Tips For Sticking To Your Diet Around The Holiday Time By Chris McCombs At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Thanksgiving and Christmas are wonderful times to spend with your family, but they can be murder on your fitness plan. Here are a few easy tips to make sure your diet passes by the holiday times relatively unscathed.

1. Eat Slowly

The way people get that “I’m so full that I have to unbuckle my belt” feeling is by eating a ton of food very quickly. If you chew slowly, put your utensils down in between bites, and focus more on conversation and less on eating, you body’s “full” feeling will be able to catch up with how much food you are eating. Eating slower also gives your metabolism more time to rev up, which means more calories of the holiday meal are burned faster.

2. Don’t Drink Alcohol

Alcohol slows down your metabolism considerably, and combined with all that fatty food, that means a lot will be stored as fat. If you opt for water instead, you are more likely to burn more of the food you eat.

3. Eat a small meal before going to the feast

To keep your willpower strong in the face of tempting sweets, eat a small meal before you go to the party. To help maintain that full feeling, it should be high and protein and healthy fats, like fish. It might also help to take a bag of walnuts with you to the party. When you start to feel tempted by something extremely sugary, just chew a couple nuts instead for a near instant sense of satiety.

4. Don’t Eat the Pie Crust

You can still safely indulge in holiday treats while minimizing your fat intake. Choose what pie you want the most, and just scoop out the filling. The piecrust is often loaded with lard, and pie tastes just as good without it. It’s also a good idea to not opt for ice cream and whipped cream.

5. Don’t Eat the Turkey Skin

The skin of poultry is loaded with a ton of calories of fat. By simply cutting it away and setting it aside before you dive into the turkey, you will be significantly helping your diet. Some people it even tastes better with the skin off.

5. Stick to Vegetables and Lean Meats for your holiday meal

Things like stuffing and mashed potatoes are often loaded with starchy carbs and butter. Vegetables are always a nice low calorie and meat will give you a shot of protein, which will help you build muscle and feel full.

6. Don’t Bank Calories

“Banking” calories means that you reduce the number of calories you eat before or after the big meal to save yourself time. You should instead stick to your regular diet plan (as much as possible) of just eating several small meals throughout the day.

7. Have Fun

You don’t necessarily have to keep to losing weight during the holiday season. If you just strive for weight maintenance, which generally means eating until you are full, not stuffed, you can have fun without gaining weight.

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