No one wants to diet over the holidays. When you do, you become cranky and resentful that while you are drinking sparkling water and snacking on crudités, your friends are downing vino and fried appetizers. However, there is still a way to have your cake and fit into your dress too by following these healthy tips to avoid packing on the holiday pounds.
1. The number one diet advice is to eat before going to a party so you don’t show up starving and overeat. I’ve always been skeptical of whether this really worked, so I decided to test it myself. Turns out it does help. I found that my eyes were bigger than my stomach and though I piled food onto my plate, I didn’t feel the need to eat it all. Instead, I only ate my favorite appetizers because I wasn’t looking at the hors d’oeuvres table as my dinner.
2. I once had a personal trainer tell me that the one thing I was not allowed to touch at a restaurant was the bread basket and would be more fulfilled if I spent my carbs elsewhere. At dinner parties and buffets, try and remember that you can have that roll on you plate, or you can use that space for the potatoes instead. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be so into the food that the roll will just be a placeholder.
Toast in moderation!
3. Holiday parties over December and January usually involve drinking, whether it be eggnog, spiked cider, wine or champagne. You could take the approach and tell yourself that you aren’t going to have a drink but as soon as the champagne bottle is popped, I doubt you’ll be sticking to that promise. Instead, have a night or two where you enjoy a couple of drinks with friends but then do yourself a favor and cut out that wine with dinner for the rest of the week. You won’t miss it as much as you think and you’ll be much happier not go have to put limitations of your fun. (But of course the law does, so please don’t drink and drive!)
4. Remind yourself that this is not the last Christmas cookie you will ever have. As desserts are my weakness, I have a really difficult time not ‘sampling’ all of the delicious goodies in front of me. However, there will be other holiday parties and there will be other treats so try and exercise some self-control and pick the one that’s your favorite… Or the biggest, but that might defeat the purpose.
Latkes, my weakness
5. Let yourself indulge every once and a while. I know this may seem contrary to everything I’ve said but everyone needs to treat themselves sometimes. My holiday indulgence are latkes, and I’m constantly begging my Jewish friends to make them for me. These fried potatoes are the way to my heart and I always treat myself to them during this time of year…Whole Foods actually sells delicious ones year round…. But shh, don’t blow my cover!
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Hmmmm…latkes.
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Do you eat only every other day?
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