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Article: Holiday overeating can pack on pounds



 
 
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Old December 20th, 2003, 09:50 PM
Carol Frilegh
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Default Article: Holiday overeating can pack on pounds

Holiday overeating can pack on pounds
Close attention to consumption is key

Portion control better than deprivation

STEPHANIE EARL
SPECIAL TO THE STAR

Elyn Zimmerman wants you to really think about what you're doing.

"I do funny things, where I'll ask people to log in when they go into
the lunch room. You know, `Reason for visit,' `What was consumed,'"
said Zimmerman, a nutritionist in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. "I want to put
my voice in their heads: `What would Elyn say if she was here?'"

It's a common cry among nutritionists and dietitians: People simply
don't pay enough attention to what they are consuming each day. That
dessert plate, for instance, even one of those small paper ones, can
easily hold 1,000 calories, Zimmerman points out.

The difference between regular season overindulgence and the holiday
version, even among those who had previously been dieting, is slight
but significant. During the holidays, folks just don't care. At least,
not really.

The worst calorie culprits you are likely to find on a holiday spread
are pecan pie (as many as 500 calories a slice), chocolate fudge with
nuts (around 300 calories for a 2.5-ounce piece) and canned eggnog
(around 400 calories for one cup, with one ounce of rum), according to
the Calorie Control Council, a food industry trade association that has
tracked American dieting habits for two decades.

"I think subconsciously people say they're going to deal with it in
January," says Brenda Mayette, a dietitian with Bellevue Woman's
Hospital in Schenectady, N.Y. "A big problem is that people tend to
expand the holiday into a season."

The enemy is not so much those holiday parties, with their smorgasbord
of gastronomical goodies, either, Mayette adds.

"It's everything else around us this time of year. We're shopping, we
go to the food court. We're doing quick and easy, and usually quick and
easy tends to be higher fat and calories," she says. "In fact, I find
that lots of times we make all this food for parties and it doesn't
even get eaten."

Mayette recommends the best way to combat holiday gain is, first of
all, to not stress about it. If you are actively dieting, allow
yourself some slack and just strive to maintain until the new year.
Also, do the math.

"The first rule is to expand our conscious awareness to the whole
holiday season rather than just the holiday," Mayette says. "We're not
gaining that extra weight at one holiday party."

Post-holiday fluid retention because of alcohol and salt consumption
can make weight gain seem more pronounced, said Nan Windmueller, a New
York nutritionist.

Her tips: Go with portion control rather than trying to deprive
yourself of certain types of foods.

"Good weight management is nothing more than bookkeeping," Windmueller
said. "If you try to deprive yourself, it gives the food a lot of power
and all you can think about is eating foods on the `No' list."

Mayette suggests diners keep in touch with their senses at holiday
parties.

"When you eat those desserts, how many of those bites are you actually
enjoying?" she asked. "By the third or fourth bite, we're eating it
'cause it's left."

Skipping the perennial "party standards" leaves more room for holiday
specialties, too.

"If there are chips and dip, don't waste your calories on it. You're
going to have it two months from now," she said. Also, stick with
tablespoon-sized portions, don't show up to a party hungry, and don't
plant yourself by the food table.

Windmueller suggests that if you are the one preparing a meal, try
trimming as much fat as you can. Make the gravy ahead of time, rather
than using fatty drippings from cooking meats. Use light butter.

When serving yourself at the dinner table, fill up half your plate with
vegetables, so long as they are not creamed or loaded with butter.
Split the other side between a starch (rice, mashed potatoes) and
protein. Eat slowly and wait a few hours between the main course and
dessert.

"Then, pay attention to how your body feels," she says. "It takes a
long time for the brain to figure out the body is full. There are lots
of regrets at the end of a long feast."

Calories from alcoholic beverages can sink even the best-laid plan,
Windmueller says. (A half-cup of eggnog with one ounce of rum, by the
way, has nine grams of fat and 230 calories).

"It can lessen your inhibitions and stimulate your hunger," says
Windmueller, adding that women should have no more than a serving of
alcohol (5 1/2 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or one ounce of hard
liquor). On average, men can have two.

All that said, try to have a good time.

Albany Times Union

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