Healthy Holiday – Two Meal Plans
During holiday gatherings, you may be confronted with array of food and drink options that you rarely see during the rest of the year. Though overindulging could derail your health plans, do not despair! Study the two meal plans below – their similarities and differences – to see where a few small changes could make a big impact.
|
Traditional Holiday Dinner |
Healthy Holiday Dinner |
| Appetizers | |
| 3 pigs in blankets crudités and dip 4 crackers with 2 oz. of cheese handful of mixed nuts 1 pre-dinner cocktail |
crudités with fat-free yogurt dip corn chips with bean dip and salsa handful of Concord grapes 1 light beer |
| Dinner | |
| croissant 1 cup salad with ranch dressing 3 oz. light and 3 oz. dark roasted turkey with skin ½-cup stuffing ½-cup mashed potato ½-cup gravy ½-cup candied sweet potato with marshmallow topping ½-cup string bean casserole ¼-cup cranberry sauce 2 glasses white wine |
1 cup salad with low-calorie dressing 3 oz. skinless roasted turkey breast 1/3-cup stuffing 1/3-cup white potatoes mashed with nonfat sour cream and chives ¼-cup defatted gravy 1/3-cup steamed sweet potatoes flavored with apple cider and cinnamon ¾-cup roasted mixed vegetables ¼-cup light cranberry sauce 1 glass white wine |
| Dessert | |
| 1 sliver pumpkin pie and pecan pie, each with a dollop of whipped cream | pumpkin pie filling in custard cip ½-cup Indian (corn) pudding |
| Total Nutrition | |
| 4,027 calories 355g carbohydrate 127g protein 204g fat 17g fiber 5,965 mg sodium 478 mg cholesterol |
1,130 calories 178g carbohydrate 50g protein 11.5g fat 19g fiber 1,417mg sodium 92mg cholesterol |
Remember that a holiday meal may have more food options than what you regularly eat for dinner, so it is OK to have more than your standard dinner. Considering most people should eat at least 1,800 calories a day, if you eat a light breakfast and lunch, you won’t go much over. To ensure that you stay in caloric maintenance, take a pre-dinner hike or post-dinner walk.
