Eating REAL For The Holidays

Originally posted at Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

Are you tired of hearing about all of the new diets and “nutrition” programs that can help you lose weight? Many of us are bombarded with these messages on a daily basis while we search for a quick fix to be healthy. Our busy lives have created this “need for convenience” phenomenon, which has led to a major rise in processed foods filled with impossible-to-identify (and often unhealthy) ingredients. Yet, while convenience may be key in today’s society, it should not come at the expense of our health.

So what can we do to make healthier food choices – throughout the year, and also during the holiday season? We all know that we should eat a variety of foods from all of the different food groups, but it is also important to identify the healthiest options within each of these groups. An easy way to do this is to eat whole foods that are in their most natural, simplest form like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and healthy proteins and fats. At the same time, we need to limit over processed foods, artificial sweeteners and sugary beverages, such as soda.

When you combine whole, simple foods with spices and such, you can create wonderful recipes! Here are some suggestions to improve the healthfulness of your diet.

Maximize:
•Vegetable and fruit consumption
•Use of whole, intact grains (brown rice, whole wheat breads, oats, barley, etc.)
•Scratch cooking with whole, minimally processed foods
•Beneficial fats, healthier oils (no trans fats)
•Water consumption

Moderate:
•Right-sized portions
•Consumption of refined and processed foods
•Red meat, poultry, eggs and dairy

Minimize
•Deep-fried foods
•Added sugars
•Sugar-sweetened beverages
•Sodium

Eating clean and healthy may be a little trickier during the holiday season, since you are often surrounded by tasty but not so healthy foods. There are holiday parties, holiday dinners, and bowls of treats at the office, gifts in the form of food, and grocery stores and restaurants marketing their most decadent holiday products that are so often difficult to turn down. So, how do you get through the holidays without overindulging in processed foods and while maintaining your commitment to eating healthy?

Here are some tips to eat REAL for the holidays:

•Keep whole, simple foods accessible at all times. That means stocking your refrigerator at home and keeping healthy snacks at work so you don’t feel the urge to grab less healthy options.

•Don’t go to a party hungry! This must be a dietitian’s favorite recommendation but it really works… Try it! When you are hungry and faced with seemingly unlimited amounts of high-calorie, decadent food, you have the tendency to overindulge. If you eat a healthy meal or snack before going to the party, you will have a better chance to stay on track.

•Host a holiday meal or party at your house and commit to recipes that are made with whole food ingredients so you know what you are eating. Or, if you are invited to a party, bring something that meets your guidelines of “clean” eating so you know you’ll have something healthy to eat.

•Bring a fruit bowl to work to set a good example and hope that your good eating habits “rub off” on your co-workers.

•Enjoy the spirit of the holidays, not just the spirit of the food!

Instead of counting calories, eliminating entire food groups, relying on a new year’s resolution, or spending loads of money on products you are not quite sure how they work or what they contain, try eating foods as they were intended and make eating a lifestyle rather than your style of life.

About the Author
Kim Blum is the Vice President of Nutrition for the United States Healthful Food Council, which manages Responsible Epicurean and Agricultural Leadership (REAL) Certified, a nutrition and sustainability best practices certification program for the foodservice industry. Eat REAL for the Holidays is a campaign to promote nutrition, wellness and mindfulness around the holiday season. Fore more information, see the USHFC website.