Beat the Holiday Bulge: Your Guide to Healthy Holiday Eating

The days are getting shorter, the sun is disappearing earlier, the mercury is falling like the multicolored leaves that have long since accumulated in crisp piles on the ground—this can only mean one thing: it is officially holiday season. Holiday season might as well be called party season, which means lots of tempting, delicious treats and drinks. Are you ready for your diet to get derailed? Didn’t think so. From eggnog to roast ham, casserole to cookies, gravy and dressings, the food during these winter holidays is secretly packed with not-so-good-for-you fats, sugars, carbohydrates, and loads of calories. Why trade a fit figure for holiday favorites that are typically high in caloric content, when you can have both? Satisfy your festive appetite and keep your beautiful bod’ looking hot with these delicious and nutritious tips for substitutes, modifications, and healthful recipes instead!

Holiday Helper #1: Pick It or Skip It—Holiday Food Edition
Some of the most common holiday foods include meats, breads, cookies, and other sweets. To cover all the bases, let’s begin with a gentle reminder to avoid gorging yourself on excessive amounts of treats, no matter how yummy they are. You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again: everything in moderation.
 
Meats
Skip: red meat in general but particularly roast ham and beef pot roast. Also, skip the skin of meats, which contains lots of fatty calories.
Pick: lean meats like poultry and fish. Try fresh baked lemon-grass chicken or roast turkey (without the skin)
 
Baked sweets
Skip: pecan pie (500-800 calories depending on slice size), shortbread cookies, pie crust, Russian teacake cookies
Pick: gingersnaps, meringues, pumpkin muffins, mini fruit tarts
 
Sides
Skip: standard stuffing, cheese straws (aka cheeseballs), sweet potato casserole, potato salad
Pick: fresh salads (the more colorful your salad, the more vitamins and nutrients!), unsweetened fruit compote, whole grain roll, cranberries, baked (not candied or casseroled) sweet potatoes
 
Snacks
Skip: macadamia and brazil nuts, cashews, candy, peanut brittle, truffles, potato chips and creamy dips
Pick: raw or toasted almonds, dried fruit, pretzels or baked chips, vegetables and hummus dip
 
Condiments
Skip: cream-based salad dressing (e.g., ranch, Caesar, bleu cheese), traditional gravy
Pick: light balsamic, vinegar, or wine salad dressing, and wine-reduction in place of gravy
 
Preparation styles
Skip: honey-glazed, butterball, fried, breaded, candied, and anything with “cream of” in its name are all good signals that the food is stacked with fatty calories
Pick: grilled, stewed, sautéed, marinated, baked, broiled, seasoned