Surviving the Festive Season

Christmas is a time for celebration and of course overindulgence in food and alcohol is very much a part of that. All the fun however, can turn into grief as we cope with that awful hangover or those few extra kilos that are so much harder to get off than they are to put on.

To help you enjoy the festive season without ending up looking like Santa Claus, Nutrition Australia has put together some simple tips to help you survive the festive season:

• Don’t try to loose weight over Christmas. With parties, families and all the special foods that go with Christmas, it’s going to be just about impossible! Your main aim should be to maintain your weight. But make sure you get back on to healthy eating on January 2.
  

• Don’t starve yourself. Have your regular healthy meals and never go to a function starving. If you skip meals you are sure to fill up on high fat snacks. It only takes a few of these to add up to more calories than your usual meal.
  

• If you have a tendency to over eat, work out how many savouries you’re going to limit yourself to and stick to it. Pick up just one savoury at a time, then walk away.
  

• Deep fried foods, crumbed and batter foods, cheese platter and nuts are all high in fat. Choose fruit, vegetable or bread based snacks.
  

• If it’s you hosting the party, offer your guests a range of low fat snacks as well. Pretzels, rice crackers, vege sticks, fruit platters, breads and foccacias are all low in fat.
  

• If you are taking a plate, make sure yours is healthy. A platter of the wonderful stonefruit that is now available is much more inviting than a packet of chips.
  

• Follow this party food guide: 

  Foods to Choose	Foods to Limit
  Vegetable sticks for dipping Oven baked pita chips	Chips, Corn chips
  Pretzels, rice crackers, rice crisps	Nuts (whilst they are OK for cholesterol, they are high in calories)
  Baguettes, focaccia or bread or bread rolls	Garlic Bread
  Fruit salad and a slither of the best dessert available	Large pieces of cheesecake, mud cake, caramel tarts or anything topped with copious quantities of cream!
  Open sandwiches, kebabs, fresh seafood	Deep fried savouries, quiches, cheerios, cabana

   

• Get some healthy Christmas recipes from the Nutrition Australia website at www.NutritionAustralia.org
  

• At Christmas and at any time fill up on the foods at the bottom of the Healthy Eating Pyramid. That means eating plenty of bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, vegetables and fruits. Look at your plate. If it stacked full of these foods with only a little meat, cheeses and sauces, then you’re looking at a pretty low fat meal.
  

• Listen to your body and stop eating when you feel full.
  

• Join in the Christmas backyard cricket game or go for a stroll with some long lost relatives. Keep active.  Remember you're aiming for 30 minutes of physical activity.
  

• Chat and mingle. If you are bored at a party you’re more likely to hover around the food table or seek out the serving platter. A good conversation should distract you from the food.
  

• Drinks can add to the calorie count very quickly. Dilute your drinks. Try a spritzer (½ wine, ½ soda). If you mix your spirits, try a diet mixer. Remember soft drinks, 100% juices, punches, tonic water and flavoured mineral water all have similar calories. While alcohol does not have fat it does have plenty of calories that can add up. Lite beers are lower in calories.