
Holiday Eating Without Regrets
Tips for staying healthy this season without depriving yourself.
Sep 14, 2009
Jul 28, 2020
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From rich, golden eggnog to densely moist sweet potato pie, tempting food treats seem to be everywhere during the holiday season. No wonder many of us believe that, at this time of year, loading on lots of extra weight is inevitable.
Yet the average person gains only about one pound from November to January (those who are overweight gain more). The real problem: weight you add during the holidays tends to remain with you months later, accounting for more than half of annual gain.
The solution isn't to diet your way through the festive season. "It's important not to feel like you've deprived yourself. But there's a fine line between enjoying and overdoing," says Bethany Thayer, M.S., R.D., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and a dietitian for Health Alliance Plan, the medical insurance arm of Henry Ford Health System, in Detroit.
Make your strategy simply to hold your weight steady. You can achieve that goal with help from your senses of taste, feel and smell.
Fooling your senses
Our senses often work against healthy eating by attracting us to sugary and fat-rich foods. Yet they also can be "fooled" into finding similar pleasure in sugar or fat alternatives that mimic the tastes we like so much, according to Lalita Kaul, Ph.D., R.D., L.D.N., a dietitian and professor of community health and family practice, Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.
When you heighten the sensory appeal of foods you prepare, serve and eat, your senses help you sail through the holiday season. You'll be able to reduce fat and sugar but still enjoy dishes that are as satisfying as traditional calorie-loaded favorites.
Focus on flavor
Is your downfall sweet or salty foods? Or both? "We naturally gravitate toward sweet because we have more sweet taste buds. And salt enhances the flavor of whatever you're consuming," says Thayer.
What's more, we build up an adaptation to both sweet and salty taste, she says, requiring greater amounts to attain satisfaction. Indeed, worldwide, the use of high calorie sweeteners has increased.
You can wean your taste buds gradually from wanting more sweetness or saltiness, but that takes time. To navigate the holiday eating ahead, these tips will help you cut sugar and salt, but still keep flavor appeal high:
Feels like fat—but isn't
That tempting brownie on the holiday goodie tray has the right texture and taste—moist, rich and chocolatey. Yet the appealing "mouth feel" it has, usually due to calorie- and cholesterol-loaded fats, such as butter or shortening, might come from an unexpected source: beans.
Research shows that puréed cannellini beans (white beans) can be used to replace as much as 50 percent of the fat in brownies and dropped cookies while producing a treat that tastes very similar to the original—plus has added fiber and vitamins.
Fats give many foods the sensory qualities that make us want to eat them. We need some fat in our diet, but all are dense with calories. Saturated fats and trans fats also raise blood cholesterol, which increases the risk of heart disease. The Institute of Medicine recommends consuming as little saturated fats (found in meat and dairy products) and trans fats (in packaged baked goods) as possible.
You can fool your senses with healthier fat replacements that provide similar eating pleasure:
Three other great tips to keep from adding holiday weight: