Weight | Health & Wellness

5 Tips to Avoid Thanksgiving Weight Gain

Holiday season is about to be in full swing and starting with Thanksgiving and through the New Year, we’ll be tempted with lots of food, desserts and cocktails. While we’re not recommending at all to begin a diet during this will-power challenging season, we have put together a few tips to help keep the holiday weight-gain at bay while still enjoying everything on the brunch, dinner and party buffet tables.

Tip #1: If you’re cooking, look for substitutes to lighten up family favorites. Trim the fat and calories from mashed potatoes by using low-fat cream cheese or buttermilk instead of lots of heavy cream and butter, opt for whole grain breads in your stuffing and in the bread basket, and include a fresh fruit salad on the dessert table.

Tip #2: Stick with white meat. Go for turkey breast on your plate — with less than a gram of fat per ounce compared to 3 grams of fat per ounce for dark meat. Also try to keep the fatty turkey skin away — the skin can add up to 5 additional grams of fat per ounce!

Tip #3: Load your plate up with greens. Fibrous, flavorful vegetables are satisfying, filling and low in calories and fat.

Tip #4: Don’t skip dessert! A slice of pie is the perfect way to end a holiday meal so we’re not suggesting you miss out on the sweet stuff — just don’t over indulge.

Tip #5: Stay away from empty calorie cocktails. Instead of indulging in heavy egg nog and other fruit and syrup blend cocktails, stick with a glass of wine or light beer. And make sure to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated!

Holiday Survival Strategies: How Not-To Gain Weight This Season

holidaygood 300x199 Holiday Survival Strategies: How Not To Gain Weight This Season During this crazy time of year, there is no such thing as a routine schedule. However, it is important to be consistent in your eating plan. Don’t skip meals. Skipping meals will only set you up for a dangerous situation- A growling stomach that can easily fall prey to all of the holiday goodies that come its’ way!

Party Tips:

Many parties offer less nutritious foods than are ideal, it is best to arrive feeling satiated, so that you can make a rational decision about what you are going to eat. Try having hot tea or a vegetable based soup before you go. These choices won’t provide many calories but will fill you up.

Fill up on the healthiest foods- grilled meats, shrimp cocktail, fresh fruits and vegetables, and savor a smaller portion of the less healthy foods.

Offer to bring a plate of vegetables with a low-calorie dip. Your host/hostess will appreciate it and you will have something to nibble.

Have club soda as soon as you arrive.

KEEP BOTH HANDS OCCUPIED. Keep a glass of water in one hand and hold a purse, wallet or keys in the other hand.

Avoid chips, nuts and other rich hors d’oeurves.

Before eating, decide exactly what you will have and take only small servings once, then leave the food area and go where you can sit comfortably and enjoy your meal.

Avoid “hanging out” near the buffet table.

Avoid thinking about the food before the party, during the party and even after. You’ll make yourself hungry!

Don’t stand by the food; you’ll make yourself hungry.

Sip a low-calorie drink and fill up with salad or veggies to take the edge off your hunger.

Be aware that alcohol increases your appetite and lowers your inhibitions. This could make you care less about making wiser food choices.

Remember alcohol adds up quickly in calories. Try to lower the calories in the drinks by adding seltzer water, or by ordering virgin drinks. Lessen the calories in distilled spirits by adding some water or allowing some ice to melt in it. If you want to enjoy a drink while your friends do, try having mineral water with a lemon, lime or orange in it. Or you can order non-alcoholic beer or diet soda. If you are at home, you can add some juice to sparkling water or try using ice cubes made from juice and add them to sparkling water. Keep moving: talk, socialize, and dance.

If you host the party, freeze leftovers in single servings/ quick dinners.

Take extra desserts to share with co-workers.

Exercise is especially important when you seem to be attending a lot of holiday parties. Of course, during this time of year, time is at a premium, so “after dinner walks” with your spouse or with your visiting out of town guest are great ways to burn a few extra calories.

If you stray off the healthy eating track, don’t feel guilty. That leads to all-or-nothing thinking. This is where you say, “Well, I blew it by eating that candy, so I might as well eat this pie. I’ll just start all over in January.” You already know this pattern doesn’t work.

Instead, if you overdo it a little bit at your holiday party, then make your next meal a low-fat one. Or if you have a very heavy eating day, then make the next day a low-fat, lower-calorie day.

About The Authors

Tammy Lakatos Shames, RD, CDN, CFT and Lyssie Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT (a.k.a. The Nutrition Twins®) are registered dietitians and certified personal trainers. They share a nutrition consulting practice and are co-authors of The Secret To Skinny and Fire Up Your Metabolism. The Twins are regularly featured as nutrition experts on The Fox News Channel, Good Morning America and Discovery Health Channel and regularly appear on international radio stations, as well as print and online publications.

Kelly Osbourne: “I Stopped Hating The Way I Looked”

kelly osbourne shape magazine 218x300 Kelly Osbourne: I Stopped Hating The Way I Looked Rock heiress Kelly Osbourne is opening up and baring a lot in the December issue of SHAPE magazine — donning a sexy, red bikini on the cover and sharing details about how she got fit…the healthy way…inside.

But getting into that bikini initially took the former Dancing with the Stars contestant aback. She arrived at the SHAPE cover shoot and practically fainted when she saw the room full of skimps suits: “I’ve never worn a bikini in my whole life,” she said. “[Was] I really about to bare all to the entire world? I [was] so nervous!”

And given the cruel treatment she’d endured for most of her life in the public eye and by tabloids, who can blame her? The daughter of Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly was most often criticized for her weight. “I was called fat and ugly in the press almost my entire life,” says the 26-year-old. “I understand that being judged by others comes with the territory, but it broke my heart and ruined my self-esteem. It sets you up to hate yourself in a huge way. I was so angry about the things people said about me. I truly believe it’s the main reason I turned to Vicodin and ended up in rehab three times. I just hated myself.”

“I stopped hating the way I looked”

In the beginning, the hardest part wasn’t the workout, it was seeing her reflection in the mirror. “I would look at myself and think, ‘Ugh!’ I was miserable. To get to the gym—when you already don’t like yourself—is really hard. So I had to make it fun. I started wearing cute outfits and putting on a little bit of makeup. And as vain as it sounds, it really helped me because eventually I stopped hating the way I looked.”

Kelly’s hard work has paid off—big time. “Ultimately, I’m really glad I lost the weight the way I did,” she says. “I never thought in a million years I’d be that healthy girl who wakes up every morning to exercise. After being called ‘cherubic and chubby,’ I’m rocking a bikini! I feel silly, but I think I’m going to cry. Being on the cover of SHAPE is the biggest victory I could ever hope for.”

The December issue of SHAPE hits newsstands on November 22.

Weight Memories Show One Girl’s Struggle With Body Image

bodyimage Weight Memories Show One Girls Struggle With Body Image So often health magazines and websites focus on weight loss … as if thin somehow is the ultimate goal. That elusive blue ribbon that’s suddenly going to make our lives perfect and happy. But happiness doesn’t come in a pant size. Jezebel recently ran a powerful article that chronicles one girl’s journey with weight. The author tells her story in bite-sized memories:

From an overweight child — “I remember how my teachers would pass out school pictures to the class when they came back from the photographer. I knew I was about to get mine when they tightened their lips and dropped their eyes. Then they’d hand my pictures to me with the clear cellophane window face-down. They were that bad.”
To the overweight, self-conscious teen — “I remember for the rest of my high school career I walked through the halls with head down, fearing everyone’s reproach. Whenever I heard any snickering whatsoever, my heart went into spasms.”
To the college student who had dieted herself down to an unhealthy weight — “I remember trying on my first pair of size 1 jeans in front of the mirror. I still thought my arms were too big and my hips were too wide.”
To the woman who learned to embrace health over being skinny — “I remember when I realized I was beautiful, and even if I didn’t have a flawless body, I had a totally functional one. I liked that better.”

We all need to accept and love our bodies for what they are whether we’re wearing size 2 or size 22. We’re each beautiful and unique and have wonderful qualities to offer. Achieving an appropriate weight is important for health, but it can’t be viewed as the goal that’s going to give us confidence, security and happiness.

Gloss How-To: Eat Less Meat to Control Weight

vegetarianmeal Gloss How To: Eat Less Meat to Control Weight For years now, I’ve been serving up several meatless meals each week for my family. Partially because I have many vegetarian recipes that I love, partially because it cuts down my grocery bill and partially because I know going meatless can have a positive environmental impact. Recent research shows there is another bonus: cutting back on meat can help you control weight, too.

Even if you’re not willing to go totally vegetarian, there are ways you can cut back on meat. Here’s how:

- Plan meatless days two or three times each week. Scour cookbooks and the web for delicious and healthy vegetarian recipes.

- Bump up the vegetable content in soups, casseroles and stews and reduce the amount of meat used by half.

- Substitute beans or tofu for meat in favorite recipes.

- Load up sandwiches and wraps with vegetables such as romaine, avocado, cucumber slices, tomato, sprouts and shredded carrot. Enjoy a fully vegetarian sandwich, or add just a little meat.

- When cooking meat, serve small portions. You can serve larger portions of salads, steamed veggies, whole grains and other healthy side dishes to fill you up.

- On days you are going to eat meat, enjoy it only during one meal — keep your other meals meat free.

Study: Extra 10 Pounds is Healthy

0206 woman on scale at 240x300 Study: Extra 10 Pounds is Healthy Gain a little weight over the holiday weekend? I’m one of those people who always wants to be at my optimal health and weight –- but I just found out that a little slacking is OK. Being as much as an extra 10 pounds overweight isn’t anything to worry about.

If you’re concerned about your weight, the first question you should be asking yourself is –- how much? Then, where is any extra weight going? Research shows that holding onto an extra 10 pounds isn’t unhealthy. There is no risk of diabetes, heart problems, cancer or other medical conditions from being 10 pounds heavier than your ideal weight.

However, there can be complications if you’re carrying over 10 extra pounds — especially if it all rests around your stomach because it would be surrounding your vital organs. The best place to carry extra weight is in your hips, butt and thighs. Pear shaped people can actually hold up to an extra 15 pounds healthily and possibly even benefit from it as studies show that lower body fat can produce anti-inflammatory agents that keep your arteries from clogging.

An Hour A Day Keeps The Flab Away

treadmill 300x199 An Hour A Day Keeps The Flab Away Here’s a eye-opening, fitness wake-up call: a new study finds that as we age, women need an HOUR of exercise each day to keep our weight down. And, for overweight women, even more daily exercise is needed.

Sigh.

In a long term study, researchers at Harvard Medical School tracked the physical activity and weight of more than 34,000 healthy women over 13 years. Of the group, only 13% of women were “successful weight maintainers”— they started at a healthy weight and gained less than five pounds at 2 – 3 year checkpoints — and they were the ones who consistently got about 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per day.

The rest gained weight — even those that exercised on average for 30 minutes, 5 days a week. The study specifically looked at women over the age of 50, so it’s a good idea to get on a consistent exercise routine now to maintain the fitness level as we age.

“There is no sugar-coating it,” I-Min Lee, lead author of the study told USA Today. “This is what it takes to maintain weight given our diets.”