TIPS FOR HEALTHY HOLIDAY EATING

Holiday time means lots of eating and socialising and you might struggle to choose healthy options when you are out with friends and family. You’ve had a rough year and want to celebrate and enjoy with everyone else, but do not want to give up on all your goals and start over again in the new year. Do you choose seafood or red meat? Potato wedges, or chips? What about alcohol?

Here are a few practical tips to help you survive the holiday temptations and help you make the best choices (most of the time):

• – Seafood is a wonderful choice, as long as you order it grilled rather than fried
• – Ask for the sauce separate, so that you can control the amount you use.
• – Pizza does not need to be unhealthy, especially if you avoid the highest fat foods on your pizza – bacon, salami, mince and cheese! Ask for feta instead of mozzarella for a cheesy taste that is not too high in fat. One or two pieces are enough.
• – Ribs are one of the highest fat meats around. A better choice would be a fillet steak.
• – Portion sizes are most important. Restaurant meals tend to be double, if not more, than what a normal lady can eats. Try to put half in a take away and enjoy it the next day.
• – Eating at home? Do not go for a second serving. One is enough.
• – If your meal has carbohydrates incorporated into it (for example a burger) avoid the chips or wedges, but if the meal is only protein you can enjoy a small amount of the chips or wedges. Better choices, however, are rice or potato!
• – Alcohol contains calories. Drink in moderation. Remember if you do have a glass of wine for example you will need to cut out your carb/starch
• – A portion of alcohol is 125 ml wine (very small glass!), 1/2 beer or a tot of spirits. Generally the guideline is 1-2 units per day for women and 2-3 units per day for men.
• – The lite wine does have a little less alcohol, but it is actually not that significant, so your portion may go up to about 200ml instead of 125ml!
• – From an energy perspective, an alcohol unit has the same energy as a portion of carbohydrate, so you would need to take out 1-2 units of carbohydrates from your day to keep the calories controlled!

Try and keep a balance and do not over indulge. Something has to give, and you need to decide which is most important each day…