Your Sure-Fire Guide To Eating During The Holidays

November 24, 2007 by Robert William Locke

How can you resist overeating ? The holiday season is upon us and temptation is everywhere! All those invitations to dinners and buffets - it is enough to despair. Read the article and find out some ways to save your figure and your sanity!

Shopping for food should take place in the grocery store or the supermarket as these are the places where you will find all the healthy food options. Convenience stores are not great on choice as regards healthy nutrients! The new dietary guidelines just out tell us that we should be aiming for NINE portions of fruit and vegetables - it was FIVE before ! That is bad news for poorer Americans as they would have to spend up to 70% of their total food budget if they were to take any notice of the gurus.

When you are invited to dinner or to a reception with a buffet, start before you go out. No, I do not mean eating ,well, apart from a handful of nuts! These have lots of fibre and that will help to make you feel full and less ravenous. A great idea is to drink a glass or even two of water -water has zero calories and helps to make you feel full.

Now you are at dinner. Wine and food are flowing - it seems that a war is going to start and there will be rationing soon ! As regards alcohol, I try to have a glass of wine and then follow it with a glass of water - by doing this I can cut my alcohol consumption by 50%. When getting my wine glass replenished I try to stop my host from filling it - the less the better in this case.

Buffet grazing is great fun and disastrous for your waistline. I try to take small helpings and leave the table and find a seat as far away as I can. I try to engage somebody in conversation and this helps me give less attention to my food . Once I am so far away, this is going to discourage me from getting too many second helpings.

Stuffing and gravy tend to be rich in calories as indeed are bacon, ham and sausages. Much better to stock up with cranberry sauce - cranberries have great antioxidant properties. I feel less guilty if I can pile my plate high with green vegetables, hoping that somebody has remembered us diet obsessed people by bringing a plentiful supply. Basic rule is to sip wine and eat slowly, if you can.

If you have a sweet tooth like me, then the last part of the meal is the worst. But you want to enjoy yourself and why not ? Just think that a slice of pecan ie with whipped cream contains 700 calories - that is about 50% of your daily calorie intake. Pumpkin pie is a healthier option. Doggy bags should not be allowed!

The average American is about to put on FIVE more pounds over the holiday season from now until New Years. Try and follow my advice and don’t be one of them !

About the Author: Robert William Locke

Stop Eating Too Much