Holiday Eating Guide

by Kristina Kulin

Holiday buffet feasts don’t have to sabotage diet success. After all the hard work you put in eating right, exercising and managing your weight, the last thing you want is to begin the coming year back where you started. Enter the Metabolife Holiday Eating Guide: below, you’ll find delicious and healthy ways to cut back on the usual culprits in holiday meals- fat, carbs and sugar- with ingredients and recipes that can support your choices for a healthy lifestyle.

Traditional favorite: Turkey with stuffing
The culprit: Fat, carbs

Easy fixes: When roasted or prepared in other low-fat, low-calorie methods, turkey is a great source of lean protein. It’s the add-ons—starchy stuffing, fatty gravy, sugary cranberry sauce—that you need to watch out for. Stay away from these sides as much as possible and be smart about portion control to help keep you on track.

Also, consider this: traditional bread stuffing made with white flour bread is laden with simple carbs. Think about making your stuffing with whole wheat bread this year; it will add fiber and protein to the dish. Even better, substitute whole grains for bread for an original and more flavorful dish. The nutty flavor of kasha (toasted buckwheat) lends itself well to stuffing and the extra fiber will fill you up faster—with a smaller serving—than a bread stuffing.

Simple Fix: Use whole wheat bread instead of white bread in your traditional stuffing

What you’ll gain: Some commercial brands of white bread contain 0 grams of fiber per slice, while some whole wheat breads can contain up to 5 grams per slice. Whole wheat bread also contains more protein, so it’s a better choice all around.
What you’ll lose: White bread and whole wheat bread contain the same amount of calories, but by the slice, white bread contains 12.7 grams of carbohydrates versus only 11.9 grams in whole wheat bread.
Get Creative: Check out some exciting recipes to take the place of your usual stuffing recipe: Apple and Onion Cornbread Stuffing, Sausage, Chestnut and Dried Plum Stuffing, Wild Rice Pilaf with Pumpkin Seeds, Mixed Rice Pilaf with Walnuts

Traditional favorite: Mashed potatoes
The culprits: Carbs, saturated fat, cholesterol

Easy fixes: When you combine the traditional ingredients for mashed potatoes (potatoes, cream, butter, etc.) you’ve got a recipe for empty calories, high fat and high carb content. This year, try substituting butter with olive oil, and cream with lo-fat milk or soymilk. You’ll cut out calories, saturated fat and cholesterol. If you want to add some exciting flavors, think about mixing in roasted garlic and fresh, chopped herbs

Simple Fix: Substitute olive oil for butter in your mashed potato recipe

What you’ll gain: One tablespoon of olive oil contains higher levels of Vitamin E and iron than butter.
What you’ll lose: One tablespoon of olive oil contains just 1.9 grams of saturated fat, while the same amount of butter has 7.3 grams!
Get Creative: Check out these recipes for alternatives to standard mashed potatoes: Mushroom-Topped Mashed Potatoes , Golden Mashed Root Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes with Glazed Shallots, Mashed Potatoes with Garden Herbs

Traditional favorite: Pumpkin Pie
The culprits:Fat, carbs, sugar

Easy fixes: With desserts, you’re in control when you make it yourself. When you buy store-bought pumpkin pie, or use canned pumpkin pie mix, you have no say in the amount of fat and sugar that goes in.

Making your own filling doesn’t have to mean hours of preparation—simply choosing canned pumpkin instead of canned pumpkin mix can cut down on the sugar and calories in your pie and will allow you to experiment with your own choices of seasonings and sweeteners. Consider using natural sweeteners like maple syrup or some of the many alternative sweeteners on the market. If you’re tired of the usual cinnamon and nutmeg combo, incorporate lemon and orange zest to make a delicious combination of seasonings in your pie.

Using whole wheat flour will give your crust a delightful nutty flavor and golden crust. Experiment with different shortenings and fats for your crust—olive oil makes a tasty crust and is very low in saturated fat.

Simple Fix: Make your own pumpkin pie filling and go easy on the sugar

What you’ll gain: Canned pumpkin contains higher levels of minerals like iron, magnesium and potassium, than canned pumpkin pie mix.
What you’ll lose: One cup of canned pumpkin puree contains 83 calories and 19.8 grams of carbohydrates. In one cup of a typical canned pumpkin pie mix you’ll find 281 calories and a whopping 71.2 grams of carbohydrates!
Get Creative: Check out these recipes for other holiday dessert ideas:Pumpkin Cheesecake with Oat-Walnut Crust,Butternut Pie in an Almond Crust,Baked Green Apples,Winter Fruit with Chocolate-Ginger Cannoli Cream

Surviving the holidays without sacrificing weight loss momentum is about making smart choices and understanding the importance of portion control. Also, don’t be afraid to get creative with old recipes!

Still need some inspiration? Explore our free, online recipe database for more ideas. If you’re not cooking, but are a guest at someone else’s home, keep your metabolism high with some of these strategies:

-have a small, nutritious meal before you leave for a holiday party
-drink at least 12 ounces of pure fresh water before each meal—your stomach won’t know the difference between fullness created from water or food!
-scan the buffet table first before making food choices
-choose high protein foods first, things like fish and meat. Eat that plate first, then return for carbohydrate foods such as potatoes and stuffing.
-skip or limit the alcohol—you’ll avoid consuming empty calories (around 150 per glass)
-skip the bread

For more helpful tips like this, check out our Holiday Eating Secrets press release

*all nutritional data based on figures from the USDA