Surviving holiday meals: a refresher course for dieters
Fun, fellowship and constant challenges to your willpower
It’s that time again! In just one week we enter the dreaded Holiday Season, that chunk of the calendar from Thanksgiving Day to whenever they get around to playing the Super Bowl, a period just brimming over with events at which eating is one of the main activities, and in some cases the whole idea.
It’s 10 weeks of caloric temptation and overkill, a kind of Bataan Death March for the average dieter’s nutritional good intentions. The challenge for multitudes of us becomes preventing that 10 weeks from translating into 10 pounds, added to whatever we already weigh.
There are, of course, loads of tips and suggestions and rules for minimizing the caloric damage, and if you’re concerned with your weight, you probably already know a few. But it never hurts to run through some of them again, especially at this point in time. Think of it as like brushing up on your CPR training before taking off on that river rafting trip.
Print, save and read when tempted to take second helpings
- Buffet meals are a real minefield. Fill two-thirds of your plate with salad and veggies first; they’ll fill you up harmlessly, and this leaves less room for the belly-busting likes of pork loin and gravy and candied yams and deep fried whatever. Don’t “try just a smidgen of everything.” You’ll wind up with a larger plate load, not to mention eating items you’d be better off skipping. And don’t eat near the buffet table; in a separate room would be wisest.
- Don’t skip meals or starve yourself before the holiday meal to balance out your expectations of overeating; you’re just initiating a self-fulfilling process. Eat normally, and if the big meal is later than usual, have a snack in advance; the idea is to not be ravenously hungry when dinner is served.
- If you limit yourself to only those food items that you really enjoy, you’ll probably lower your overall intake level and certainly raise your enjoyment level.
- Alcohol is calorie-intensive, stimulates the appetite, and dulls one’s judgment and self-restraint. The less you consume, the better.
- Be sociable. Chat up the other guests, friends or family members while eating; you’ll eat more slowly, and thus less.
- Two points with regard to the turkey. Number one, the dark meat packs more calories than the white. Number two, if you miss horribly the joy of eating nice, crisp turkey skin, be of good cheer. According to the Department of Agriculture, the skin accompanying a half-pound serving of roasted turkey delivers just 71 calories and a dozen grams of relatively benign fat. Our advice: enjoy the skin, but skip the eggnog.
(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)
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