Ah the winter holidays. A time of joy, a time of cheer and for many a time of massive weight gain.

There are ways around this.

Why spoil all the fun of the upcoming festivities by eating in a manner that has you ten pounds heavier on January 2nd than you are right now? Wouldn’t it be splendid if after the New Year you were actually the same weight you are now or - dare I say it - lighter and can still think back on the fun without having to have eaten like a gerbil? You betcha!

Here’s how!

When it comes time to eating and drinking during the holidays (or during the entire year for that matter) follow these guidelines.

Eat to your hearts content:

• Turkey, duck, ham, roast beef, deviled eggs and other meats. The more of this you eat the more satiated you’ll become (and the healthier you’ll be!)
• Salads, vegetables

Limit or avoid:

• Starchy veggies like potatoes, carrots
• All grains. They call it stuffing for a reason – (and not just because it’s inside the turkey!)
• Cheeses
• Gravy (have it on the side as a dipping sauce)
• Desserts (instead eat a little fruit or ask for half or even a quarter the size portion of what you would normally eat of pie or cake. You’ll be surprised how satisfying this can be if you eat dessert SLOWLY.

In fact, chew and eat slowly all of the food you eat. Take your time and enjoy.

Drink:

• Water (when not drinking alcohol) with lemon or lime if possible.
• Wine (preferably red)
• Vodka
• Scotch
• Tequila

Make it a rule that after every alcohol drink, you must drink a full glass of water.

Limit or avoid:

• Mixed drinks that contain sweetened additives like mimosas, bloody Marys, cosmopolitans, etc.
• Eggnog

And if you haven’t yet started strength training and are instead walking, doing Yoga, Pilates, swimming, cycling, etc., you are missing out on a huge opportunity to beef up your metabolism, shape up your figure and improve your overall health. No exercise you can do holds a candle to strength training. Not only this, strength training will significantly improve your ability to perform all of the aforementioned activities!

The moral of the blog is: You can have your cake and eat it too so long as the cake is eensy-weensy and you’re pumping the iron!

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