After my article on "18 days to look fabulous" a few comments mentioned that they find the many dinners they share with family and friends the hardest part of trying to be healthy during the holidays.
So I am going to share a couple of tips I have picked up.
Make sure even when following these tips that you enjoy your dinners. Do not spend Christmas worrying about what you put in your mouth, still indulge, just don't over-indulge!
- Fill up half your plate with vegetables or salad. These obviously are extremely good for you both on your waistline, but also your skin and hair. The more food you have on your plate that has less calories, the less you are going to eat over all.
- Try everything, don't panic about eating something that may have a high calorie count. Just make sure you only have a couple of bites. Mariah Carey followed this rule to lose weight for her world tour. It is called the Morsel Diet, named so, because you have a tiny portion/couple of bites of whatever food you want, but ONLY a couple of bites. (I'm not saying to follow this diet, just follow the rule for your big dinners)
- Only have what is on your plate! Do not nibble before hand when preparing food, and do not take seconds. If you must, have more meat, more vegetables, not more potatoes.
- Ask for a smaller plate. If with your own family, this is a simple ask, if not do not worry. If you have a smaller plate, you can not fit as much on it, so will definitely eat less.
- When at a buffet at a party or other event, follow the same rule. Have one plate only, fill it half with salad or vegetables, and have plenty of chicken legs (they always seem to have these at buffets) Just keep away form the carbs (pastry/ crisps etc) and stock up on protein (chicken, ham, sausages)
- Do not nibble on sweets, crisps, nuts throughout the day! If you must have some then portion it, take a separate bowl and have a handful (one handful) and eat this portion and this portion alone. If you don't portion and instead nibble and graze, you do not realise how much you have eaten, and can over eat very easily.
- For desert, have some!! (only if you want) But have a normal portion, not a huge one, you can always say you are full from dinner, so can not manage a large portion. The key with dessert is, if you can have it without cream, ice-cream etc; this can easily add another 200 calories.
It really is all about portion control, here's a picture to help you.
If you can not follow these tips, it does not matter! What you need to do is pick 3 or 4 big events, and have whatever you want during these dinners/parties, and just eat moderately and healthily for the rest of the time.
I hope these tips help you take control of your diet over the holidays. Let me know what your favourite portion control tip is.
