Maintain, don't gain during the holidays

For many people, the holiday season brings shopping and parties with plenty of delicious food. How do you maintain good eating habits and avoid weight gain when there are so many temptations that can doom even the most disciplined eaters?

"By watching portion sizes and getting some exercise, you can enjoy favorite holiday foods while maintaining a healthy weight," said Mandel Smith, a nutrition educator with Penn State Cooperative Extension in Montgomery County. "When you celebrate the holiday season with friends and family, remember to focus on the fellowship and time together, not on the food."

Smith offered these tips to help you control calorie intake at holiday parties and buffets:

-- Balance party food and meals with other meals. Eat smaller meals with fewer calories during the day so you can enjoy the party without going over your calorie needs for the day. "Include low-fat protein, fruits, vegetables and whole grains," Smith said. "The fiber in these foods will keep your stomach feeling full."

-- Don't go to a party hungry. Eat a healthy snack before you leave for a party. If you go to a party hungry, you are more likely to overeat.

-- Socialize away from the food table. This will reduce the temptation to overeat and allow you to focus on the great conversations you are having with your friends, family and coworkers.

-- Resist dessert. At dinner parties, skip dessert or choose fresh fruit if it is available. If you are served a dessert, eat half.

-- Remember, smaller is better. "When the food at a party is being served buffet-style, make one trip through the buffet line and take only small amounts of the foods that you really like," Smith recommended. "If possible, use a salad plate so that your plate looks full."

-- Listen to your stomach. Stop eating when you are no longer hungry. Eating until you are full (or stuffed) usually results in consuming more calories than you need.

Shopping also is a big part of the holidays for many people, which often means spending more time at the mall or department store. Smith suggested a few ways to help avoid extra calories while shopping:

-- Eat before going to the mall. Shopping on an empty stomach may cause you to overeat at mealtimes.

-- Share meals with a friend. Split meals and treats from the mall with a shopping buddy.

-- Take a snack with you to the mall. "Fresh fruit such as apples, bananas, small boxes of raisins or small bags of pretzels are handy snacks that transport well in a handbag or backpack," Smith advised. "These snacks are healthier than the butter pretzels and cookies often found throughout the mall."

Source: Penn State

Related stories:

Chinese astronaut makes nation's first spacewalk
(AP) -- A Chinese astronaut on Saturday performed the nation's first-ever spacewalk, the latest milestone in an ambitious program that is increasingly rivaling the United States and Russia in its rapid expansion.
Schmidt Scoffs at Antitrust Concerns About DoubleClick Deal
Google CEO Eric Schmidt said on April 17 that there is absolutely no merit to the accusation by Microsoft and others that Google's acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.1 billion raises antitrust and privacy concerns.
Apple embraces Windows XP with Boot Camp
Sometimes the impossible happens. And as confusing as the change may be, it actually turns out not to be the end of the world.
Microsoft calls for federal privacy law
Microsoft Corp. on Thursday called for uniform federal legislation to replace an inconsistent "patchwork of laws" currently in place to protect the privacy of Internet users.
100 years after America's deadliest quake, evidence gone and questions remain
A century after the deadliest earthquake in American history leveled San Francisco, key events in its aftermath remain shrouded in mystery. Kevin Starr, professor of history at the University of Southern California and California State Librarian Emeritus, argues that ineptitude and fear turned the natural disaster into a manufactured catastrophe.
Hassled galaxy 'thriving on chaos'
Powerful but unknown forces are at work in a small companion galaxy of the Milky Way, astronomers say in today's issue of the journal Science.
Something is keeping the structure and magnetic field of this galaxy–the Large Magellanic Cloud–strong and ordered, even while the Milky Way's gravity works to tear them apart.
A team led by Bryan Gaensler of the Harvard­Smithsonian for Astrophysics used the CSIRO Australia Telescope near Narrabri in NSW to study the galaxy's magnetic field.
Ground-Breaking Arctic Expedition
A scientific party including four University of Rhode Island oceanographers and a science teacher from Narragansett Pier Middle School has just returned from the Arctic Ocean on a landmark expedition to recover seafloor sediments to reconstruct the geologic history of the Arctic. The nineteen scientists on the expedition, hailing from eight nations, collected a total of 339 meters of sediment, the oldest of which is 80 million years.
Skype admits privacy breach by Chinese partner (Update)
Skype on Thursday became the latest US firm embroiled in controversy over its operations in China, acknowledging that its Chinese partner had been archiving politically sensitive text messages.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news