Healthy Holiday Cooking to Avoid Weight Gain

Tips to Enjoy Healthy Home Cooking without Increasing Weight

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Nov 5, 2009 Cherrine Banks

Healthy holiday cooking takes planning a well-balanced menu with meats, vegetables, and fruits. Dishes may include entrees, side dishes and desserts.

Healthy holiday cooking can provide dieters continue with a weight loss program. Dieters can create holiday meals with careful planning and organizing. Cooking well-balanced meals should be the goal, whether preparing meals for one person or 10 people.

Dieters can maintain a weight management plan with minimal calories and low in sugar, sodium and fat content. Home cooking for the holidays can be as rewarding and delicious as non-holiday cooking.

Dieters can practice using substitutions for cooking and baking. Healthy food exchanges can be made for holiday entrees, side dishes and desserts.

Here are some holiday cooking tips to use without sacrificing flavor or increasing weight:

Holiday Entrees

  • Use healthier cooking methods such as poaching and boiling for chicken, turkey and meat. This help keep nutrients within the food.
  • Use leaner cuts of meat. For example, pork leg is a leaner choice for holiday pork dishes and turkey is a common dish for Thanksgiving meals.
  • Prepare homemade gravies and sauces to control fat content. One food choice is a white sauce, which can use skim milk instead of whole milk.

Holiday Side Dishes

  • Plan on steaming vegetable dishes to retain vitamins, minerals and fiber. Include vegetables such as kale, spinach and carrots to obtain multiple vitamins such as vitamin A, B and K.
  • Replace white rice served with Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas duck with whole grains. Examples of whole grains include whole wheat couscous, quinoa and barley.
  • Prepare side dishes with reduced-fat ingredients. For example, use reduced-fat cheddar cheese and skim milk in macaroni and cheese.

Holiday Desserts

  • Trade regular sugar with a sugar substitute in pumpkin and apple pies.
  • Make homemade ice cream with skim milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar. This helps dieters reduce calories, fat and sugar content.
  • Add fruit to homemade desserts. For instance, add 1/2 cup of raisins or dried raspberries to carrot cake. The fruit adds both flavor and extra fiber to the dessert.

Dieters may face temptation at home. One temptation may come from visitors bearing rich, sugar-filled desserts and fatty dishes like lasagna with tomato sauce. Holiday eaters can make allowances for unplanned meals by sampling a small portion and leaving the rest for guests.

Holiday cooking can be enjoyed ,while participating in a weight loss plan. Meal preparers can check with a health care professional for tips to minimize holiday weight gain. Dieters can maintain a balanced weight plan with healthier holiday drinks, entrees, side dishes and desserts.

Sources:

The United States Department for Agriculture

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The copyright of the article Healthy Holiday Cooking to Avoid Weight Gain in Weight Loss is owned by Cherrine Banks. Permission to republish Healthy Holiday Cooking to Avoid Weight Gain in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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