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How to Avoid Holiday Pound-Packing

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Almost all of us who have been paying some attention – particularly to those ultimately depressing images from New Orleans in the too many days it took the government to respond – that the ‘new’ face of poverty in this nation is obese. The result of cheap and subsidized foods being primarily non-nutritional junk, made addictive with processed sugar, high fructose corn syrup and chemical additives, and the woeful ignorance of people about proper nutrition. But you don’t have to be poor to pack on the pounds during the annual holiday food-frenzy. Even the most svelt among us tends to greet the new year wearing clothes just a tad too large… or would be if that person were the same size s/he was in October.

Even people who don’t normally indulge in sweets may eat way more fudge, cookies and pie during the holidays than they’d eat all year long without the temptation being right there in front of them and looking way too scrumptious not to eat. Besides, the hostess who slaved over that chocolate walnut fudge might be insulted if we don’t eat! We’ve excuses out the yang for this sort of sanctioned gluttony.

So I found a recent post at the blog One Big Health Nut to be particularly fitting this time of year. In 7 ways to keep your weight down during the holidays, Stephanie offers some good advice, some clever ways to fool your stomach into thinking it’s full, and some useful mind-tricks that can help you stay away from the empty calories.


Knowing my weaknesses pretty well – and my habit of taste-testing the goodies before anybody else – lets me know that all the great advice probably won’t keep those extra pounds off me, so I’ll go into January with the usual regimen of increased physical activity. Some extra rounds of disc golf now that the lower 9 can be played safely (poison ivy’s out for the winter), walk the mile to the mailbox and back instead of driving, get busy on the leaf-raking and fence-mending jobs that must be done before spring. But I just have to mention one of Stephanie’s ideas that I really am going to try this year in hopes that my poundage won’t be “the usual” amount this year…

2. Fill up on fiber. Fiber helps you feel full longer. It also helps you avoid cravings and overindulging. Before you go to an evening gathering that doesn’t include dinner, eat a dinner packed with foods rich in fiber. And if you are going to a dinner, eat a high fiber snack before going.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The Mayo Clinic offers a detailed list of high-fiber foods from which to choose. For a pre-party meal, the highest fiber choices are legumes (peas and beans). So a nice bowl of homemade split pea soup with a slice of whole wheat toast will fill your tummy with something approaching 18 grams of fiber! That should keep you from too many of the richer hors d’oeuvres.

If you’re going to dinner (don’t forget to give yourself small portions, getting seconds is better than not eating what you do get served), you can snack ahead of time on a cup of instant oatmeal (I like the apples and cinnamon flavor) to get 4 grams of fiber, or simply eat the apple and get 4.4 grams. Snacking on just a quarter cup of sunflower seeds will give your stomach nearly 4 grams of fiber to work with, almonds come in just under those.

So as the parties start cranking up and the goodies do their temptation act on your eyes, mind and waistline, plan ahead! Check out that post and put away those baggy sweat suits you usually wear in January.


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