HEALTH & WELLNESS Healthier holiday eating: Create a strategy
This holiday season can be different. With help from Deborah, you’ ll enjoy the goodies and the parties, yet you won’ t feel bloated and worried about the toll on your waist and heart. Strategy – not utter denial – is the key to success! Get started with the following tips.
• Look for the stars. Take stock of your traditional holiday foods and highlight what’ s naturally healthy. For example: Turkey topped with gravy – but minus the skin – is an American Heart Association-approved entrée. And if fish is a part of your holiday tradition, indulge!
• Create new favorites. If your table groans under the weight of buttered rolls, creamed onions and rich foods, replace one or two of those heavy hitters with a new recipe – like a platter of seasoned roasted winter vegetables or red lentil and brown rice cakes! Exchange a dozen cookies for low-fat meringues flecked with mini chocolate chips. And look to the season’ s harvest of cranberries, apples, pears, brussel sprouts, pumpkin and squash for creative inspiration.
• Practice portion control. If you can’ t eliminate them or make them more healthful, plan to limit your indulgences. Put a dollop of Grandma’ s must-have giblet gravy on the side of the plate and dip your turkey into it for taste. Enjoy half a cup of eggnog – but just on a special occasion, when it means the most to you.
• Keep the rest lean and green. Don’ t squander precious calories on a stale, store-bought cookie during a Wednesday
HEALTHY LIVING TIPS FROM coffee break. Be mindful of healthier eating amid the festivities and you’ ll buy yourself the flexibility for special indulgences.
• Skinny it down. Transform sweet potato pie into a side dish of freshly baked sweet potatoes with a touch of cinnamon. Replace the beef in Uncle Joe’ s New Year’ s Day Chili with ground turkey and red beans. Check out cookbooks, holiday magazines and websites that have a health focus and learn some culinary tricks. You’ ll be surprised how much old-fashioned flavor can be retained when you make clever substitutions.
• Party on. Be a good guest and offer to prepare a dish for the next event. Whip up a low-fat yogurt dip and cut up some crunchy crudités, or prepare an angel food cake and a simple compote of fruits marinated in juice. And don’ t be shy; ask about the menu ahead of time so you can plan your choices.
• Eat out with savvy. Favor restaurants that offer whole-grain breads, salads and seafood. Portions are often gigantic in restaurants, so plan to split an entrée with a friend, bring some home or order an appetizer-size plate of pasta as your main meal.
For an appointment or more information about how Deborah Heart and Lung Center’ s leading-edge technologies can improve your quality of life, call 800-555-1990 or request info or an appointment by visiting www. demanddeborah. org.
80 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ NOVEMBER 2017