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I thought I would squeeze in a post this week for those of you that will make weight loss or healthy lifestyle your resolution for 2017.
The festive season is an excellent opportunity to eat and live well, particularly when you can understand the relationship festive foods and drinks hold for you.
Enjoying great food!
The festive season is the perfect occasion when people eat and drink guilt free. It is a wonderful time when extra care is taken to prepare REAL food!
Most people will need to “pace” themselves to complete the many delicious foods on offer; desserts hardly seem possible after a meal of plenty. But it is the most important part of the festive meal!!
I like to think of dessert like water in the desert; precious, to be savoured, respected and life-giving (I love my desserts at this time of the year!).
The Festive season and weight gain
Each year weight gain over the holidays is exaggerated with some reports suggesting that it is as much as 2.27kg per holiday season, per average person!
Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine debunks these reports.
Their research tracked 178 people in the United States during the holiday period and found that the average weight gain was only 0.37 kg per person.
However, the participant’s perception of their weight gain was significantly more. In a Swedish study of obese subjects, they found that the weight gain was higher at 0.6 kg.
Both these studies have their festive season in winter and therefore some seasonal weight gain at this time makes sense.
The key point is “holiday weight gain” is nothing to panic over: it is nice to avoid it, but if you cannot it is not a catastrophe!
Avoid unnecessary weight gain by limiting alcohol calories.
Enjoying real food with family and friends is the celebration of life. The preparation, the planning and the anticipation of being with people we love are the essence of the festive season.
Alcohol can enhance festive celebration and the meal experience; however, it is important to understand how alcohol is metabolized in our body so that we can make informed decisions.
Alcohol is a nutrient in that it has a calorie or energy count. However, it does not form part of the essential nutrients we need for health and they are; carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
Alcoholic beverages are closest in form to liquid sugars or carbohydrates (simple explanation), and the body metabolizes them as toxins through the liver.
To keep it simple, energy from alcohol is used first because the body recognizes its toxicity and lack of nutritional value.
What this means is that any food consumed following alcohol is stored as fat with the similar calorie content of the alcohol consumed.
Essentially, alcohol is metabolized like sugar and stored as fat, with a comparable calorie (energy) value.
To get an understanding of the calorie content of the essential macro-nutrients the flowing is provided by Nutrition Australia:
- Carbohydrates – 4 calories per gram
- Protein – 4 calories per gram
- Fat – 9 calories per gram
- Alcohol – 7 calories per gram
It is a sobering thought to think that consuming a decadent dessert is only ever half as fattening than the same about of alcohol. Yeah!!
What to drink instead of alcohol?
Flavoured water is a great alternative to alcohol. It has the look and feel of a festive drink and the bonus of being refreshing and uplifting.
Flavoured water refreshes the palette and the mind by hydrating the body.
A body that is well hydrated activates feel good receptors in the brain making it easier to make better food and drink choices during the festive season.
Here are some simple recipes for you to try this holiday period – just add water!
- Cherries and Lime
- Blackberries and orange
- Pink Grapefruit and Rosemary
- Raspberries and lemon
There are endless combinations of fruit and vegetables that you can use to flavour water.
Try experimenting this Christmas and send me your pictures and I will share them next week to help everyone get ready for our 2017 New Year’s Resolution Challenge!
Enjoy your celebrations with your dear family and friends with love and laughter this festive season!
Live well with fitness!
Anna
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