This Christmas, you'd better watch your diet

MANILA, Philippines - ’Tis the season for binging. But by simply incorporating the following tips into your Christmas diet, you can keep away unwanted pounds and keep your body healthy, happy, and fit.

• Make your holiday season active. Don’t be a couch potato. Go out for a walk or join fun runs with your family. This will help stop you from snacking on all those sweets and prevent that post-afternoon slump.

• Opt for white meat. Compared to other red meats, white meat especially from turkey is high in protein and low in fat, saving you countless calories.

• Roast all your vegetables. Avoid saturating your roast potatoes and vegetables in fat. Instead, boil them for 10 minutes to soften them up before lightly drizzling them in canola/olive oil and putting them in the oven.

• Make alcohol-free punch. Drinking just half a bottle of fresh wine can increase your calorie intake by 250 calories, so take the step to swap alcohol for some fruity punch that your entire family can enjoy. Alternatively invest in some non-alcoholic beverages.

• Swap salted peanuts for unsalted. Go for raw nuts and seeds, like almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, cashews, sesame seed — all have a good deal of protein and are lower in fat yet full of nutrients.

• Switch sugar-based confectionary with dried fruits — apples, apricots, raisins, banana, currant, and figs. Not only dried fruits tasty, they last, too.

• Select tomato-based dips. Substitue cheese dips with salsa dips or a low-fat yogurt blended with chopped herbs

What else works?

Sticking to a food plan is generally difficult throughout Christmas and the new year. To give you a hand to stick to your diet program this Christmas, there’s O3 Omega-3 (Fish Oil) Supplement that helps with weight loss. It is carefully manufactured, mercury-free, tasteless, and also, free from dangerous contaminants.

According to Hiro Budhrani, president of AAA Pharma Inc., distributor of O3 Omega-3 (Fish Oil) Supplement, omega 3 is a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid and there are several ways essential fatty acids can help with losing weight. It can help reduce hunger, burn fat, regulate blood sugar and insulin levels.

A study done by researchers from Spain, Iceland, and Ireland found that obese people receiving omega 3 supplements while following a weight loss program felt full longer after eating a meal. This significantly reduced the likelihood of reaching for more food soon after eating.

Meanwhile, a further connection between omega 3 and weight loss was established by a study from the University of South Australia. This study found that overweight people who took fish oil in combination with moderate exercise reduced their fat mass significantly without losing lean muscle. The fish oil also reduced triglycerides (dangerous blood fats) and increased levels of “good” cholesterol.

For more information about O3 Omega-3 (Fish Oil) Supplement, e-mail aaapharma@ggii.com.ph or call 726-8715/727-7822. O3 Omega-3 (Fish Oil) Supplement is available at Manson Drug/Med-Express, and South Star Drug.