How to Survive the Holiday Eating Season

December 23rd, 2011

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

THURSDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) — Lots of folks don’t think about
what they eat over the holiday season until January, when they stare sadly
at the number on the scale and then trudge off to hit the gym, join Weight
Watchers or pick up the latest fad diet book.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Health experts say you can still enjoy the holidays — and the special
food offerings that come with them — without overeating and gaining
weight.

“It’s OK to indulge, but it doesn’t mean you have to gain weight,” said
Karen Ansel, a New York-based registered dietitian and a spokeswoman for
the American Dietetic Association (ADA). “It’s not the time to try and
lose weight. You are trying to keep the status quo. But there are
different degrees of indulgence.”

Jessica Crandall, a registered dietitian from Denver who’s also an ADA
spokeswoman, added that gaining weight during the holidays and then
working hard to lose it again is not good for a person’s body. So-called
“yo-yo” dieting can wreck a person’s metabolism and cause them to lose
muscle mass.

“You’re going to essentially slow down your metabolism, which will make
it harder for you to lose weight in the long run,” Crandall explained.
“And keep in mind, it’s a lot harder to burn 3,500 calories, which is the
amount of calories in a pound, than it is to eat 3,500 calories.”

For starters, people interested in maintaining their weight during the
holidays should keep eating on a regular schedule, the two dietitians
said. Research has shown that people who skip meals — particularly
breakfast — end up eating more throughout the day.

“Try and stick to consistent meal times so you can avoid being overly
hungry,” Crandall said. “When you’re overly hungry, you can make some bad
decisions regarding what you eat. Don’t starve yourself during the day
waiting for that party at night — because you’ll binge eat or
overeat.”

Ansel suggests that you think now about the foods you really enjoy and
plan to focus on those while eating less of more common fare.

“Think about what are the favorite things you want, and separate things
you can only get around the holidays from things you can get anytime,” she
said. “You love Christmas cookies? Go ahead and have some, but don’t have
a brownie because you can have that anytime.”

Be careful, too, about alcohol intake, for a couple of reasons.
Alcoholic drinks, particularly the fancy ones handed out at holiday time,
tend to come loaded with calories. “It’s usually what you’re adding to a
drink that contains the calories,” Crandall said.

Also, if you’re drunk, you might forget to watch what you’re eating.
“It totally lowers your inhibitions,” Ansel said, “and you’ll start eating
things you never would have eaten” if you were sober.

Other holiday eating tips, suggested by Crandall and Ansel,
include:

Eat lots of vegetables, and eat them first before moving on to the
other items on your plate.
Recognize that many holiday extras, like cheese or cranberry sauce,
come loaded with calories. “If those aren’t your favorite foods, don’t put
them on your plate,” Crandall said.
If your favorite food has a lot of calories, be sure to minimize your
portion. “Two bites cure the craving,” Crandall said. “After that, you’re
just really feeding your old habits. It’s not really giving you any
nutrition, and you’re not curing that craving anymore.”
Keep your portions small. Remember that a portion of meat should be
the size of a cellphone or a deck of cards, Crandall said. A serving of
carbohydrates like mashed potatoes or bread should be about the size of
your fist.
After a big holiday meal, don’t sink into a recliner or couch. Go for
a walk outdoors or participate in some other activity that helps burn off
some of the calories you’ve just eaten.