stuff the turkey- not yourself!!

Need help decorating?

The holidays are a time for family and friends... and of course... FOOD.  It's okay to try things and indulge a little bit.  But, as is the theme for most of these posts- keep on track with portion control.  I found this helpful visual guide to help with the overindulgence that often accompanies these holiday meals!!

Pick and choose what you want to eat and what adds up to a healthy dinner plate.  You can select foods that you want to eat... so if you don't like pumpkin pie, maybe you want an extra serving of something else- it's up to you.

Some tips:

• Serve yourself fruits and vegetables first.  Fill at least half of your plate with them.
• Then serve yourself the protein. (Often this is served first, which can lead to overestimating the portion you want!!)
• Measure any sauces or gravy that you add to your food.  The calories and fat from these can quickly add up!!

UT MD Anderson experts share portion control

Keep in mind:

• Lose the clean plate mentality.  You don't need to eat your whole plate before you finish the meal.  If you are full, stop eating.
• Eat slowly.  Your brain has a lag time between being full and feeling full
• Don't feel the need to try everything.  Sometimes we feel the need to make people "feel good" by trying their dessert or side dish.  Don't feel you need to do this- eat what you want to stay on track!
• Remember to drink plenty of water during the holidays.  Sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger. 
• Remember to build exercise into your day.  If you are with your family, make it a group activity.  Walk in the park, run with the dog, etc.  This will make you feel good about yourself and jumpstart your metabolism for the day.
• Lastly, don't skip meals or show up to dinner starving. You will have a tendency to overeat on the bread or appetizers served (which are often high in fat and calories).

comfort food with a twist!

Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods.  I don't eat it often because it is filled with... cheese... and be close to 1,000 calories and 40g of fat per serving!!

Last weekend, I tried a new recipe from Cooking Light that I highly recommend!  It uses butternut squash as that base which gives the cheese sauce a thick, creamy aspect without the added fat.  It also adds fat free Greek yogurt to give the sauce a slight tangy taste! Yum!

Butternut squash is a great vegetable- it's filled with vitamin A and C, naturally low in calories, and has no fat!!  I used a mix of part-skim cheddar and mozzarella cheese instead of the Gruyere and Parmesan! (That switch is up to you!)  This came out great- and because I substituted part-skim cheese for the suggested cheese, the added saturated fat and caloric content was significantly reduced!

Tis the season... for your sweet tooth

The New York Times has many indulgent recipes

It's here.  Holiday season.  We now have the Starbucks red cups (yayyyy!!), crowds making crossing 5th Avenue nearly impossible, tourists asking where Rockefeller Center is, and the release of Justin Beiber's Christmas Album.

I love this time of year.  It just smells good.  The chestnuts roasting outside, the cinnamon in drinks, the nutmeg in pies, the warm pumpkin glazes poured over pancakes, baked apple crisps... 

As great as the holidays are- this time of year can be treacherous for people's diets.  (Who can resist we have temptations from October 31 through December 31!!!).

Delicious blueberry pie can have close to 400 calories!

This time of year creates havoc on people's diets- from holiday parties and social events, where people eat mindlessly.  Having, just a piece or two of everything adds up!!  Cakes on average have 225 calories and 10 grams of fat per slice!  Cookies are not really any better- ranging from 50- 500 calories per cookie.  (by the way- did you know that a jumbo cookie equals TEN appropriately sized cookies!!!)

diet myth #2: red meat is bad for you

Charcoal Cow Butchery Diagram

There is a big push for us to eat less meat, especially red meat.  There are some reasons why this is the recommendation, but not all red meat deserves a bad rap!

The Bad News: Red meat, in general, has more saturated fat than other more lean meats. In fact, red meat is the 2nd biggest contributor to saturated fat in the American diet (behind cheese!).  Saturated fat leads to many health problems, including cardiovascular disease. There have also been studies that correlate people who eat more red meat in their diet to higher risks of both disease and cancer (although this has not been scientifically proven, yet). 

nutrient rich beef

The Good News: Red meat has a ton of nutritional benefits.  For starters, it's a complete protein (which means it contains all of the essential amino acids your body needs).  Additionally, because they are from an animal source, many of the vitamins and minerals obtained by eating red meat are absorbed more easily than their vegetable counterparts.