How to Party Down the Pounds

The holiday season is right around the corner, and this is the time for special-occasion eating and feared weight gain. If you feel anxious about how to stay on track with your “good eating intentions,” you are not alone. Take a deep breath and relax; the holidays do not need to lead to a weight gain disaster.

From Halloween through New Years, the average weight gain among Americans is five to eight pounds. To avoid this extra weight gain during the holidays, you should focus on the following two goals: 1) weight maintenance, and 2) moderation in eating and drinking. This doesn’t mean you have to feel deprived at a party, or that you need to leave the party feeling hungry. Your focus should be on developing an attitude-change so that you will have healthier eating habits throughout the year. It is important to give yourself permission to eat in moderation all year long, so that at a party you will not over indulge in the foods that you have restricted yourself from eating. When food is not your focus, you will feel emotionally free.

One way to change your attitude is to look at events as a social function; primarily for social interaction and not for eating and drinking. You need to get the focus off of the food and on to the friendships around you and the fun atmosphere. At parties where there is music, you can even get exercise by kicking up your heels and dancing.

Many people feel that most holiday parties offer only non-nutritious foods. Well, here are some tips to allow you to enjoy yourself and keep the pounds off:

• Prepare a healthy food that you like and can nibble on at the party. This could include:
  • Salsa and bean dip with low fat tortilla chips
  • Grilled or baked chicken wings with a low fat dip
  • Low-fat vanilla yogurt with chunks of fresh fruit
  • Baked pita chips with hummus
  • Assorted veggies and low fat dip
• Fill up on the healthiest foods, and select smaller portions of the less healthy foods.
• Avoid thinking about the food during the party, and focus on the people.
• Don’t stand by the food table; move around the room, and focus on conversation and the ambiance.
• Start with a lower-calorie drink to help you fill up, and then have something that has a few more calories.
• Be aware that alcohol increases appetite and lowers inhibitions. This could cause you to drink more and make poor choices in your food selection.

Do not give up your control over food and alcohol consumption, because then your weight may increase. You are in control of your lifestyle, and with a little advance planning you can sail through the holidays without tipping the scales upward.

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• Tip of the Month

  June 2010

  Abdominal Workouts: Frequency, Intensity, and Duration

  Over the past 15 years, there has been countless advice on how to “properly” train your abdominals, or core.  There isn’t a fitness magazine out there that doesn’t publish a different abdominal workout each and every issue.  Opinions and research may change over time, but there are a few things you should look at before you alter your workout with each Fitness Magazine you read!
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• Recipe of the Month

  June 2010

  Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole

  This healthy update of a traditionally rich ham-and-cheese breakfast strata is made lighter primarily by losing a few egg yolks and using nonfat milk. Gruyère cheese has a delicious, nutty aroma and flavor, which means that with the relatively small amount in this recipe you still get a big impact. To finish the makeover use nutritious, fiber-rich, whole-grain bread instead of white. The results: plenty of flavor, half the calories and one-third the fat of the original.

  4 large eggs
  4 large egg whites
  1 cup nonfat milk
  2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
  1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  5 cups chopped spinach, wilted (see Tip)
  4 cups whole-grain bread, crusts removed if desired, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1/2 pound, 4-6 slices)
  1 cup diced ham steak, (5 ounces)
  1/2 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
  3/4 cup shredded Gruyère, or Swiss cheese
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