Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope that you all have a lovely festive day filled with laughter, happiness and giving. Often Christmas day is a great excuse to eat lots of food, and we understand that you won’t want to deprive yourself of any festive fun but we also don’t want you to undo all of your hard work. So with our Christmas diet tips you’ll be able to enjoy the day knowing that you’re reducing the amount of fat and calories consumed with minimal effort. Have a happy healthy Christmas!
Christmas diet tips for the cook:
- Serve a lovely warming soup for starters, such as tomato or vegetable – this option will provide your guests with a highly nutritious but low fat first course, therefore leaving more room for the big traditional dinner. Just make sure that your guests don’t fill up on bread before their second course.
- Use chopped chestnuts in your stuffing which provide just 2.7g of fat per 100g as opposed to sausage meat contains 32g of fat per 100g. If you are using packet stuffing mix then avoid adding the knob of butter, just add extra gravy on top for extra moisture if needed.
- When cooking your roasties, firstly parboil the potatoes and parsnips and then lightly brush oil on them – opt for olive oil rather than goose fat or lard, then place in the oven. If the potatoes are cut into larger pieces they will absorb less fat than smaller ones.
- Steam your vegetables rather than cooking them in oil or butter. This way you won’t be adding any unnecessary fat, furthermore steaming vegetables is the best way to cook them so that they retain their nutritional value.
- If you are making gravy in meat juices, ensure that you drain off the fat first.
- If you want to drastically reduce your menu’s calories, British chef Gurpareet Bains has developed a guilt free Christmas three course meal, at only 930 calories this menu contains a third less than the traditional Christmas dish. It even consists of less calories than a pack of Tesco salted mixed nuts which have 1300 calories. Follow this link to find the recipe http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2869748/Christmas-without-calories-Chef-creates-world-s-healthiest-festive-lunch-fat-bag-nuts-replacing-traditional-ingredients-superfoods.html
Christmas diet tips for those who are dining:
- Start the day with a cup of hot water and lemon which will give your digestion a kick start for the exciting day ahead.
- Ensure that you have breakfast on Christmas day so that you won’t need to fill up on as much pre-feast finger food and dips.
- Wear a figure-hugging outfit for the day – this will make you more aware about the amount that you are putting into your mouth and stomach.
- Turkey is brilliantly beneficial to your health. So fill your plate up with this traditional Christmas poultry which provides plenty of protein and is lower in fat than other meats. However, remove the skin because only 15g contains a whopping 70 calories.
- As well as turkey, cover the rest of your plate with different types of vegetables. The more colours on your plate – the higher variety of nutrients you’ll be consuming. So stock up on sprouts, red cabbage, carrots and cauliflower and only leave space for 1-2 potatoes and roast parsnips to minimise fat content.
- Be careful with all of the added extras that can surprisingly mount up and tip your intake off your calorie allowance scale. Cranberry sauce is 25 calories for 1 tsp, bread sauce made with semi-skimmed milk is 40 calories for an average serving and white sauce contains 20 calories for 1 tbsp. So limit the amount of condiments on your plate and stick to gravy where you can.
- Surprisingly, custard contains more calories than a serving of cream or brandy butter, so choose your pudding partner carefully!
- Relax and enjoy your favourite tipple post-dinner but alternate alcoholic beverages with water.
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