The holidays are right around the corner and I can almost feel the collective angst over how to avoid packing on the holiday pounds between now and the New Year. The good news is that all of this worrying is not really necessary. There are many ways to enjoy all of the holiday parties and office potlucks without paying for it in pounds and extra inches.
My next few blog posts will equip you with everything you need to know (and do). And if you haven’t done so already, now is a good time to sign up to receive Fit & Inspired Living blog posts via email. Don’t miss out!
Moving on to the topic of this post…how to remove some unwanted calories from your Thanksgiving dinner without sacrificing flavor.
It is not uncommon for a traditional Thanksgiving meal (including dessert) to consist of 3,000 calories or more. Dessert alone can easily account for almost a third of that. Consider a single slice of Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet Cheesecake - that’s right, almost 1,000 calories per slice! And while one high-calorie meal won’t completely do you in, the problem is that this one meal tends to become left-overs for the next several days…and all of those calories come right along with it. Before you know it, you’ve packed on an extra 3 or 4 pounds in one week.
Here are some tips for removing unwanted calories (and lots of them!) from your Thanksgiving meal:
1. Use chicken broth instead of bacon or fat back to give greens and other slow simmering vegetables additional flavor (I also use lots of fresh garlic and onion)
2. Go for steamed green beans instead of green bean casserole
3. Use skim milk and olive oil (instead of butter) when preparing corn bread – and if you are really daring, you can use half whole wheat flour and half white flour (instead of all white flour)
4. For corn bread dressing, use chicken or vegetable broth instead of turkey drippings and saute onions, bell peppers and celery in olive oil instead of butter
5. Sweeten yams with maple syrup or agave nectar instead of white sugar (also try having your candied yams a little less candied – the natural flavor of this root is quite nice on its own)
6. Use milk instead of cream in macaroni and cheese (I also avoid adding butter)
7. Make your own cranberry sauce instead of buying the canned variety – also try reducing the amount of sugar slightly (3/4 cup instead of 1 cup)
8. Try whole-wheat dinner rolls instead of the traditional white flour rolls
9. Make your first plate with small portions and then wait 15mins before deciding whether to have a second plate
10. Choose a refreshing glass of ice water instead of cocktails, wine or juice to wash it all down!
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