5
Tricks to creating a healthy Christmas buffetMaintaining
your weight loss management programme can be hard during the seasonal
holidays, especially at Christmas. Faced with the prospect of having to
throw a Christmas party and feed more than your immediate family - how
can you possibly modify your Christmas diet without affecting everyone
else?
If you too are facing this struggle, then the following
tips could help. Designed with your Christmas weight loss in mind, by
simply incorporating the following tips into your Christmas diet, you
too can remain in firm control of your weight loss during this holiday
season and ensure you, your family and your friends experience a healthy
Christmas.
1. Swap salted peanuts for raw nuts and
seeds – almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, cashews, sesame
seeds… all are rich in protein, essential fats and minerals
2. Replace sugar based confectionary with
dried fruits – apples, apricots, raisins, banana, currant and figs… not
only dried fruits deliciously sweet but they last too
3. Make open-top mince pies – this will
help you to use less pastry, instantly cutting your fat and calorie
content in half. Alternatively you can opt to use filo pastry which is
thinner and lower in calories compared to traditional pastry. Another
clever trick is to add finely chopped apples to the mincemeat. This will
make it fluffier and will lower the mince pies overall calorie content.
4. Don’t do pigs in blankets – instead
grill/ bake the sausages in a wire rack to let the fat drain off
5. Choose tomato-based dips – avoid any
cheese dips and instead offer your guests salsa dips or a low-fat
yoghurt mixed with chopped herbs
You can also make the following swaps:
•
Mini pastry tartlet (45 kcal) for a mini filo tartlet (30kcal)
•
Breaded chicken bite (40 kcal) for a marinated chicken bite (29 kcal)
•
Mini bhaji (64 kcal) for a mini satay stick (34 kcal)
• 30g of ready
salted crisps (155 kcal) for 30g of tortilla chips (147 kcal)
• 30g
of salted peanuts (184 kcal) for 30g of pretzels (114 kcal)
• 175ml
of pre-mixed Buck’s fizz for 175ml for a wine spritzer (2:1 wine and
soda water)
The trick to maintaining your weight loss
is to sit down, examine what you would normally buy for a Christmas
party and swap any high fat/high calorie foods for their healthier
alternatives. It may feel like a gruelling process, but it will be worth
it in the end.
Similarly don’t be afraid to introduce healthier
foods to the table.
Cooking treats and puddings yourself for
example can instantly reduce your calorie content, plus enable you to
remain in control of exactly what you are eating.
Without anyone
even realising it you can offer them a healthier version of their
favourite puddings, and keep your Christmas fun, exciting and most
importantly delicious.
So give these tricks a try and make your
Christmas weight loss completely stress free.
