Setbacks to a Heart Healthy Christmas
Overeating is the most obvious challenge to a heart healthy Christmas. Because Christmas food is available at every turn, most peoples' eating habits change over the holidays. Candy and cookies are readily available at home and at work. Dinner invitations and parties with elaborate meals and desserts abound at Christmas, making it difficult to abstain from indulging. People often accept that second helping when the hostess offers it, or give into temptation and have just one more helping of that o-so-delicious dessert.
Food isn’t the only obstacle to a heart healthy Christmas: holiday drinks, a lack of exercise, and the combination of excitement and stress also upset even the best intentions for a healthy Christmas. With Christmas drinks like eggnog and hot mulled cider, alcohol consumption typically rises over the holiday season. Also, many people either travel or have relatives over during the holidays, causing dramatic schedule changes that affect exercise routines and daily diets. Add the inevitable stress associated with Christmas, and it's extremely easy to overeat and over drink.
Moderation, Moderation, Moderation
The key to a heart-healthy Christmas is moderation. Moderation doesn't mean severe restrictions (as many people seem to think), but rather a lack of access. You can still enjoy that apple pie for dessert; just stop to consider if you're really still hungry before grabbing that second piece. Most people also can partake in a Christmas drink or two without sabotaging their heart healthy Christmas. Unless your medical condition restricts alcohol and specific types of food, there's no reason you can't indulge in some holiday cheer.
A Heart Healthy Christmas Dinner
Christmas dinner is the big test for many people trying to follow a heart-healthy diet. Remember that a skinless piece of turkey breast isn’t the enemy (a three-ounce serving of skinless turkey breast only contains 119 calories and less than half a gram of fat). In fact, a heart-healthy diet could benefit from eating turkey more often than just Christmas and Thanksgiving.
One of the true enemies of the heart healthy Christmas is all the trimmings served with the turkey: the stuffing, gravy, buttery mashed potatoes, biscuits and sweet potato casserole topped with the little marshmallows.
However, even decadent trimmings wouldn’t be too disastrous as a once a year indulgence (unless you have severe dietary restrictions). The trouble is that many of us load up our plates to capacity, go back for second helpings, and spend the weeks before the meal enjoying holiday treats. Consequently, that sumptuous Christmas dinner is more of a culmination of a season of indulging.
Limit and Substitute Your Way to a Healthy Heart Christmas
You can have a heart healthy Christmas dinner if you limit portions and make heart-healthy substitutions where you can. Limit yourself to only one normal-sized portion at Christmas dinner and avoid second helpings. Limit the high fat, high cholesterol foods you put on the plate (stuffing, gravy, etc).
There are also several dietary substitutions you can make to achieve a heart healthy Christmas meal. Perhaps the simplest technique is to substitute fresh vegetables for the high-fat Christmas dinner trimmings. For instance, steamed sweet potatoes may be substituted for the high-fat sweet potato casserole.
Here are some other substitutions to help with your heart healthy Christmas:
- replace cookies with seasonal fruits and nuts
- use fat-free skim milk instead of regular milk
- add low fat or no fat cheese to cheese plates
- use plant oils, sparingly, in place of dairy fats
- use the low fat chicken broth to soften mashed potatoes instead of milk and butter.
Pass the Fiber, Hold the Salt
Fiber is a substantial part of a heart-healthy diet, but fiber consumption often goes down during the Christmas season. Try to keep fiber in your diet during the holiday season. Substitute cut-up veggies and a low fat dip for the chips and dip on the buffet table, for instance. Instead of a bread and sausage based turkey stuffing, a high fiber wild rice dressing could be served to promote a heart healthy Christmas dinner.
Salt and sugar intake also need to be watched closely during the holiday season, and not just in the savory dishes. Many cookie recipes contain surprisingly high amounts of salt and sugar. Some recipes can be modified to contain less sugar and salt by adding other spices. However, getting the right combination often requires some experimentation to get the taste of the final dish right.
A Heart Healthy Christmas Includes Exercise
After Christmas dinner, it's not unusual to slip into "holiday paralysis" and take a nap on the recliner for a while. Although most of us have succumbed to the food coma that follows a large meal, this isn’t good for digestion. Similarly, it is not the best idea if you want to have a heart healthy Christmas.
Taking a walk after Christmas dinner is a much better choice for your heart than a nap. In fact, it's best to stay as active over Christmas as your health allows. A snowball fight with the kids, throwing a Frisbee in the park, or simply taking a leisurely walk will all get you moving around and, therefore, can all contribute to a heart healthy Christmas.
A Heart Healthy Christmas
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Oleh
Dream Come True
