Good choices keep holidays from weighing down diet
Nutrition: Decide now to maintain healthy habits when cooking and eating

The holiday season is upon us, but don’t use that as an excuse to turn a blind eye to your health.

A little planning is the first step toward staying healthy and preventing weight gain.

Plan for a healthy holiday season. Low-fat cream cheese topped with red raspberry preserves with crackers. Photo by Jaconna Aguirre, The Oklahoman

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Decide now to choose healthful foods and beverages for meals and snacks. Consciously select lower-fat instead of higher-fat foods. Choose lean meats, skinned poultry, fish and sometimes dried beans, peas, nuts and seeds for a good protein source.

Bake, broil or grill with no or minimum added fat. Choose lots of different vegetables. Select those that are steamed, lightly sauteed or otherwise prepared with little or no added fat instead of buttered or served with a rich sauce. Use fat-free stock instead of stock containing the fat to make gravy.

Choose a variety of fruits for meals and snacks. Select fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products. Substitute canned evaporated skim milk for a higher-fat milk or cream in pumpkin pie. Choose plenty of whole grains.

Eat balanced and satisfying meals and snacks. The easiest way to do this is to combine foods from the various food groups for meals and snacks. This helps to prevent overeating resulting from feeling less than satisfied after a meal.

Keeping a regular schedule and routine for eating, activity and sleeping is important for staying healthy during the holiday season. Irregular meals can lead to overeating at other times during the day.

Regular exercise is one of the best ways to handle some of the added stress that can occur this time of the year. Plus, it helps promote a sense of well-being. A planned walking schedule is a great way to get added activity. Getting plenty of rest helps increase resistance to illness.

Moderation is the real key to enjoying your favorite traditional foods. It is OK to enjoy some holiday treats. But take time to really enjoy them. Don’t just shovel them down. And next time, choose a piece of fresh fruit, raw vegetables or fat-free yogurt for a snack.

Calorie banking is another idea. It is cutting back slightly on calories each day to allow for splurges during the holidays. A calorie reduction of 100 a day less than is expended for five days accumulates an extra 500 calories to spend on a special treat, dessert or holiday favorite.

Cream Cheese Dip
The original recipe for 8 servings called for an 8-ounce block of cream cheese and ½ cup red raspberry preserves.

Make these changes for a lighter version:

→Substitute fat-free cream cheese for regular fat cream cheese.

→Reduce the amount of red raspberry preserves by half.

The modified recipe has about 660 fewer total calories and 76 fewer total grams of fat than the original recipe.

Lighter Cream Cheese Dip
Makes 8 servings

8-ounce block fat-free cream cheese

¼ cup red raspberry preserves

→Place block of fat-free cream cheese on a small serving tray.

→Drizzle preserves over top.

→Serving suggestions: Serve with whole-grain crackers or spread on a toasted English muffin half.

→Nutrition facts per serving: 57 calories, 0 g fat.

If you have a recipe you’d like to see made more healthful and how it would fit into MyPyramid, e-mail the complete recipe along with your first and last name, city or town, daytime telephone number and details about the recipe to Becky Varner, R.D., L.D at beckyvarner@cox.net.

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