Enjoy Holiday Feasts Without The Guilt

By BONNIE WALKER

Published on 11/17/2003

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Thanksgiving and Christmas, the big-eating holidays of the year, are coming up fast, bringing with them loads of holiday sweets, treats, drinks and — oh, no — weight gain.

If you have been dieting, or if you simply don't want to put on those dreaded extra holiday pounds that just won't just go away, you are in luck.

First, rejoice in the fact that not eating is not recommended, though eating well and wisely is.

Second, if you are going to eat, there are ways of making your favorite dishes lower in fat and carbs without sacrificing the flavors and textures we all are looking forward to.

Linda T. Farr, a licensed, registered dietitian, tells her clients at Nutrition Associates of San Antonio, to eat. When Thanksgiving morning dawns and the kitchen activity is in full swing, have breakfast and think about what good snacks you can put out to eat between meals. Plan to avoid that nagging emptiness in your stomach.

“If you skip meals, you may be overly hungry for the next and overeat,” says Farr. “It's a good idea on holidays to have low-calorie snacks around like raw vegetables, relishes, snacks and so forth. These are especially good if you're on Atkins' or a high-protein diet. They're easy to munch on and give you something to chew.”

That chewing sensation? “I think it makes you feel more satisfied than if you just drink something,” says Farr.

Speaking of drinking, Farr says to watch out for the calorie intake from alcohol. If you know that you'll be drinking alcohol, a good strategy is to “drink sugar-free beverages between drinks, or increase your water intake between drinks,” says Farr.

Farr notes that despite the current rage of low-carb diets, more people still are concerned about fat intake. “That's really what the health community is promoting first, before carbohydrates,” says Farr.

Modifying favorite recipes using sugar substitutes in desserts, cranberry relishes, and so forth, is a great kitchen strategy. Farr recommends two products on the market now that substitute for sugar in baking as well as other recipes. One is Equal Spoonful Sweetener, the other is Splenda. “Both are approved by the FDA and both are equal in sweetness to sugar (meaning you can substitute cup-for-cup in recipes),” says Farr.

Fat-cutting strategies include either skipping the fatty, starchy turkey gravies, or making them by skimming off fat, adding herbs and seasonings, and making a pan reduction of natural juices.

And load up on fresh vegetables, something nearly every diet promotes.

Finally, physical exercise is always a good thing, but especially during the holidays.

“I suggest to families that they work in a daily walk together,” says Farr. “Get outside, enjoy the weather, try to put in an hour of walking every day. Do it as a family.”

Equal is Aspartame...Health concerns aside, it DOES NOT stand up to heat very well. It breaks down at 86 degrees and loses it sweetness. If you bake with Equal, you will be disappointed [because it will lose its sweetness.] I'd stick with Stevia or Splenda.

That being said, I wonder what the LFers are going to do Gravy-wise...Gravy is pretty much thickened fat. We can use Guar or Xanathan Gum to thicken LC Gravy [instead of the traditional white flour,] but how would a LFer make Gravy without the fat ?

Gravy is not thickened fat. It's thickened liquid. You can make a gravy with flour and water, it's just not good.

The fat gives the gravy a wonderful, smooth, non-pasty texture. As a medium for incorporating the thickener (i.e. flour) into the liquid, fat is the way to go. But in my low-fat days, I often added the flour by mixing it with a cold liquid so it was soupy then adding it to the hot drippngs/stock.