Pages

Subscribe:

Ads 468x60px

Total Pageviews

Thursday 17 December 2009

Christmas: How to avoid over-eating


.Is that last crumb of chocolate cake too tempting? Are cookies a must-have even after you have had a sumptuous Christmas lunch? Do you always get up groaning from the dinner table, asking around for digestive pill and living the rest of the year under a sense of guilt of having not done enough to get that ‘perfect figure’?

You have a little gastronomic problem here, dear friend, and some tips can help you enjoy your festival meals better without a worry on your mind:

1. Eat a decent breakfast: Don’t starve yourself for the big meal, it’s a bad idea for your system. Nutritionists suggest you must always take small meals, so that the body has enough time and energy to break it all down. It’s best to have a base, moreover, on which you can build the rest of the meal!

2. Drink: Drink water before a meal. One or two glasses. You could also go for the appetiser soup.

3. Watch your plate: Fight temptation, that’s what Jesus did. You can always go for the second serving and no, it is not impolite. What is outright uncivilised is making a mountain of cakes, tarts, cookies, turkey, chicken breasts…

4. Refuse second helping: You read that right. Once you had your plate, don’t just agree to the gracious host offering you a second serving. It’s not impolite, but surely less sophisticated!

5. Go for carbs: Face it, carbohydrates are filling. Just a little bit of cheese and crackers or cereal with low-fat yogurt won’t harm you and will prevent you from eating more than you can manage.

6. Salad spree: Veggies are good- for your body and for your hunger. However, don’t fill up with cheesy salads: go for carrot or celery sticks, salads and fruits first.

7. Keep friends around: Festivals are time to bond, not hog! Keep good company that keeps your attention away from pastries and on to some sizzler of a topic.

8. Eat slowly: Chew slooooowly. Remember mom breathing down this mantra down your food filled throats. It’s true that if you chew the food properly and slowly, you tend to digest the food properly. And of course you get to savour every bite.

9. Imagine getting fat: Keep the image that you fear for yourself in your mind’s eye even as you eye the next morsel. It will stop you from over-eating ASAP.

10. Exercise: It’s tough to exercise when you are rustling up new ways to welcome guests. But do take a break of 20 minutes everyday to keep this festival fat-free. It will tone your body, make you eat at the right time and you need not dread having another love-handle at every treat.

11. Plan: Yes, even if you want to not over-eat, plan in advance. If you don’t plan when you will bring in the Santa in the party or prepare the kebabs as drinks catch on, you will not be left with much time to have a meal. End result: you will fast initially but eat double in whatever few minutes you are able to squeeze out for yourself.

12. Be happy: Remember it is ‘merry’ Christmas. Don’t get upset if the champagne isn’t there, you can always have some soda on ice with juice and lemon shots. If you are someone who eats more when they are upset, then festive season is the time for you to be alert for mood swings.

13. Favourite dish can be cooked anytime: Don’t succumb to the pressure that you won’t get cranberry sauce or rum balls again at any other time in the year. Remembering that most of all the dishes on table are available on other days will help you relax.

14. Forgive but don’t forget: Don’t go on a guilt trip if you still end up having more. It is okay, it is Christmas after all. Forgive yourself. But don’t forget the cramps and belching so that you can avoid over-eating in the next holiday.



Don’t binge on drinks

Do you see tipsy trees after a hearty session of laughs and liquor? Holidays are a season when booze flows freely and friends encourage for ‘one more round’ even after having had enough pegs. Drinking like a fish is a more serious problem, as it puts your life in danger immediate and long-term. Here are a few tips on how to walk out straight from a good party.

1. Know your limit and follow it: Most regular drinkers know how much they can hold. Even if it is holiday season, it doesn’t give you the freedom to overdo it and land in trouble.

2. Eat before drink: Having some solids down there before drinking helps prevent blood absorb alcohol quickly. So go for some sweet & sour meatballs or kebabs, cheese bits or grills. Lip smacking, too.

3. Drink milk: Don’t twist your nose like that. Milk is really healthy. But that’s not the reason we advise you to have it before a session of drinks. Milk forms a protective lining on the stomach and prevents easy absorption of alcohol.

4. Drink water: Avoid pure alcohol shots. Mix soda and water to your drink- will give it volume as well. Keep aspirin and water handy.

5. Go light: For one evening, forget serious drinks. Go for variants of Vodka and Gin instead of heavy brandy and rum. Avoid too much of Red wine- it produces worst chemicals leading to hangovers.

6. Avoid smoking: Don’t mix smoking with drinking. It constricts your lungs. Take breaks between drinking and don’t indulge in smoking during the break.

No comments:

Post a Comment