Season's Eatings!
By: Sarah Remmer, RD, CDE
The festive season is here and if you’re anything like me, you are looking forward to all of the delicious treats that come with the holiday season like rich eggnog, shortbread cookies, and anything involving chocolate! Many people worry about the repercussions that come from holiday indulging and feel that all of their hard work maintaining their weight and keeping in shape will go to waste. Instead of worrying about sabotaging your weight from a week or so of indulging, look forward to taking a small break from your regular health regime and enjoying the tasty treats that you love guilt free! Here are some tips for healthy indulging over the holidays:
Keep things in perspective: Instead of worrying about what happens between Christmas and New years day, focus on what happens between New Years Day and Christmas. A week of eating and drinking more than you usually do will not make or break your weight. Be realistic about your expectations. If you have a weight loss goal, aim to maintain your weight during the holidays and resume your healthy weight loss plan afterwards.
Non food-focused activities: If your family is anything like mine, many of your holiday festivities involve delicious food and drink—and lots of it! Think about taking the focus off of food for some of your family events. Go cross country skiing or snowshoeing; or make snow angels and snowmen in the park with your kids. Or try making a festive craft or taking a drive at night to look at Christmas lights.
Holiday Hydrating: Make sure to drink lots of water during the holidays. It is easy to confuse thirst signals with hunger signals, so if you’re not well hydrated, you may indulge more than you need to and end up dehydrated. In addition, drinking alcoholic beverages can contribute to dehydration and are often high in calories, so make sure to have a low calorie hydrating drink such as soda water and cranberry juice or good old water between alcoholic drinks.
Forget all or nothing thinking: We are wired to think in terms of good and bad, black and white, over or under indulging. Instead, think moderation. Don’t give up family traditions and skip out on holiday parties because you’re worried that you’ll over-indulge. Enjoy the treats that you love and don’t feel guilty. When you allow yourself moderate amounts of the things that you love, you’ll surprise yourself by not overdoing it because you’re not depriving yourself! Feelings of deprivation only triggers over—indulging in the long run.
Plan ahead: Before going to a holiday party, have a healthy snack at home so that you’re not starved by the time you get there. If you are hosting, make sure that you include some cut up veggies, roasted veggies and/or a big salad to balance out the meal.
Stay Active: Even though you probably won’t be adhering to your regular fitness regime during the holidays, try to do something active everyday. Whether it’s a walk with your family, skating at the local rink or trying something new like snow shoeing.
Tune into your true hunger cues: Don’t eat for the sake of eating or just because it is in front of you. Take small samples of appetizers and treats for taste, but don’t go overboard (after all, you want to save room for dinner!). For bigger meals, take a smaller portion to begin with and then go back for seconds if you are still hungry. Eat slowly and enjoy the company around you. Take time to savour the wonderful tastes of holiday foods. Remember, you can always have leftovers (toasted turkey sandwiches) the next day. Being uncomfortably full after turkey dinner is not fun. Eat until you’re comfortable, not stuffed.
Oven Roasted Christmas Veggies
(6-8 servings)
Pre-heat oven to 400
Impress your family and friends by bringing this delicious vegetable dish to Christmas Dinner.
Vegetables:
- 1 large bulb Fennel (cut fennel stocks off and use bulb only) cut up into bite size pieces
- 4 cups Brussel Sprouts cut in half
- 3 parsnips cut into bite size pieces
- 3 large carrots cut into bite size pieces
- 1 large sweet potato cut into small chunks
- 1 cup mushrooms cut into slices
- 1 red pepper cut into strips
- 1 head of broccoli cut into florets
Vinaigrette dressing
- ¼ cup Olive Oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary
- 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 4 cloves crushed garlic
- Coarse salt to taste
- Freshly ground pepper to taste
- Whisk vinaigrette dressing ingredient together in large bowl
- Add sweet potato, fennel, brussel sprouts, parsnips, and carrots to mixture
and toss gently until coated. Lay on a baking sheet - Bake for about 20 minutes
- Add Red pepper, mushrooms, and broccoli. As you add them, toss all
vegetables and then put back in oven for 10-15 minutes. - Put in large serving dish
- If desired, sprinkle more fresh herbs on top (optional).
- Add freshly grated parmesan over top (optional).
- Enjoy!
I found nutrition counselling to be very helpful in my day to day life. I was able to really regulate any digestive problems I was having and learn ways to make my meals more balanced. Sarah helped me with everyday situations like what to eat in social settings, or the best lunches to bring from home. This information was very easy for me to apply and because of these new habits I have more energy and feel better. I would recommend Sarah’s nutrition counselling to anyone who was looking to make a change in their diet and learn more about what they are eating and how it affects them.
Katelyn W.
University Student