Focus on eating healthy this holiday
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008 10:12 AM CST
For the Herald
This holiday season, Take Off Pounds Sensibly, the nation’s oldest weight-loss support organization, encourages people to change the way they think about eating during family gatherings to avoid seasonal weight gain.
Being prepared, having a game plan, and staying positive are all keys to mindful eating during celebrations, allowing you to enjoy time with loved ones without worrying about your food choices.
TOPS offers several tips to help you enjoy Thanksgiving and other upcoming holiday get-togethers without regret:
- According to Ann Ruelle, R.D., C.D.E., C.L.S.C., a registered dietician, educator, and nutrition consultant for TOPS, eat something light before you attend a holiday meal or buffet. Vegetables with low-calorie dip, salad, or light yogurt curb your appetite and make it easier to control your intake.
- Offer to bring a healthy “dish to pass” that you won’t feel guilty about enjoying.
- Some “best bets” at the buffet include fresh fruit, turkey breast, lean ham, shrimp cocktail, crab, pretzels, and bread sticks.
- Think simple, and choose foods cooked without butter and sauce. As a general rule, fried foods or foods covered with sauces add 10 grams of fat, or 90 calories, per serving.
- Use salad plates and slender glasses. Smaller serving dishes cause you to take less, while giving the illusion that you are actually eating more.
- Stop eating before you feel full.
- Go for a brisk walk with family and friends after the meal, rather than sitting around and talking.
- Exchange sugar and fat in recipes with healthier alternatives, such as honey and olive oil.
- Maintain your exercise schedule throughout the holidays as much as possible.
- Joan Pleuss, R.D., C.D.E., a registered dietician, certified diabetes educator, and Senior Research Dietician in the General Clinical Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin, notes that alcohol is an appetite stimulant. She suggests sipping slowly or having a non-alcoholic drink instead. A calorie-free beverage allows you to use those calories for food.
- If you are hosting Thanksgiving or other holiday meals, be sure to send leftovers home with your guests to avoid temptations. Put leftovers away immediately to avoid unnecessary snacking.
- If you splurge, don’t give up or feel guilty. Just eat carefully for the next day or two and add extra activity to avoid gaining extra pounds.
- TOPS also recommends several responses to pressure from family and friends to eat more. “Everything was so good, I can’t possible eat anything more right now,” “Thank you, but my health doesn’t permit me,” and “I’m sorry but my nutritionist/doctor won’t allow it” are all equally effective.
TOPS Club, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the original nonprofit, noncommercial weight-loss organization, is celebrating 60 years of weight-loss support and success in 2008.
Founded and headquartered in Milwaukee, TOPS promotes successful weight loss and weight management with a philosophy that combines healthy eating, regular exercise, wellness education, and support from others at weekly chapter meetings. TOPS has nearly 180,000 members in almost 10,000 chapters throughout the United States and Canada, and several chapters in Europe.
Visitors are welcome to attend their first TOPS meeting free. The local chapter of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly No. 1303 of Chippewa Falls) weighs-in at 4:45 p.m. and meets at 5:30 p.m. every Tuesday at Romeis Apartments, Chippewa Falls. For more information about the group, call 723-0460.
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