How to eat during the holidays?
It's almost a tradition to have festive tables full of more and more delicious food, which traditionally includes fish and all kinds of stuffed delicacies, whether it's stuffed cabbage, turkey stuffed with chestnuts or stuffed bagels.
Everyone is probably familiar with the feeling of fullness after festive lunches, even when accompanied by the extra numbers appearing on the scale at the end of the month. High energy content and incorrect nutrient ratios can also play a role in the phenomenon.
With the help of the following simple, but even more useful tips, we can make the holiday menu easier:
- Planning
Depending on the number of people, we plan the daily menu and the amount of food. Let's make a shopping list, look around our home to see what and how much we need to prepare food. This helps to make shopping more stress-free and more conscious.
- System
It is also important to maintain a daily schedule during the holidays. Let's continue to adhere to the principle of more is less, include 3 main meals a day, do not omit or combine them.
- Slowly!
It is recommended to chew thoroughly and ensure a calm environment. The feeling of satiety appears after about 20 minutes. If the attention is distracted while eating or if we eat too quickly, the feeling of satiety appears later or to a lesser extent, so a larger amount of food than necessary can be consumed.
- Food preparation
Make fun of the fats! 1 g of fat provides our body with 9 calories, while protein and carbohydrates provide 4 calories per gram. Excessive fat intake can provide you with extra energy at the end of the day.
When preparing food, we should strive for low-fat technologies. Give preference to steaming, baking in an oven bag, using the oven or air fryer. Whenever possible, use vegetable fats, such as olive, rapeseed, and sunflower oil.
Meat can be stewed with fruits and vegetables, but it can also be prepared with a high chestnut content, sugar-free chestnut puree, or stuffed with dried fruits.
For breading, it is recommended to use whole-grain breadcrumbs, oatmeal, and ground almonds in addition to whole-grain flour.
To make cookies, use a ratio of 60-40 whole wheat and white flour. For sweetening, reduce the sugar intake or replace it with a natural sweetener, such as stevia, erythritol or a mixture of these.
- Selection of raw materials
It is important to pay attention to the ingredients not only when preparing food, but also when purchasing raw materials. Choose low-fat dairy products and parts of meat, such as chicken breast, chicken leg without skin, ground turkey with 10% fat, turkey breast, pork leg without skin, pork loin, salmon, tilapia. Avoid high-fat carp, beef, pork loin, pork shoulder, shoulder.
Seitan (wheat meat), pea protein or tofu can be prepared in various ways instead of meat. You can also make stuffed cabbage with barley pearls, beans and carrots.
Priority should be given to side dishes with a higher fiber content, which fill you up better and for a longer time. For example, a vegetable bulgur salad is a great side dish for a slice of meat/fish.
Fresh salad, pickles, steamed or fried vegetables should always be on the festive table.
- Moderation
Nothing is off limits, but moderation is key. Let's listen to our body, eat as much as we really like. You can taste the whole menu, but the point is that there is little of everything. Be satisfied with 1 slice of meat/fish, don't eat 2-3 slices of it. After a few hours, a smaller portion of the most delicious dish can be consumed again for a snack/dinner.
Moderation also applies to toasting. Alcohol consumption contributes empty calories to the daily energy intake. Instead of dessert wine, sweet wine and champagne and cream liqueurs, preference should be given to their dry versions, as well as up to 1 glass of spirits such as gin, whiskey, rum.
- Move
Don't forget about exercise. A hearty family walk is the perfect end to lunch.
Kovács-Nagy Vivien Kitti
dietician