Healthful Holiday Traditions
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Plan physically active, stress-reducing holiday
events. Try an
ice-skating gathering or a holiday ski trip. Make winter fun and try
a new sport – snow shoeing, snow boarding, or x-country skiing.
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If holiday baking is your gig – plan on
sampling 1-2 bites and giving the rest away. Store extras in the
freezer or share with friends and families.*Try
some of our recipe makeover suggestions listed below.
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Nutritious Gift-Giving
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If you give a food gift, provide one that reduces
stress by providing convenient healthy fun food such as a crate of
fresh Florida oranges or grapefruits.
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Consider non-food gift items such as a Cooking
Light Magazine or Nutrition Action Newsletter subscription. Give
health-supporting gifts such as pedometers, heart-rate monitors or
fitness clothing/equipment. *Take a look at our Recommended
Reading List for book ideas.
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Celebrate and enjoy, the greatest gift you can
give yourself and to your family and friends, is your health.
Exercise, eat well, and relax!
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Beverage Choices
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Skip or limit high-calorie beverages such as
eggnog*, soda, juice, and blended coffee drinks. Choose flavored
waters, seltzers, spritzers, and reduced-calorie eggnog.
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Limit alcoholic beverages or alternate with
non-alcoholic, calorie-free drinks. Alcohol can stimulate your
appetite and can inhibit your ability to make healthful choices in
moderation. Set a goal for the number of drinks you will have before
you arrive. Choose “mock” tails, spritzers, or drinks that you
can sip slowly. Consider
drinking alcohol with the main course.
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If you’re looking for looking for something to
keep you warm, stick with sugar-free & low fat hot chocolate
made with skim or soymilk. Select herbal teas and flavor with
peppermint sticks.
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Keep yourself well hydrated as you may
misinterpret thirst for hunger.
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Party Pointers: Avoiding Extra “Trimmings” to
your waistline
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Avoid skipping meals and arriving starved for
holiday gatherings. Moderate
intake throughout the day in preparation, however, consider a light
meal or snack prior to partying.
Include plenty of healthy fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
Eat slowly and start off partying with healthy options first. Give
your brain a chance to catch up to your satiety.
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Distance yourself from the buffet table. Indulge
in conversation, dance the night away, and focus on having fun.
Consider arriving fashionably late to avoid nervous-nibbling.
Chew gum to occupy your mouth or consider packing your toothbrush to
resist the urge to eat your way through the evening.
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Look over the entire buffet before eating.
Remember to honor your hunger first.” Gauge your hunger before
eating. Select and sample “special” or favorite items in
moderate portions. Remember, this isn’t your last supper! Forego
the high-fat everyday items such as mashed potatoes, breads/rolls,
brownies, chips, nuts.
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Fit in fitness and use shopping as a chance to
get some extra exercise and fight holiday stress. Plan on walking a
lap around the mall before and/or after shopping. Don’t bother
fighting for parking spots in the front row, save time and park a
few rows away - enjoy some fresh air!
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Leave leftovers and heartburn behind. Quit
equating satisfaction with discomfort. Learn to stop eating at the
point that you no longer feel hunger or when you’ve literally
“had enough.” Prepare and recite a few polite “no thank
you’s.”
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Practice damage control – be realistic and
allow yourself a few treats, but monitor your intake so you don’t
overdo it. Remember,
one day of over-indulgence isn’t a license to overeat and stop
exercising altogether. It’s
what you do 90 % of the time that really counts.
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Recipe Makeovers
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Add healthful ingredients to boost nutrition.
Add diced veggies to stuffing, and substitute whole grains in
recipes. Consider
vanilla soymilk instead of milk in eggnog (heart-healthy fat).
Reduce oil in recipes by ½ and replace with applesauce or prune
puree.
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Replace and substitute low-fat ingredients for
high-fat ingredients. Choose
an egg-substitute (1/4 c = 1 egg) in eggnog vs. whole eggs. Use two
egg whites for every one egg in a recipe. Use evaporated skim milk
instead of cream. Use non-fat or low-fat sour cream, yogurt, and/or
cheese in recipes. Use light margarine or cooking spray instead of
shortening or butter.
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Reduce the sugar in recipes by 1/3. Experiment
with sugar-substitutes or Stevia (herb). Use 3 Tablespoons of
unsweetened cocoa powder to replace 1 ounce of unsweetened chocolate
in desserts.
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Use crushed graham crackers or ginger snaps as a
healthy substitute for pie crusts.
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Whip mashed potatoes with buttermilk or fruit
juice instead of butter. Roast a head of garlic and add it to your
dishes for great flavor.
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Create a vegetable Christmas tree party platter.
On a large tray, arrange broccoli florets in the shape of a
Christmas tree. Decorate
with bright grape tomatoes, and cut star shapes from jicama or
turnips. (Source:
Communicating for Health).
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Recipe: Heart Healthy
Eggnog
Total
preparation time: 2 hours (15 minutes to cook)
Number of
Servings: 6
Amount
Ingredients
½ cup
egg substitute (i.e. Eggbeaters)
4
Tablespoons
sugar
1 can (13 ounces)
evaporated skim milk
¾ cup
skim milk (or vanilla soymilk)
1
teaspoon
vanilla
dash
nutmeg
*add alcohol if desired
Preparation:
Whip egg substitute and sugar. Combine with both types of milk,
and vanilla. Mix well and chill overnight (this enhances the flavor).
Serve in chilled mugs and top with a sprinkling of ground nutmeg.
Nutrition
Facts:
Calories:
109
Total
Fat:
.9 grams (3 g with soymilk)
Saturated
fat: .2 grams
Protein:
8 grams
Carbohydrate:
17 grams
Sodium:
124
Additional Resources
Web MD “Holiday Tools, Trimmings, Tips, and
Style.”
Heart Info “Holiday Beverage Makeovers, Holiday
Recipe Ideas, Passover Ideas, Healthy Gift
Ideas.”
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