Eating Healthy During the Holidays

Tips from Blue Cross Blue Shield

For many people the holidays are an acceptable opportunity to over-indulge, and all good intentions of eating healthy goes out the window. It’s no wonder why we fall into such unhealthy habits during the holiday season. Everywhere you go there is somebody waiting with a glass of wine, a box of chocolates or a favorite holiday treat. It’s the holidays and aren’t you supposed to celebrate? Your trip to the local supermarket turns into an adventure with aisles of colorful, tempting goodies that are excitingly packaged and demanding that you buy them and eat them. Even your workplace is full of temptation, with all those company celebrations and meetings that include food. And nobody wants you to walk out the door empty-handed.

The good news is that according to a study by the National Institute of Health, the average American does not gain 5-10 pounds over the holidays but gains only one pound between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. However, the research indicates that this pound doesn’t get lost and the weight accumulates over the years resulting in being overweight or obese.

Follow these suggestions to avoid gaining that pound in the first place.

• Don’t fret about continuing to lose weight during the holidays but check-in with that scale daily. In the end, staying right where you are on the scale is better than gaining …so don’t stress over no loss, celebrate a lack of gains!

• Go for a walk, add a family touch football game, go shopping. Fight the urge to nap after a large meal. People who avoid weight gain during the holidays move more.

• Don’t “save up” your day’s meals for “the big one” that night. You’ll get too hungry and over-eat to compensate for those missing meals.

• Use a plate. That’s right, use a plate instead of standing by the table nibbling off the serving trays. You’ll eat fewer calories and be less likely to make repeated trips to the table.

• Instead of the dip, choose the salsa! It’s naturally low-fat and chock full of veggies with vitamins. Baked tortilla chips are great for dipping, as are toasted pita slices or whole-wheat crackers.

• Help yourself to a tossed salad with low-fat dressing before the main meal or soup. It will curb your appetite, provide you with extra nutrients, and allow you to make better choices while others are eating high-fat appetizers and party foods.

Some of the most detailed information about how to maintain weight-loss comes from a national long-term study. The National Weight Control Registry contains information on 3,000 people who have lost 30 to 100 pounds (average, 60 pounds) and kept their weight stable for at least one year (average, five years). Although the people in the Weight Control Registry lost weight using many different diets or programs, those who keep it off have several things in common.

• On average, people in the weight-control registry burn up about 2,700 calories a week in physical activity. That’s equivalent to approximately one hour of moderate intensity activity daily. Exercise is essential in counteracting the body’s tendency to regain weight. Begin by reducing sedentary activities such as watching television and building more activity into your day by parking farther from your destination, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, taking an extra lap around the mall, walking the dog, etc.

• People in the weight-control registry are highly disciplined about self-monitoring. They weigh themselves regularly, record what they eat on a regular basis, and record the amount of time they spend exercising.

• Although people in the registry originally lost weight using a variety of diets, the vast majority kept the weight off by following a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet and following portion control. Very few people in the weight control registry followed a high-protein, no carb diet long-term. A high-protein, no carb diet is not sustainable and it’s unhealthy. People who permanently lose weight often say they don’t do anything special to keep it off, because they have made a permanent change in how they think about food.

 • Breakfast proved to be a common denominator for people in the weight loss registry. More than three-quarters of the people in the weight-loss registry said they eat breakfast daily.

• Support. Find a friend or family member who can motivate you and cheer you on. Minimize contact with those people who try to sabotage your efforts. If you can’t avoid them, then role-play responses to their de-motivating comments and behaviors.