Helpful Healthy Eating and Cooking Tips

Observer Staff

11/12/2003 12:00:00 AM

By Charles Bauknecht

Fitness Program Coordinator

Exercise, healthy lifestyle behaviors and good nutrition are the keys to becoming healthy and staying healthy. The holiday season is upon us now and the temptations to go overboard with some holiday meals and snacks can lead to unwanted pounds over the holidays. These unwanted pounds can be easily avoided.

Holiday parties can be really tough, especially if you go to the party hungry. Unless you are going to a party put on by a dietitian or a nutritionally-minded person, the majority of the food could be higher in fat than you are used to. Eating a mini-meal before you go can help you stay away and limit your intake of the higher fat foods. Try to eat in moderation and avoid a heaping plate full of food just because it is the holiday season. Also try to limit your alcohol consumption, a 12-ounce light beer has about 100-110 calories and a 5.5 ounce serving of rum and cola has 147 calories.

The appetizers can absolutely be a down fall for most people attending holiday parties. You must try to limit your high fat choices like fried chicken wings, miniature sausages, and most cheeses. A lot of these foods are calorie dense foods. Meaning for the amount of the serving size, they are high in calories and fat.

You want to choose appetizers that will help you meet the recommended guideline of five or more servings of vegetables and fruits a day. Another great idea is to fill up on fiber, as you should every day. Fruits and vegetables are high in fiber, but you can also choose hors d'oeuvres that contain whole grain and/or ones with legumes.

Making the holiday meals and snacks healthier can be made easier by following some of these ideas:

-Limit fat. Top cooked vegetables with fat-free margarine products or garlic or onion powder instead of rich sauces;

-Avoided gravy. Enhance poultry, meat or fish with herb rubs, chutney or salsa. When making gravy from poultry or meat drippings, skim off the fat first or use fat free broth instead;

-Go easy on high-fat pastry shells. Bake pies and other desserts in a graham cracker crust;

-Fortify stuffing with chopped vegetables and fruits. They add great taste and texture;

-Instead of saut�ing your meats and veggies in oil, try steaming them in a 1/2 cup canned vegetable, chicken or beef broth;

-Substitute applesauce in your holiday cookie, cake and pie recipes as a healthier alternative to butter and oils; and

-Cocoa-Substitute 3 tablespoons of cocoa for 1 ounce of chocolate in recipes.