Fit & festive: A guide to eating light and right during the holidays

It’s 5:30 in the evening on the last Thursday in November. If you’re like most Americans, you’ll be loosening your belt and preparing for a cozy autumn nap. Of course, if you ate even half of the whooping 4,500 calories and 130 grams of fat that most Thanksgiving dinners bring to the table, it’s no surprise why your waistline is expanding. The average person will gain at least a pound and a half during the holiday season and many people will not shed the extra weight once the holidays are over.

Holiday Weight Gain: Fact Or Fiction?

The notion that most people gain an average of five pounds during the holidays is a myth. However, people who are overweight or obese are at a higher risk to gain weight between November and January. According to a 2000 study from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), individuals who are initially overweight will gain more than those at a healthy body weight. Of 195 adults, 14 percent gained as much as five pounds. The study also found that weight gain during the holidays is responsible for 51 percent of annual weight gain among Americans.

One pound may not seem like a big deal, but most people who gain weight during the holidays will not lose it when the festivities end. Of the 195 adults who participated in the NEJM study, 165 who returned to the scale one year later had not lost the extra pound.

If you’re still not worried about possible weight gain, consider this: extra fat puts a strain on the heart and other organs. An increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary heart disease and fatty liver disease is also associated with weight gain. Even individuals who have gained weight, but remain in their "normal" weight range, have an increased risk of medical illnesses.

The holidays are a time when we step up weight risks. The more weight gained, specifically around the abdomen, the higher the risk of disease. We believe that weight gain becomes dangerous once waist measurements exceed 35 inches for a woman and 39 inches for a man.

With the growing trend of obesity in America, the holidays can be a particularly dangerous time for some. About 65 percent of American adults are either overweight or obese and each year, obesity takes 300,000 lives. Obesity can be determined by a number of methods, including waist measurement and body mass index (BMI), a measure of body fat based on height and weight. An individual is considered overweight with a BMI of 25 or more, obese with a BMI of 30 or more and severely obese with a BMI at or over 40.

A Heaping Helping Of Portion Control

While it’s untrue that all holiday dinners are unhealthy meals, many people go overboard on large servings and second helpings. When prepared and eaten in moderate portions, these meals are chock full of protein, fiber, iron and potassium.

Why is it that Americans are so likely to overeat between the months of November and January? Well, there’s the comfort aspect of the holidays when people vacation away from the hectic pace of work and family. It’s a time when even the most dedicated gym-goers will forgo their diets, exercise and portion control. For others, it can be a very stressful time of year. Days are spent in the grocery store and kitchen preparing for feasts that will last a few hours at most. And of course, the holidays only come once a year, so there’s an inclination to fill up a good food while it lasts.

There are ways to enjoy good food without going overboard. Incorporating holiday foods into your regular meals is a good start. Why not prepare a small Thanksgiving-style dinner once a month? Turkey is a lean, low-calorie protein with half the fat of ground beef. When prepared with low-sodium chicken broth and chopped veggies, homemade stuffing is also a healthy option. And despite their recent bad rap in the carbohydrates department, potatoes are fat- and cholesterol-free and high in potassium and vitamin B6. Five ounces of turkey breasts, 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and 1/2 cup of green beans with a 1/8 slice of apple pie add up to about 760 calories and 15 grams of fat. Not a bad total, considering the typical Thanksgiving meal.

When Thanksgiving Day arrives, cook a smaller turkey and have less tempting leftovers to snack on when everyone leaves. There’s no need to "cook a 25-pound turkey and have five more Thanksgiving dinners throughout the week. If you’re hosting a large dinner, send your guests packing – literally. Giving away the extra food guarantees you won’t back at the fridge for a midnight turkey sandwich.

If you’re worried about portion size, try preparing all of your holiday foods in appetizer-size portions. Appetizers are a fantastic way to sample everything without overeating. At a buffet dinner, we suggest choosing a seat far from the food and reducing the portion size of the first serving. This way you are "forced to go back a second time or to ask for seconds, making it an inconvenience to overeat."

A Twist On Tradition

Sick of the same old holiday fare? Try a theme meal. Have a Hawaiian Thanksgiving with a sliced pork and fresh fruit salad or a picnic Christmas with ham sandwiches and a sliced veggie platter. Or get a head start on your New Year’s resolution to eat healthier and make your holiday meal strictly vegetarian. If you’re having a potluck, ask guests to contribute to your theme, or assign healthy low-fat dishes. Everyone will thank you when they leave the table with their waists intact. If you’re recently lost weight, you can still indulge in the holidays without blowing your diet. Choose lighter methods of cooking by substituting butter with olive oil and preparing veggies without fatty meat like bacon. Prepare stuffing in a pan and not in the turkey. If you’re a guest, take a brisk walk around the block while the cook prepares the meal. It will rev your metabolism before you sit down to eat. Instead of nodding off after dinner for the traditional Thanksgiving nap, round up the family for a fun game of tag football, Frisbee or some other activity. With a plan of action for how you’ll burn the extra calories, you don’t need to pass on your holiday favorites; especially dessert! Instead of having one large slice of pie, try sample sizes of each. Just make sure all of the pieces on your plate only equal one small slice.

Preparation & Prevention

Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner may be the finale to days of preparation and slaving away in the kitchen, but the weeks and months before these holidays are also a peak of time for packing on the pounds. Avoiding fatty foods and sweets before and between the holidays is another way to prevent weight gain.

With the holidays just around the corner, it’s important to be prepared. If you’re attending Thanksgiving dinner at a family member’s home, bringing a vegetable platter or fruit salad is a courteous and calorie-conscious move.

Bring a low-calorie dessert, have low-calorie beverages and minimize alcohol, who believes that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." If you’re spending the entire day, pack small snacks like baby carrots or grapes. Munching on healthy snacks throughout the day will keep you energized, satisfied and less likely to overeat at dinner.

Make this holiday season the brightest and lightest yet by enjoying yourself without going overboard. Don’t deny yourself the bounties of the table, but keep your stuffing and potato portions small and your veggie and fruit portions big. At the end of the holidays, you’ll discover something even sweeter than pumpkin pie: still fitting into your favorite pair of jeans.