Well ladies and gents, here we are the last week of the year – yes, I just said that – and this weekend most of you will be celebrating the holiday season with family and friends and of course that entails food. And maybe it also entails taking a break from your weight loss program? You’ll start back up again come the New Year right? Well, not if I can help you. Here are 10 tips that will help you make smarter food choices (because it’s all about choices), intake less calories and make you feel fuller faster! A lot of these tips come from a Weight Loss article by About.com, but I will be adding my own recommendations as well.

Tip # 1: Choose whole grains – When it comes to the dinner rolls or the bread that you use with spinach dip, give your guests only one choice: whole wheat. If you’re not hosting this holiday season, like me, then choose the healthier option. In the article it says, “Any type of white bread is high in refined sugar (which means more calories)…” So eat the wheat bread and put those extra calories you just saved in your calorie bank for later, such as dessert!

Tip # 2: Serve Veggies – Instead of having Aunt Mildred bring over her famous broccoli salad or green bean casserole (I mean, does anyone really like it anyway?) serve steamed vegetables instead. Season them with lemon and garlic and put down the butter. Reserve the amount of oil you use and choose olive oil, over anything else.

Tip # 3: Lighten up the main course – If serving Turkey, prepare it in a way that reduces calories. If you cook your Turkey upside down on a rack and turn it over for the last 15 – 30 minutes for the top to brown you will allow that fat to drip to the bottom of the pan and the juices into the turkey breast. Also, as I have mentioned before cook your stuffing on the side rather than inside the turkey. If this is too much work, it all comes down to a choice: choose light meat over dark meat. See, it’s not that hard!

Tip # 4: Sprinkle your Dessert – That’s right! This wouldn’t be a Sensa blog if I didn’t mention the product. But all joking aside, Sensa can be your best friend during this tough time if you let it. Sprinkle Sensa on EVERYTHING and it will help you feel fuller faster, therefore taking in less calories. And hey, by dessert time you may not even want to indulge.

Tip # 5: Serve Fruit – Turn your dessert buffet into a colorful gathering of fruit platters. It’s more appetizing to full stomachs that just had a heavy meal and it gets you off the hook from slaving away on pies.

Tip # 6: Watch Your Alcohol intake – I never would of thought of this had I not read the article, but social drinking is calorie – heavy and also increases your appetite. Also it states, alcohol “…lower[s] your self-control” and we all know that combination can throw your weight loss program right out the window.

Tip # 7: Keep your mouth busy – Not by stuffing your face, but by talking. Usually these events gather people that you will only see once a year. Indulge in these relationships and you will be too busy to eat. Plus, Great Aunt Martha, really looks like she’s on her last leg this year, it wouldn’t hurt to at least say hi.

Tip # 8: Put the Food Away – When your guests are full and ready to play games, do not leave out the onion dip. Clean up, put it in mini to go containers, and give it away when your guests leave. This will help you trigger your brain that the kitchen is now closed and if this isn’t helping, go brush your teeth.

Tip # 9: Smart Substitutions – I am always interested in smarter substitutions and this article provides great alternatives when baking: “use 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder to replace 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate in desserts; crushed graham crackers are a healthier alternative to pie crusts; replace 1 egg with 2 egg whites or ¼ cup of egg substitute; replace half of the oil in dessert recipes with an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce; use reduced- or non-fat frozen yogurt instead of ice cream on pies.”

Tip # 10: Use Smaller Plates – Probably the oldest trick in the book, but it works! If you have a smaller plate you serve yourself smaller portions. And if you feel the need to go back for seconds, do so but choose more veggies

I hope this helps! Wishing you all a happy healthy holiday, now all this talk about food has me starving for lunch

Oh and I almost forget, check out the Blush Blog’s Top 5 Holiday Dieting Tips too! 

By for now,

Missy

Posted in Main at December 24th, 2009 by Missy

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.