Eating with Family and Friends

15 Holiday Eating Tips That Are Easy On The Waistline

November 6, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

The holidays are right around the corner. You can’t go into a supermarket or box store without holiday food and fixings just begging to be tossed into your cart.

Holidays create a “perfect storm” for eating way too much. They combine some of the worst cues and triggers for overeating: family drama, too much food (much of it sweet and fatty), tradition and ritual, stress eating, and the attitude of “why not – it’s the holidays.” All too frequently the default then becomes: “I’ll start my diet in the New Year, or after Easter, of in September after Labor Day” – or after a month of Sundays!

Do You Really Want To Count Calories On A Holiday?

No way. Holiday food is special and holiday traditions and rituals are hallmarks we count on.

When you restrict yourself of may foods, it often means that you end up depriving yourself of traditional and possibly your favorite foods that you associate with holidays. When you do deprive yourself of those cherished foods, more often than not you end up later that night standing in front of an open fridge rummaging for leftovers still feeling the sting from the stare down you had with your favorite foods earlier in the day.

What’s Your Holiday Game Day Plan?

What’s your game plan? Does it allow you to enjoy the holiday and the food (really important). On a holiday you know you’ll eat a bit more – or maybe a bit more than a bit more – than on a typical day.

Balance it out by allowing for a range of calories during the holiday and the days surrounding it. To maintain your weight, the overall number of calories you eat should approximate the calories you burn, so compensate by eating a little lighter the days before and after (and maybe adding in some extra activity).

15 Tips and Strategies

Here are some tips — choose what you can commit to and that will work best for you. Then build them into your personal holiday eating plan.

1. Don’t starve yourself the day of a holiday meal or party. If you attempt to save up calories for a splurge, you’ll probably be so hungry by the time dinner is served you’ll end up shoving food into your mouth faster than you can say turkey. Have a protein and fiber snack (around 150 calories) and something to drink beforehand, but don’t skip meals or arrive famished.

2. Give yourself permission to NOT eat something that you usually eat just because it’s a holiday tradition. Certain foods may taste, look, or smell like Thanksgiving or Christmas, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat them. It’s still the holiday without them.

3. Ask yourself if you’re eating something because you like it or are you eating it for another reason — perhaps because you’ve been eating the same holiday food since you were a kid. Maybe you don’t even like the food any more or it disagrees with you. So why are you eating it? Who’s forcing you to? Eat what you want — not what you think you should.

4. Say no to the friends and relatives who push the extra piece of pie and the second helping of stuffing, or who constantly refill your drink. You’re the one stepping on the scale or zipping up your jeans the next day – not them.

5. Have your own personal rules and swaps for what you will or won’t eat and commit to sticking with them ahead of time. Your rules are an integral part of your game plan. Examples might be: I really want pecan pie for dessert so I’ll only have one biscuit without butter with my meal. Or, I’ll only take two hors d’oeuvres from the passed trays at a cocktail party. This will both limit how much you eat and will also make you think carefully and choose what you really want instead of randomly sampling everything.

6. Acknowledge your red flags, your trigger foods. Can you be near Christmas cookies without eating a dozen? Do you overeat at family events? There’s no need to psychoanalyze why. Just know the things that serve as your red flags and have a plan to deal with them.

7. Decide what’s really worth an indulgence. Then fill up on the lower calorie volume foods — like vegetables — so you won’t have tons of room left for the splurges. If you’re a sucker for desserts, stick with lean protein and veggies for your main course followed by a reasonable slice of cheesecake. Or if the stuffing and au gratin potatoes are calling your name, have them, but skip or skimp on the desserts.

8. Make a deal (with yourself) that you can eat what you want during dinner. Put the food on your plate, eat it with a fork, and enjoy every last morsel. Clean your plate if you want to. But – that’s it. No seconds and no double-decking the plate.

9. Choose your beverages wisely. Alcohol clocks in at 7 calories a gram. Alcohol with mixers adds even more calories. Plus, alcohol takes the edge off lots of things – including your ability to stick to your plan. Drink water. It fills you up. Have a diet soda if you want. If you’re going to drink alcohol, try limiting the amount – think about alternating with water or seltzer.

10. Control your food environment the best you can. Don’t hang around the buffet table or stand next to the platter of delicious whatevers. Why are you tempting yourself? Go into another room or the farthest corner away from serving table.

11. Keep your back to the buffet. For most people, food that is out of sight is out of mind.

12. Don’t eat off of someone else’s plate, finish your kids’ food, sample your spouse’s pie, or take a taste of this and a taste of that as you walk around the party. One bite here and one bite there doesn’t seem like much, but add them up and you’ll be shocked. Mindless bites average about 25 calories apiece. Four mindless bites a day means around a hundred (extra) calories. Do this daily and by the end of a month you might have gained close to a pound. Because it’s so easy to overlook those hand to mouth sneaky bites, make a deal with yourself that you’ll only eat food that’s on a plate.

13. Have a conversation. It’s hard to shove food in your mouth when you’re talking. Hold a glass in your hand, even if it has water or seltzer in it, and a napkin in the other hand. It’s hard to nibble and nosh when your hands are full.

14. Get rid of leftovers. Leftover stuffing has defeated the best-laid plans and don’t nibble during clean up (or preparation for that matter). Broken cookies, pieces of pie crust, and the last bits of stuffing haven’t magically lost their calories.

15. Don’t multi-task. Try to avoid combining eating with other activities. Distractions are a major contributor to overeating. When you’re with family and friends the last thing on your mind is going to be how many nachos you just inhaled while some annoying in-law was yakking your ear off. TV is another major culprit. When you sit down to catch a game, parade, or a holiday special, be sure that there isn’t a big bowl of munchies sitting right next to you waiting to sabotage your waistline.

What If You Ate Everything In Sight?

If you ate everything is sight and your exercise was walking back and forth to the to the buffet table, take heart, It was just one day. It’s not so difficult to make up for your indulgences over the next few days.

The danger is letting it stretch into days or weeks. That’s when your waistline starts expanding and the pound you gained this year stays there and gets joined by another the following year.

Enjoy the holidays and the traditions that are important to you. Be thankful and joyous. Isn’t that the point?

How Far Would You Have To Walk To Burn Off Halloween Candy?

October 30, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

It’s almost here – the night of ghosts, goblins, home made and extravagant costumes, and candy – lots of it.

Candy, costumes, trick or treaters, and shaving cream in roadside mailboxes (one of many suburban pranks) are all part of the ritual of Halloween. One thing for certain — there’s candy everywhere and it’s pretty hard to resist as an adult and horrifically hard to resist as a kid.

On average, each piece of Halloween sized candy contains around two teaspoons of sugar and the same number of calories as two Oreos. Do the math – if you or your child pops 10 or more pieces of Halloween candy that’s 20 teaspoons of sugar and the calories of more than half a package of Oreos (36 cookies per package).

It’s not the day of Halloween (or Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter) that presents the food challenge – it’s all the other days when the eating with abandon continues and continues …that’s when the weight piles on and poor eating choices become a habit. So enjoy the day of celebration and think about putting the brakes on making every other day a food holiday, too.

Here’s Another Way To Calibrate Halloween Candy

Here’s another way to think about Halloween candy — how much walking will it take to work off the calories in various types of candy?

According to walking.com:

1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc. is about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

2 Hershey’s Kisses are about 50 calories. You’d need to walk 0.5 miles, 0.80 kilometers, or 1000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

2 Brachs caramels are about 80 calories. You’d need to walk 0.8 miles, 1.29 kilometers, or 1600 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) is about 55 calories. You’d need to walk 0.55 miles, 0.88 kilometers, or 1100 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 Fun Size M&M package – Plain or Peanut, is 90 calories. You’d need to walk 0.9 miles, 1.45 kilometers, or 1800 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup is 33 calories. You’d need to walk 0.33 miles, 0.53 kilometers, or 660 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 275 calories. You’d need to walk 2.75 miles, 4.43 kilometers, or 5500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.) is about 500 calories. You’d need to walk 5 miles, 8.06 kilometers, or 10000 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

1 small Tootsie Roll is 25 calories. You’d need to walk 0.25 miles, 0.40 kilometers, or 500 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

If You Ate Them All . . .

2 Brachs caramels, 2 Hershey’s Kisses, 1 small Tootsie Roll, 1 Fun Size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.) 1 mini bite-size candy bar (Snickers, Milky Way, Butterfingers, etc.), 1 Fun Size M&M packet – Plain or Peanut, 1 mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, 1 full size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.), 1 King Size chocolate candy bar (Snickers, Hershey, etc.)… comes to 1188 calories. You’d need to walk 11.88 miles, 19.16 kilometers, or 23,760 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

Happy Halloween!

Hey, Adults — Which Wine Should You Have With Your Halloween Candy?

October 24, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Halloween candy isn’t only for kids.

So, if you’re an adult, why not have some wine with your Halloween candy – whether it’s the candy you bought to give to trick or treaters or the handful of fun-sized treats you snagged from your kid’s collection.

There are many opinions about what beverages go well with what candy. The general consensus is that wine or beer should be sweeter than what you are eating which raises a Halloween candy pairing issue since all of the candy is pretty darn sweet.

But, of course, there are many opinions.

Here’s a synopsis of some of the recommendations I’ve found:

Nerds go best with sparkling wines like champagne, proseco, cava, and sparkling rose.

Starburst calls for light reds such as Pinot Noir, St. Laurent, Zweigelt or Gamay or sweet whites such as Reisling, Moscato, Malvasia.

The high acidity in Chenin Blanc off sets the sweetness in Jollyranchers.

Skittles also go well with the sweet whites or dry whites such as white table wine, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio.

The sweet creaminess of the yellow, orange, and white mellow crème kernels of Candy Corn can pair with sweet whites, rich whites such as Chardonnay, Marsanne, or Viognier, the sparkling wines, and Port. Or you can just keep shoving handfuls of them into your mouth without allowing time to sip!

KitKat and 3 Musketeers are lighter and fluffier candy and pair well with sparkling wines and medium reds such as red table wine, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Grenache.

Try a Muscat with sugary Smarties.

Tootsie rolls stick to your teeth and pair well with the light reds.

Butterfingers go with the rich whites and the dessert wines such as late harvest ice wines, Sherry, Port, Tawny Port, and Ruby Port.

Twix also goes with the dessert wines and with the bold reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Monastrell, Malbec, and Syrah. The sweetness of ice wines will likely taste delicious with the caramel, cookies, and chocolate in Twix.

The cherry undertones of Pinot Noir pair nicely with Twizzlers – you could even dunk!

Reese’s pieces, those wonderful bites of peanut butter and chocolate, can go with the light reds, bold reds, and dessert wines.

Heath Bar (one of my all time favorites) goes well with the dessert wines.

M&Ms, while they’re melting in your mouth and not in your hands, can be washed down with the bold and medium reds. Try a red Zinfandel.

You can always depend on milk chocolate Hershey bars and of course they go with most wines, especially the rich and sweet whites and the light and medium reds.

With the more bitter Hershey’s Dark chocolate, try a red Syrah.

For the coconut lovers, the harsh tannins in Cabernet Sauvignon pair well with the dark chocolate and coconut in Mounds and Almond Joy.

The strong, sweet, creamy taste of Port pairs quite well with chocolate, caramel, and peanuts like the combo found in Snickers and with classic Caramels.

Sour Patch Kids – maybe aptly named — don’t seem to pair well with anything except a puckering mouth, but you can try a bubbly NV Rosé.

If there are some caramel apples to bite into, the toastiness of caramel and butterscotch might pair well with Muscat or Gewürztraminer because the acidity of the white wine should stand up well to the sweetness of the caramel. If you want to focus on the apple flavor, try ice wine, Sauternes, or a late-harvest Sauvignon Blanc.

And why not pair a Grand Cru Bordeaux with a 100 Grand Bar?

Happy Halloween!

Can You Resist Halloween Candy?

October 16, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Is it a foregone conclusion that there’s Halloween candy in your future? It’s pretty hard to escape because candy is everywhere – on desks, in restaurants, even in my veterinarian’s office in a nice purple bowl with a dog bone painted on the side.

Halloween and the week afterward account for about 5% of all candy consumed for the year. Big box stores don’t wait for mid-October to start stocking their shelves –by the second week in September most of them have already filled their shelves with orange and black trimmed packages of mini-candy boxes and bars – right along side the school supplies.

Have You Ever Invaded Your Kid’s Trick or Treat Bag? What Do You Go For First?

Don’t feel guilty if you have. If you’ve ever swiped candy from your kid’s trick or treat bag, you’re certainly not alone. According to the National Confectioners Association, 90% of parents confess they occasionally dip into their kid’s stash. I know I sure did.

Not only do parents swipe candy form their kids’ bags, they invade them big time — they eat one candy bar out of every two a child brings home. Their favorite targets are snack-sized chocolate bars (70%), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).

How Many Calories Are In That Trick Or Treat Bag?

It’s been estimated that, on average, a child in the US collects between 3,500 and 7,000 worth of candy calories on Halloween night.

Since it takes 3,500 calories to gain or lose a pound, you’re looking at a pound or two added to your waistline (or hips) if you would choose to eat all of that on top of your regular daily intake.

To burn off 7000 calories, a one hundred pound child would have to walk for almost 44 hours or play full-court basketball for 14.5 hours.

With 31% of US children and teens ages 2-19 overweight or obese, it really makes you stop and think about having candy and treats so frequently and seemingly available everywhere you look.

A One Day Indulgence Isn’t Such A Big Deal

One day of collecting (and eating) candy isn’t going to make a child – or an adult – overweight or obese (what it can do to behavior is another story). It’s the constant bombardment with candy, sweets, and other treats that can lead to weight (and health) issues.

Try having a talk with your family ahead of trick or treating to figure out what to do with all of that candy. Is it to be a one-day free for all and then the trash — or will the candy by doled out in measured amounts over a given period of time? Do what works for your family but it will help if the kids buy into the plan.

Some food (or candy) for thought: a treat is only a treat if it happens once in a while – like Halloween, birthdays, and other holidays. If it’s a common occurrence it can become an expectation or a habit.

10 Workplace Food Traps and How To Deal With Them

October 1, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Most of us spend a lot of hours at work. That could mean time at the office, at home, in the car, on an airplane, in a hotel, in a retail store, or anywhere else you conduct your business.

All of those long, hard-working hours can mean enormous weight control challenges— especially with ever-present food, a good deal of which is carb and fat loaded – and an environment that can be fast paced, stressful, overwhelming, boring, or downright exhausting.

Do You Use Food To Cope and Procrastinate?

So what do we do? We use food to cope, procrastinate, or push off mind-numbing boredom and fatigue. All too often that means stuffing ourselves with more calories than we need. And, they’re not usually from nutritionally fantastic sources but from sugary, salty, and fatty nutritionally poor reward foods.

A lot of us don’t even think about how and why we eat, especially while we’re working. The way we feed ourselves — particularly in the face of stress or overwhelm — becomes a default habit pattern. In other words, we mindlessly reach for the high calorie comfort food.

10 Food Traps and Way to Deal With Them

Work on identifying what you usually do when you’re stressed, tired, or angry. If your usual action is to grab a cookie or candy bar try to manage your stress without the reward foods. Instead of turning to a high-calorie, high-fat trigger foods to calm your nerves or as a reward, try some healthy, stress-relieving practices like deep breathing and meditation. Drink a glass of water – sometimes you’re thirsty, not hungry – and water fills your stomach.

Make a deal with yourself to work some activity into your workday. Instead of using eating as an excuse to take a break, take a walk instead – even if it’s around your office or to another floor, and make it part of your daily routine. The quick walk will get you out of the immediate environment, let you blow off some steam, and burn an extra calorie or two. If you travel, walk in the airport rather than plopping yourself down in the food court or bar.

If you eat out or order take out for any of your meals, scout out the local restaurants, delis, salad bars, and your own workplace lunchroom. Identify the meal choices that are the best for you and make them your “go-tos” so you’re not caught in the trap of being starving or too busy to care. That’s when you’re in danger of ordering – and eating — a whole pizza followed by a piece of chocolate cake. When you’re going out with a group of co-workers, be the one to suggest the restaurant with the healthier food options so you’re not influenced by others’ suggestions and choices.

If you plan your route to work to pass your favorite coffee shop with the absolute best blueberry muffins or you find yourself using the rest room on the next floor because you have to walk by the vending machine with peanut M&Ms, think about changing your route — don’t taunt yourself with temptation.

Do some thinking and planning. If you’re going to have a snack, plan for it – and know what you’re going to eat and stick to your choice. Contemplating your choices in front of a bakery display or vending machine filled with candy or salty treats is a sure fire recipe for caving in. Don’t deny yourself food – just make it good food.

Change your habits. Ditch the candy dish on your desk. People with candy within an arm’s reach report weighing 15.4 pounds more than people without the candy dish in residence on their desks. Pack your lunch more often, and eat with a friend instead of at your desk. When you through the cafeteria line, pick up a piece of fruit first, which seems to trigger a chain reaction of healthier choices.

There’s always a birthday, a holiday, or someone has brought in leftovers from their kid’s party or a recipe that you just have to taste. Of course, the reason they brought in the leftovers is because they don’t want them hanging around their house tempting them. Have a strategy for the inevitable food fest of leftover cake, pizza, and bagels. Perhaps allow yourself a once or twice a week treat. Just don’t make it part of your routine to visit the snack room to scrounge for the leftover cake.

Have your own personal “no dip” policy: the quick hand dip into the candy bowl at the receptionist’s desk, or the jelly beans on your partner’s desk, or into the open box of chocolates or cookies on the counter. Use whatever reason works for you – maybe think about all of the other hands – and where those hands have been – that are also dipping into the same bowl.

Is your desk drawer filled with reward food? Do you stare at it every time you open the drawer, tempting fate?Clean out your desk. If your favorite reward food stares at you every time you open your drawer, aren’t you tempting fate? It’s pretty difficult not to give in to the pop tart or peanut butter cup when you’re struggling to stay awake and finish that long boring project.
Prepare for a snack attack. Have a stash of healthy food available to curb your hunger, so you don’t go searching for someone else’s candy or cookies. People tend to get up when they’re hungry, even people with stationary jobs. Instead of walking to the vending machine, walk to the healthy stuff whether it’s in the snack room or down to the newsstand in the lobby.

The Bottom Line: See it — Eat it

It doesn’t seem to matter if the beckoning food is in your drawer, on someone else’s desk, in the snack room, in the waiting room, or the conference room. When we see food, particularly reward and comfort foods, the thought gets into your head – and it seems like you just have to have it. Put the virtual blinders on, clean out your desk, take an alternate route, or make a deal with yourself to just have one bite, one piece, a single portion, or small handful.