7 Tips for Staying Slim at Christmas
Holiday weight loss goals are easy with these seven tips for staying slim at Christmas! You can enjoy mouth-watering turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and Christmas without gaining an inch. In fact, these tips could actually help you lose weight over the holidays.
“I think the hardest thing is losing weight,” says Aretha Franklin. “That’s harder than anything else.”
Aretha, you gotta check out these tips from registered dietitians, health writers, and adventurous women (and men)! For instance, Brenda Ponichtera – registered dietitian and author of Quick & Healthy Recipes and Ideas – contributed two tips for a low-fat Thanksgiving feast. To learn more about Ponichtera’s book, click the book cover. And, read on for seven tips for staying slim at Christmas…
7 Tips for Staying Slim at Christmas
1. Modify your stuffing recipe. “Make a fat-free dressing by substituting broth for the margarine or butter in your recipe,” says Brenda Ponichtera. “It tastes just as good! You can also add more celery and onion to your recipe to increase the vegetables and further reduce the calories per serving.”
2. Another way to make low fat low carb stuffing. “With a mother that has diabetes along with 24 million others in the US, Thanksgiving side dishes are sometimes a challenge to cook. I try to find things she can enjoy without having blood sugar spikes,” says Sue Ennis, of dLife – For Your Diabetes Life. “The key thing that most people struggle with is a healthy low carbohydrate version of stuffing. One way to remove 60% of the carbs is to use 1/4 of the bread and replace the rest with celery. The mixture cooks up the same and have a wonderful crunch! Needless to say, a lot less calories too!” For the full recipe, see Celery Stuffing at dLife.com.
3. Serve lighter appetizers. “Change your favorite recipes by substituting lower fat ingredients such as low-fat or fat-free yogurt and sour cream,” says Ponichtera. “Use fruits and vegetables with dips and spreads, instead of chips or crackers.” Holiday weight loss goals and staying slim at Christmas definitely includes portion control.
4. Try a low fat yam side dish. “We adapted a yam dish to be healthful – low fat definitely, but it has maple syrup,” says Suzy Allegra, aka Gemini Renaissance Woman. “We pre-cook chunked yams, sliced apples, and cranberries (or buy cranberry relish made with whole cranberries). Put them together in a dish, pour over a bit of maple syrup and bake. The more syrup, the sweeter and the more caloric. It’s tart, but not icky-sweet. To add fat, add butter to the baking process. Yummy and healthy!”
5. Get adventurous with sweet potatoes and ginger ale. “One of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes is roasted sweet potatoes (just wash the sweet potato and throw it straight in the oven for about an hour while the turkey’s cooking) and carrots braised in ginger ale, ala Alton Brown,” says Dani Nordin, principal problem solver at the zen kitchen. “Cut the carrots into thin pieces on a bias, sauté in about a tablespoon of butter with salt and pepper for a couple of minutes, then add a can of ginger ale and simmer slightly uncovered for about 45 minutes. At the end, take off the cover, turn the heat way up and toss the carrots in the pan until the ginger ale forms a glaze. SO yummy!”
6. Make a low fat pumpkin pie. “For something more traditional, try lightening your favorite pumpkin pie recipe by substituting evaporated skim milk and egg substitute,” says Ponichtera. “Make it with the traditional single crust or lower the calories even more by eliminating the crust. If you are making a crustless pie, be sure to spray the pie pan with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in the filling. This will prevent sticking and make it easier to serve. Top each slice with a dollop of fat-free whipped topping before serving.” This holiday weight loss goal and tip for staying slim at Christmas allows you to enjoy the tastes of the season.
7. Try another version of pumpkin pie. Here’s a low fat version of pumpkin pie, from The Diabetes Weight Loss Diet by Antony Worrall Thompson (thanks to Michael Weisberg of Kyle Books for sending this recipe for pumpkin pie custard – I can’t wait to try it!).
Souffleed Pumpkin Pie Custard
1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
Zest and juice of 1 orange
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2/3 cup lowfat milk
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Beat all the ingredients, except the egg white, until smooth. Whisk the egg white until stiff then fold into the mixture. Divide between six 6-oz custard cups.
3. Set the cups in a roasting pan and pour enough boiling water to come at least halfway up the sides of the custard cups.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly set and warmed through. Serve warm sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.
Readers, do you have any tips for staying slim over the holidays? Please feel free to comment below!
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Comment by Tim on 20 April 2009:
I think weight loss is all about three things – attitude, diet and exercise. From my experience, reducing carb intake and doing aerobic exercises are keys to successful weight loss.
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 21 April 2009:
The secret to successful weight loss for me has been to fill up on delicious salads without dressing (well – I’M dressed, but the salad isn’t
).
Instead of salad dressing, I add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and raisons. And I eat lots of apples, bananas, and other fruit — it’s the Volumetrics Diet, really. It has worked like a charm for me. I’ve also cut way back on the meat and potatoes.
Thanks for your comment, Tim — and I agree: weight loss IS about attitude, diet, and exercise.
I also see food as fuel, not entertainment or comfort. That’s huge — it’s something my hubby taught me! He eats when he’s hungry, and that’s it. When he eats sweets, it’s minimal. His healthy eating habits are rubbing off on me, which has also helped me lose weight.
Comment by Peter Stockwell on 19 December 2009:
I tell my people to eat what they like at Christmas. They will quite probably be eating out or at other people’s homes with little control over what food they are given. They will not put on an enormous amount and they know how to lose it again after the holiday. So enjoy.
Comment by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen on 20 December 2009:
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your tip, especially since I (like everyone else) have almost no control over what I’m eating this week of Christmas! It’s nice to be reassured that I won’t gain a ton of weight this week, and I can easily lose a few pounds when I get back to my normal schedule in January.
Appreciating your presence here,
Laurie