Holiday weekends often mean family and friends coming together to eat, drink and be merry surrounded by the sizzling sounds of meat, chicken and fish on the grill, potato and pasta salads and who could forget good old corn on the cob and plenty of beer, wine and coolers to go around. But as one of my weight loss coaching clients recently asked me, “How can I enjoy a holiday weekend celebration and still manage to stay healthy and control my weight?” Let’s look at how you can make your celebrations work for your health and weight without feeling either hungry or deprived.
Here are five tips to consider for your holiday weekend celebrations:
1. Watch out for beer, wine, coolers and other alcoholic beverages. Alcohol is not only high in calories it also impairs your judgment which can lead to making poor food choices or overeating. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a drink with your meal. What it does mean is that if you’re used to having a few beers and/or a few glasses of wine, try having one half to two thirds of what you would normally have. By slowly cutting back on the quantities or replacing it with a non-alcoholic low calorie beverage, you’ll be saving yourself lots of extra calories and yet you won’t feel totally deprived. Peer pressure can become an issue when drinking alcohol is what is expected by your peer group. Be strong. They will have to adjust to your new habits as well.
2. Choose fatty cuts of meat and smoked or cured meats like bacon, bologna, hot dogs, ham, corned beef, luncheon meats, and sausage in VERY limited quantities on a VERY limited basis. The reason you want to be careful when choosing these foods is because they are generally high in saturated fat, salt and calories all of which DO NOT contribute to good health and effective weight control. You’d be much better off to choose leaner cuts of meat, chicken, turkey or fish instead and avoid highly salted foods where possible. If you just can’t give up that juicy hotdog or sausage, then treat yourself, but have half of what you normally would. That will still be a success.
3. Watch out for refined grains including white bread, white rice and white pasta. Choose whole wheat alternatives wherever possible to get the added fiber which helps to make you feel fuller. If you’re not sure what the host is going to be serving, then bring your own whole wheat hamburger buns and offer to bring a green salad or a vegetable or fruit tray so you’re guaranteed to have at least a few healthy low calorie choices that you can fill up on and help offset your higher calorie choices.
4. Stay clear of items with creamy salad dressings, mayonnaise, and butter that are high in fat content. If you can’t avoid them completely, eat them in half or less than half the amounts you would normally eat. This will help to save extra calories as well. Remember, this also includes all the creamy potato and pasta salads commonly found at most barbecues.
5. Avoid foods high in salt such as most cheese spreads and cheeses, salty chips, nuts, and pretzels. If you can’t resist then be sure to not position yourself near the food tables. Sometimes the best strategy is to just walk away.
It may seem like there’s lots to think about when all you really want to do is just eat and enjoy. However, making healthy choices does take some work on your part, but is your health and self-esteem not worth the effort? Follow these tips as listed above and with each healthy choice you make you will be one step closer to better health and a slimmer you.
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