Healthy Holiday Eating Tips

• Don't go to a party hungry: we often eat faster and more when we are hungry - therefore eat a wholesome breakfast and lunch on the day to avoid overeating at the party.
  
  
• Watch your portion: treat yourself a nice drink, dessert, chocolate or sweets without guilt, but always watch your portion. Go for small portions. This way you can sample all the different foods. Moderation is always the key.
  
  
• Make a conscious choice to limit high fat items: high fat food items can be found in fried food, cream-based soup, cheese-filled casseroles, pies, processed meats such as salami and sausages, some pastries and baked goods.
  
  
• Try different versions of egg nog: traditional egg nog is usually made with egg yolk and thick cream. Google "low fat egg nog" and you will find lots of low fat egg nog recipes. If you buy commercial egg nog, you will be delighted to find low-fat or fat-free egg nog out there - we can even find soy nog!
  
  
• Try other versions of alcohol: instead of beer, cider, Bailey's and Kahlua, try dry wine, Bloody Marys or spirits with diet mixer which have fewer calories. Remember: Calories from alcohol tend to be stored in the abdomen. People who are overweight actually gain weight more easily when they consume alcohol.
  
  
• Drink plenty of water: alcohol and coffee can dehydrate your body.
  
  
• Physical activity: take nice brisk walks with your
  loved ones and enjoy their company in the
  holiday season.

Healthy Holiday Eating Tips: Recipe substitutions

If you are the chef of the party, try the following lower-fat recipe substitutions.

Recipe calls for			Substitution
	1 whole egg			2 egg whites
	sour cream			low fat plain yogurt or low fat sour cream
	milk			skim or 1%
	ice cream			frozen yogurt
	heavy cream (not for whipping)			2 tablespoons flour whisked into 2 cups non fat milk
	whipped cream			chilled evaporated skim milk or other low fat whipped products such as Nutriwhip
	cheese			low-fat cheese (non-fat cheese does not melt well if use in cooking or baking)

Many other products such as mayonnaise, cheese, cream soup, sour cream have lower-fat versions so experiment with them in your cooking.

Diet Tips: How To Eat Less

Today's installment of the diet plan is a dose of tips I've learned that make it a bit easier to eat less without feeling hungry. So, without further delay, here are my collected tips. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

1. Eat less. More often. Rather than eating large meals, chop up your eating into smaller portions throughout the day. I found myself eating 3 meals most days and having a snack around 3pm as well as another in the evening. That was enough to keep me from feeling hungry while still eating less in total.
2. Don't eat right before going to bed. I've read this numerous times and don't get why it works, but it does. I set a limit of 3 hours. So I planned to go to bed at midnight, I wouldn't eat past 9pm.
3. Brush your teeth early. For whatever reason, I won't eat when my teeth still feel clean. By brushing them several hours before bed, it was easier to accomplish #2.
4. Kick the sugar habit. If you drink sugared soft drinks (I used to be a Mt. Dew and Coke fan), replace them either with their diet counterparts or water. This can make a very, very big difference.
5. Eat vegetables before the main course. Whenever possible, I'd make sure to have an ample serving of a vegetable (you get very few calories for the amount you eat) before eating the denser main course--often a meat or fish. You'll need less of the dense stuff to be happy.
6. Update your spreadsheet daily. Keeping a running count will help you ration out the rest of your daily calorie allowance, which we'll talk about tomorrow.
7. Get used to leftovers. When you eat out, expect to take some of your meal home. If you eat standard restaurant portions, you'll almost certainly overeat.
8. Shop with calories in mind. When you're at the grocery store, spends some extra time reading the labels and nutritional information. You'll probably end up changing your shopping habits along the way. You'd be surprised by the how widely the calorie counts in various granola bars varies, for example.
9. Slow down! When you eat fast, you end up ingesting more food before you body has a chance to figure out that it's satisfied (not full).
10. Drink more water during the day. This is fairly generic advice, but definitely seems to help.
11. Trick yourself with gum. Sometimes we eat out of habit or because it just feels good to get some flavor in your mouth and chew for a while. Find yourself some sugar-free chewing gum and use it when the urge strikes.
12. Reduce the amount of breads, chips, crackers, and salty snacks you eat. A lot of starchy and/or salty food make you want to eat and drink even more. This comes straight out of Atkins diet culture.

There are probably a few things I've forgotten that I'll remember after posting this. If so, I'll add 'em on later. Meanwhile, drop your suggestions below.