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The holiday season is a time of “joyous stress, and a 4-week festive indulgence that often results in a 5 to 10 pound weight gain, vegetarian or not,” according to Lisa Dorfman, MS, RD Sports Nutritionist at the University of Miami and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Exercise Science. She offers these simple strategies for staying in shape over the holiday season.
1. Stay in Routine—Regardless of your schedule; keep your daily exercise and eating habits intact. Rituals or normal repetitive routines such as a daily 30-minute stretch or walk, a morning tea or warm, soothing multigrain cereal with seeds, berries, ground flax, and soy milk, along with a dose of afternoon quiet time helps manage the stress, food load, and travel challenges associated with the holiday season.
2. Stay focused on your ideal diet plan—Whether it’s low carb for weight loss or high, complex carbs for sport training, lean protein food choices such as smoked seitan, lite tofu sauté, low fat nutritious starches such as hummus, lentil salsa, sweet potato smash with pineapple and cinnamon, or even Brownie Tropical topped with warm fruit sauce (see recipe) instead of traditional mashed potatoes with gravy, warm dinner rolls smothered with butter, and apple pie a la mode will keep you energized and light, so you can run your household, body, and soul more efficiently and recover faster from the overload of holiday commitments.
3. Maintain a 2/3 schedule of normal eating habits—Stick to a 2/3 normal meal plan rather than skipping meals to accommodate for large family dinners. Research shows that you’ll stay fitter and stronger if you consume your normal calorie load over the period of a day, rather than at one sitting. Since 1/3 of your weekend’s meals may include more fat, and sugars, use low fat soy milk instead on nondairy cream for your coffee, fresh fruit and low sugar smoothies instead of trail mix and whole fat soy cheese for afternoon snacks, and vinaigrette verses oils for salads to accommodate for the extra 250-500 calories you’ll need for holiday dishes and baked goodies.
4. Don’t forget about healthy food—Think color, texture, volume and taste then eat 3 cups of it a day! Consuming foods that typically fill you with flavor—raw veggies, fruits, whole grains, warm clear soups, and hot spices like jalapeno, will give you more vitamins and minerals, and boost your metabolism! In turn, your body will actually accelerate your weight loss over the holidays in spite of including the traditional high calorie holiday foods often lacking in the necessary nutrients required for good health.
5. Slow down your eating rate—Gathering with family and friends often results in more talkative mealtimes, causing faster eating, a greater consumption of calories, and second helpings. Take time to eat your meals—save the speed for your exercise training. Lisa’s new utensil, TropStixä, being launched worldwide this month, can help you slow down your eating rate and overall calorie intake and is yours FREE ($12.95 value), with each Tropical Diet or Vegetarian Sports Nutrition Guide book purchased before Christmas. TropStixä helps dieters slow down their eating, reduce portion sizes, and helps you to manage your weight at home or while eating out. TropStixä are available in five tropical colors, in kid and adult sizes.
TROPICAL BROWNIES
This ready-to-make, fat free brownie mix is a big hit with family and friends. They won’t know the brownies are non-fat if you don’t tell them! Delicious and nutritious with any tropical fruit.
Serves 12
Ingredients:
1 No Pudge! ® Brownie mix
2/3 c. nonfat vanilla soy yogurt
Vegetable cooking spray
¼ c. tropical fruit, diced small
Fruit possibilities, your choice:
kiwi
persimmon
quince
papaya
chayote (technically a veggie)
berries-fresh, or frozen unsweetened
apple
pear
raisins
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Blend non-fat yogurt with No Pudge in a large glass bowl. If the mix is thick, don’t worry. You can add a tablespoon or more of yogurt to make the mixing easier.
3. Add ¼ cup tropical fruit, your choice and mix throughout.
4. Spoon mixture into 8 x 8 in. pan sprayed with Pam vegetable spray.
5. Bake for 32 to 34 minutes. Let cool, cut, and enjoy with no guilt!
Tropical Diet Food Servings:
1 ½ starch, ½ fruit
Nutrition Nugget
The fruit adds extra fiber, gives the brownie dimension, and provides you with a greater feeling of fullness. The fruits have oodles of additional vitamins and minerals.
WARM TROPICAL FRUIT SAUCE
Also great with the Tropical Fruit Pancakes ready-to-serve waffles, on fresh fruit sorbet, or as fruit salad dip.
Serves: about 4-¼ c. servings
Ingredients:
¾ c. strawberry and kiwi nectar (any tropical fruit nectar will work.)
2 c. of:
1 kiwi
¼ c. papaya
1 c. strawberries, fresh or frozen unsweetened
or
1 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen unsweetened
¼ c. strawberry, dried
¾ c. papaya
¼ c. Organic raw sugar
Method:
1. Set aside 2 tbsp. of the nectar.
2. Place the remaining juice, fruit, and the sugar in a 1 ½ qt. saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium to high heat. Stir to mix well.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Cook, for another minute or two, stirring constantly, or until the mixture is thickened and bubbly.
5. Serve warm over pancakes, French toast, or waffles.
6. Store any leftover sauce in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Tropical Diet Food Servings:
1 fruit
Lisa Dorfman can be reached through her website: www.foodfitness.com.
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