How to Eat Your Holiday Favorites without Guilt

by | Nov 20, 2014 | Eating for the Health of it, Recipes for Health, Weight Management

recipes-christmasIt’s totally possible to have healthful and fun holiday celebrations. The key is to focus on balance and avoid overindulgence. Go ahead and eat some cookies or other holiday treats — just don’t eat everything in sight. Enjoy the treats you really love in moderation. If you try to be a martyr and avoid all “the bad stuff” it could end up backfiring and cause you toss your healthy diet out the window. I’m not suggesting that you give yourself a full pass, but go ahead and have a little bit of your holiday favorites.

And how about tweaking the recipe?

There are plenty of ways to replace certain ingredients in recipes to make your traditional holiday favorites more healthful. With these substitutions, I promise, no one will know the difference. In some cases it’s not even what you’re taking out but what you’re putting in that counts.

Try these…

  • Replace heavy cream with fat-free half-and-half or evaporated skim milk.
  • Replace a portion of white flour with 100% whole wheat flour.
  • In most recipes, you can slightly reduce the amount of sugar. Compensate with an extra dash of sweet flavorings like vanilla extract or cinnamon. These give a hint of sweetness without the calories.
  • Use fewer chocolate chips or substitute dried fruits or nuts instead.
  • Combine 1/4 cup Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup butter to replace 1 cup of butter in a recipe.
  • Use two large egg whites in place of one whole egg.

There are lots of tips out there for ways to modify recipes without sacrificing flavor. So go ahead and give it a try. Eat, drink and be merry without all the guilt and weight gain this year. Happy Holidays!

Now I’d love to hear from you.

Have you ever tweaked a favorite holiday recipe to make it healthier? What did you do? How did the taste?

Please share in the comment section below. Your thoughts could be very helpful to other readers.

Meanwhile, if you need help if you want to lose weight and need help getting started, check out my Free Self-Assessment. Go to, https://njnutritionist.com/freeassessment.

Image courtesy of Apolonia / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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