workouts.

Once you're near your goal weight, it’s time for the “7-Day Shred” phase, which curbs carbs and fats in favor of a vegetable soup to help you drop those last few pounds.

When you reach your goal weight, you’ll start the maintenance phase, which calls for eating 1,400 to 1,800 calories per day.

What You Can Eat and What You Can't:

Fresh vegetables and fruits; “light” proteins such as turkey, chicken, lentils, black beans, and salmon; and high-fiber carbs form the core of the menus; though in Phase 1, your carbs are mostly limited to vegetables.

You can have one to two servings of alcohol a week after the first 9 weeks. Processed foods and refined sugars are not on the menu, so forget cookies and packaged meals.

You can have moderate amounts of caffeine.

You’ll exercise hard on this plan, and the first phase calls for eating very few calories per day.

Limitations: If you’re used to eating a lot of frozen foods, packaged foods, or fast food, you may find this diet very challenging.

Cooking and shopping: Plan to buy a lot of vegetables and fruits, and to cook most lunches and dinners from scratch. The menus call for some special ingredients, such as whey protein, that you may not have on hand.

Exercise: Required. Intense exercise is a key component of this plan. The kit comes with three exercise DVDs featuring strength, cardio, and flexibility workouts of increasing difficulty. They may not be suitable for beginners.

There isn’t any research specifically on the P.I.N.K. diet, but the low-calorie diet mixed with vigorous exercise will certainly drop the pounds. Overall, the diet includes foods that are not only low in calories but also rich in nutrients, and it limits bad stuff that puts on the pounds. The key is whether you can stick with the very low calories initially and the intense exercise that comes later in the program.

Losing weight helps control diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and even heart disease. So the P.I.N.K. diet could improve all these conditions. Weight loss may even lessen your need for medicine. But the intensity of the program may not make it ideal for people living with certain health problems.

This is an intense program, so check with your doctor first to make sure it’s right for you. This is especially important for people with diabetes, because the extreme changes in your diet and exercise could cause dangerously low blood sugar. Your doctor may need to adjust your medicines.

Some individuals with heart disease may have a tough time with the level of exercise in this program.

The Final Word:

The strength of the P.I.N.K. program lies in a healthy diet and exercise. The focus on vegetables as a go-to carb source is one of its strongest features.

The very low calories at the beginning are a bit concerning, because it can be tough to get all the nutrients you need in less than 1,200 calories a day. It’s unlikely to have a negative impact on your health since that phase lasts no more than a couple of weeks. But you’ll have to dig deep to get through it.

If you don’t exercise regularly, you may have to take it slow at first and work your way up toward the higher levels of exercise. If you have any health issues, get your doctor’s OK before jumping in.

This program is ideal for people looking to lose weight more quickly, but the intensity of the P.I.N.K Method will make it hard to stick with for some. If you’re looking to more slowly ease your way into a healthy lifestyle, this approach may not work well for you. You’ll also need to be committed to eating a very healthy diet and preparing meals rich in fruits and vegetables at home. You won’t be able to meet the requirements of the program if you eat out much or like to splurge.

Summer Shape-Up Meal Plan

The Summer Shape-Up Meal Plan

Eat Fresh (and Light!)
This plan from Jackie Newgent, RD, author of Big Green Cookbook, was created specifically for summer when farmers' markets offer an endless variety of veggies and fruits and fussy meal prep is the last thing anybody wants to be doing. The combo of fresh and fast fare is so tasty you'll be tempted to keep eating this way long after you've retired your swimsuit for the season.
During the first week's 1,200-calorie jumpstart, choose a breakfast, an a.m. snack, a lunch, and a dinner for each day. After the first week, add an extra snack in the afternoon or evening.

Breakfast: Yogurt or Cereal
(300 calories each)
Fruit Yogurt + Nutrition Bar
• Enjoy a 6-oz fruity nonfat Greek yogurt and a Kind Mini Almond Cashew + Flax (Omega-3) bar, and a small fresh peach.
Cereal with Fruit
• Combine 200 calories' worth of whole-grain cereal made with flax or other seeds, such as 1 cup Kashi GoLean Crunch!, with 3/4 cup plain light soy or fat-free milk and 1/2 cup assorted fresh berries.
Herbed Eggs
• Cook 1 egg plus 2 egg whites, omelet style, in 1 tsp olive oil. Top with 2 tbsp chopped fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and tarragon, and a pinch of sea salt. Serve with 1/4 cantaloupe, sliced, plus 1 piece whole-grain toast spread with 1/2-oz goat cheese.
Breakfast Sandwich
• Have a wrap, such as Starbucks Spinach & Feta Breakfast Wrap or Cosi Roasted Veggie and Egg White Wrap.
Summer Waffles
• Top 2 whole-grain blueberry waffles, such as Van's Organics, with 1 1/2 tsp pure maple syrup and 1 fresh nectarine, sliced.

Lunch:
(300 calories each)
Turkey Arugula Sandwich
• Stuff a 2-oz whole-grain baguette portion with 1 TBSP creamy horseradish sauce, 1 1/2 oz smoked turkey, and 1 1/2 cups baby arugula. Enjoy with 1 large sliced tomato sprinkled with sea salt and balsamic vinegar.
Sushi to go
• Order 1 (6-piece) vegetarian sushi roll, such as avocado with brown rice. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger to taste, plus 3/4 cup steamed edamame.
Confetti Mexican Salad
• Toss together 2 cups finely chopped romaine, 1 cup finely chopped red cabbage, 1/2 cup each diced yellow squash and quartered grape tomatoes, 1/3 cup finely diced or shredded fennel bulb or carrot, 1/4 cup each canned white and black beans, drained, 1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tsp olive oil, juice of 1/2 lime, and sea salt to taste. Serve with 8 blue corn tortilla chips and 1/4 cup salsa.
Serrano Chicken Caesar
• Toss 3 cups romaine lettuce with 2 TBSP low-cal Caesar dressing, 3 1/2 oz pre-grilled chicken breast strips, 1 minced serrano pepper, and 2 tsp sunflower seeds. Serve with 15 grapes or 1/8 honeydew melon.

Dinner:
(450 calories each)
Mediterranean Turkey Burgers
• Pan-cook or panini-grill 2 thin (2-oz) lean turkey burgers. Arrange in alternating layers with 2 large pieces roasted red bell pepper, 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, and 12 large basil leaves. Top with slices from 1/4 avocado. Serve on a bed of 1/2 cup steamed red quinoa, with lemon wedges.
Veggie to go
• Select a fast casual restaurant vegetarian meal (about 450 calories), such as Panera Bread Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich (on rye, no feta). Or go a la carte at Panera: low-fat garden vegetable with pesto soup, Caesar salad (skip the croutons), and an apple.
Shrimp Salad & Corn
• Toss 2 cups salad greens with 10 large grilled shrimp, 1 cup chopped fresh or grilled seasonal veggies, such as broccoli, zucchini, carrots, or sweet onion, and 2 TBSP vinaigrette of choice. Enjoy with 1 ear grilled corn with 1/2 tsp butter and 2 tsp grated Romano cheese, plus a 1 1/2-oz whole-grain roll with 1/2 tsp butter.
Thai Salmon & Soba
• Brush 5 oz wild Alaskan salmon with 1 tsp sesame oil and grill or pan-grill. Serve with 8 grilled asparagus spears and 1 1/2 cups soba (buckwheat) noodles tossed with 1 1/2 TBSP Thai peanut sauce and garnished with 2 TBSP each minced fresh scallions and red cabbage.

Snacks:
(150 calories each)
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries and 1 (3/4-oz) piece of dark chocolate
• 1 small (6-inch) or 1/2 large banana cut into 10 slices crosswise and paired with 1/2 tsp chocolate-hazelnut spread between each pair, then freeze it.
• 1 scoop (1/2 cup) fat-free frozen yogurt in a sugar cone
• 2 cups sliced strawberries tossed with 1 1/2 tsp honey or agave nectar and 1 tsp white balsamic or Champagne vinegar
• 1 cup snow peas with 1/4 cup hummus
• Smoothie of choice (up to 150 calories)
• 15 roasted pistachios with 1 oz aged goat cheese or Gouda