You can still enjoy your favorite holiday treats; you just need to know a few secrets and strategies to keep those scales where they are today. Pay attention to the items below and ring in the New Year at the same size you are right now.
- Limit Your Amounts – never eating the food you love is a recipe for disaster. You can have the dessert, sweet potatoes with marshmallows or pumpkin pie you enjoy – just limit the quantity. The more you deny yourself these foods the more you will want them and probably end up over-indulging. Fill the majority of your meals with healthy food and that little indulgence will be just fine.
- Texture Of Food – it turns out that the texture of the foods you eat can be key to keeping your portions in control. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research you will eat more of a treat if it’s crunchy vs. creamy. The reason, “people assume that crunch foods have fewer calories than softer ones, so they eat more of them.”
- Splurge On Your Entree – next time you are at a restaurant, remember the pricier dishes could pay big dividends for your health. “Numerous studies have found that people who spent more on their meals felt happier with the experience than those who spent less. If you perceive food to be of higher quality because of cost, your brain will produce more of the neurochemicals that induce satisfaction – meaning that you’re less likely to crave anything else.”
- Keep Your Plate – hang onto your plate at those holiday parties. A recent Cornell University study showed that when people could see clues about what they had eaten – “they consumed 27% less than when they replaced their plate with a new one.” It also comes down to the fact – nobody wants to be the person squeezing more food onto their plate.
Happy Holiday dining!