This is the time of year when making the right food choices is harder than ever. With all the usual food temptations – rich desserts, creamy casseroles and buttery rolls – your calorie consumption can easily get out of control. If you are determined NOT to let this happen, there’s no better place to start than at the grocery store.
Powerful Weight Loss Tip
Healthy holiday eating starts in the grocery store.
Check out these simple shopping strategies to help you navigate the grocery aisles so you can make choices to please both your palate as well as your waistline during the holidays – and throughout the year.
Make a list. Before you leave the house, decide what you are going to buy. This online tool can help to make grocery shopping quick and simple.
Shop the perimeter. When at the grocery store, spend most of your time shopping the outer aisles where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located. Avoid the center aisles where the high fat, high sodium junk food is typically found.
Be a label reader. Avoid foods that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, and ingredients you can’t pronounce. Choose “real” foods, such as 100% whole-grain items with as little processing and as few additives as possible. If you want more salt or sugar, you can add it yourself.
More ideas to help you prepare a special holiday meal that is both weight-conscious and delicious…
- Choose assorted unsalted nuts, fiber-rich crackers and raw vegetables with low-fat dressing or hummus for quick snacks or appetizers.
- If you want to serve eggnog, be sure you choose the low-fat or fat-free version to cut down on fat and calories.
- Use fat-free evaporated milk to make creamy mashed potatoes. And add a little more flavor by cooking the potatoes in low-sodium chicken broth.
- Rather than using a processed stuffing mix like Stove-Top, make your own with whole wheat bread cubes and mix in dried cranberries, raisins or apricots instead of meat to make it colorful, tasty, and healthier.
- Skip the pre-packaged gravy mixes and make your own with low-sodium broth and skim milk.
- Avoid pre-packaged desserts like pumpkin pie, sugar cookies and cheese cake. They are typically high calorie and filled with trans and saturated fats. Homemade apple crisp, crustless pumpkin pie, and angel food cake topped with berries are tasty alternatives; and not that hard to make.
Now I’d love to hear from you.
How do you keep your holidays happy and healthy?
Please share in the comment section below. Your ideas could be very helpful to other readers.
Meanwhile, if you want help getting off the diet roller coaster, take my free Self-Assessment today at https://njnutritionist.com/freeassessment
Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
