It’s around this time of year that everyone is concerned with beating that holiday weight and doing everything they can to avoid gaining weight while still eating any pies they can get their hands on. This means that it’s also the time for those crazy holiday diet and health tips to come around! Here’s my list of the WORST holiday health advice that you should definitely NOT listen to….
1. Use low-fat products.
Nooooooo! Okay, word to the wise: low-fat = high-sugar. Word to the wiser? Dairy fat has just recently proven to be GOOD FOR YOU. Not just good for you, but great for your waist line too. Seriously, there are two fatty acids in whole fat milk/cheese/butter (phytanic acid and butyric acid) that have shown beneficial weight loss effects!! Whole milk → weight loss. Not. Joking.
2. Use margarine instead of butter.
GROSS. Margarine is so freaking gross. SO GROSS! Whole fat butter has those awesome fatty acids in it too, whereas margarine is just nasty-ass chemicals. Seriously, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter? I can’t believe it’s not illegal.
3. Don’t eat during the day to save room.
By starving yourself all day before your big holiday dinner, you’re going going to show up famished and totally binge on everythinggg. You know when you go to the grocery store when you’re hungry and you end up getting a ton of unhealthy food? Same goes for holiday dinners, except that your only options are unhealthy and unhealthier! This is because of a few chemicals in your brain that control the hedonic effects and satiety factors of eating. When you’re starving, those chemicals (leptin, insulin) are low so your signals run rampant around your brain being like Omg fooooood gimme gimme!! When you eat, leptin and insulin levels rise, and your brain can be like Be cool bitch dayum, it’s just food!
4. Fill up on salad.
Salad has soooo many hidden calories — especially when you didn’t make it yourself. I can almost guarantee that Aunt ____ loaded that salad with dressing and that dressing is further loaded with carbs/fat/sugar/etc. Loading up on salad is just going to give you the same amount of sugar and fat as the heartier stuff without the satisfaction.
5. Pick a favorite.
A lot of people say “okay, pick your one splurge food and enjoy it, but restrict all else!” NO! That just gives you an excuse to binge on that food and eat a ton more of it because you can. Give yourself some wiggle room, it’s just a few meals. The more restrictions you put on yourself the more you’re going to want to eat. If you sit back and enjoy the delish food and great times with family, you’re going to a. have an awesome time and b. end up eating less than you would if you were cycling between worrying and bingeing!
Okay, that’s all folks. If you want to see my top 5 personal tips for a healthier Thanksgiving, you can find them in Tastevin Magazine’s Oct/Nov issue!
xo
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