Eating Healthy During the Holidays

In your weight management efforts to achieve/maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI), you may think that indulging in food and drinks during the Christmas and New Year season may not seem like such a big deal as they only come once a year. However, you should still practise the principles of healthy eating to reduce the risk of unwanted weight gain. 

Listed below are some healthy eating tips to help you stay in shape during this festive season.

Healthy Eating Tips At Parties And Buffets

Fill up beforehand

Avoid going to a party on an empty stomach. Before leaving the house, eat a high-fibre snack such as a fruit or a few pieces of wholewheat crackers to help curb your appetite, and prevent overeating.

Eat slowly

The brain takes about 20 minutes to register fullness. Therefore, enjoy your meals by savouring the flavour of each bite.

Remember your 2 + 2

Fruit and vegetables are naturally low in fat and high in fibre, vitamins and minerals. Start your meals with a generous helping of fresh salad dressed with lemon juice and a little drizzle of olive oil instead of creamy dressings. Opt for fresh fruit for dessert.

Go easy on fat

Limit consumption of deep-fried food (e.g. breaded food and fritters), bakery products that are higher in fat content (e.g. pastries, cookies and cakes), and cream-based foods (e.g. cream-based pasta and salad dressing). Also, do remove visible fat on meats whenever possible, to help you cut back on excessive fat intake and extra calories.

Portion Control

Focus on the quality and not the quantity of food consumed. You need not deprive yourself of your favourite foods, just eat smaller amounts of it and avoid going for seconds. If you think this is not an option, then go easy on your desserts or other mains. You can also try using smaller serving plates to eat so that the food looks abundant.

Limit your alcohol and sugar-sweetened beverage intake

Many people do not realise that consuming excessive amounts of alcohol or sugar-sweetened beverages would lead to weight gain. Therefore, you may want to limit your intake of such beverages. Here are some tips to help you do that.

• Request for water, sparkling mineral water, unsweetened ice tea or sugar-free soft drinks.
• For house parties, you can choose to bring along reduced sugar/sugar-free beverages to share.
• Offer to be the designated driver so you will be obliged to limit/avoid alcoholic beverages for the safety of others.
• Give a firm reason for avoiding alcohol (e.g. early morning appointment).
• Drink slowly. Make a glass of wine last longer to avoid refills.

Healthy Cooking Tips for the Festive Seasons

Whether you are cooking a Christmas feast or an end-of-year party for your loved ones or cooking a dish for the pot-luck party, you can choose to prepare a healthier meal/dish as a gift. You can use the following healthy cooking tips as a guide.

Use healthier ingredients

• Reduce the amount of fat and sodium of a dish by using healthier variation of ingredients. Look for the Healthier Choice Symbol (HCS), these foods and/or ingredients are at least 25% lower in fat, sodium, and/or sugar compared to items in the same category.
• Do remember to go easy on the amount of oil, sugar and salt used in your recipe.

Include wholegrains

• Boost the fibre and nutrient content of your dish by using wholegrain ingredients (e.g. substitute white flour with wholemeal flour when baking Christmas cookies or wholemeal bread for white bread when making bread pudding).

Skip the drippings

• Avoid using the meatloaf or turkey drippings to make gravy to reduce fat consumed. Instead, partially or fully replace drippings with reduced sodium stock.

Choose healthier cooking methods

• Use healthier cooking methods such as boiling, steaming, baking, roasting or grilling as these methods reduce the amount of fat in the dish. For example, you can achieve the same crispy effects of deep-frying finger food by baking or air-frying them instead.

Make healthier desserts

• Instead of Christmas pudding or fruit cake, why not use fresh fruit as the main ingredient for desserts (e.g. frozen tropical fruit kebabs, yoghurt fruit salad topped with pomegranate and baked apples).

Healthy Meal Recipes For Pot-Luck Parties

Play your part by contributing a healthier dish at a pot-luck. By encouraging everyone to do the same, you will end up with an array of healthier dishes at the party! For more ideas, click here.

Chicken and Leek Pie (Serves 6)

This pie combines chicken, leek, peas and carrots, in a creamy herb sauce. Low in fat and packed with protein and fibre, this heart-warming dish will surely be a popular crowd pleaser!

Ingredients for Pie Filling

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 large leeks (white and light green parts only), well washed and thinly sliced
• 1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons wholemeal flour
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, or teaspoon dried sage
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1 cup frozen peas
• teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Ingredients for Mashed Potato

• 1 kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• cup low-fat milk
• teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 218 C. Heat 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and carrots and sauté for about 7 minutes. Add garlic and continue to sauté for another 1 minute.
2. Add flour and sage to the vegetables. Stir continuously for about 2 minutes or until the flour starts to turn light brown.
3. Make a thick sauce by gradually adding chicken broth to the flour and vegetable mixture. Keep stirring for 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
4. Add chicken and peas, as well as salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the mixture to a deep 23 cm pie pan or baking dish and set aside.
5. Cook potatoes over medium heat in a large saucepan of water for 10 minutes or until tender. Once the potatoes are soft enough for mashing, transfer the potatoes into a colander and drain well.
6. Mash the potatoes. Add small amounts of low-fat milk at intervals to make a smooth puree. Stir in an egg and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Spread the mashed potatoes on top of the pie filling mixture in the pie pan or baking dish. With the back of a spoon, make decorative swirls. Set the dish on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the potatoes and filling are heated through and the top is golden brown.

Chocolate Almond Pudding (Serves 4)

Lower in saturated fat and easy to make, this recipe's blend of rich chocolate and almonds complement each other perfectly.

Ingredients:

• 50 g unsweetened dark chocolate
• 1 slice of wholemeal bread
  
• 2 tablespoon low-fat milk
• 50 g unsalted trans-fat free margarine
• 50 g ground almonds
• 60 g sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 3 egg white

Method

1. Melt the chocolate. Cut the crust off the bread. Finely crumble the bread and mix together with the milk until well-combined.
2. Grease cupcake moulds or heatproof cups (150ml) with some of the margarine.
3. Beat the remaining margarine and 30 g sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually stir in the egg yolks. Add the chocolate, bread crumbs mixture and almonds.
4. Whisk the egg white with 30 g sugar and fold into the mixture.
5. Fill the moulds or heatproof cups with the pudding mixture until they are full and cover well with heatproof foil. Steam for 30 minutes.
6. When pudding is ready, carefully turn them out onto plates and serve with low fat whipped cream.

Healthy Gift Ideas

Christmas and New Year gifts do not need to be confined to champagnes and chocolates. Buy your loved one and friends a gift of health to kick start the new year ahead!

For the sport enthusiast

• Gym Membership: The holidays often offer special packages for gyms. Buying a promotional card is a great way to stay in shape during the festive season.
• Gift vouchers: Vouchers for exercise classes are a great idea to garner interest in a new sport. Select from a wide variety of different sports to cater to the person's interest.
• Pedometer: A pedometer (step-counter) is a great gift to motivate someone to exercise and keep track of the number of steps taken daily.
• Fitness outfits: Encourage your loved one and friends to exercise by buying them fitness apparels or equipment. Choose from a wide selection from runner gear to yoga mat.

For the health-conscious cooking enthusiast

• Non-stick pan: A non-stick pan is a great gift for those looking to prepare healthy low-fat dishes.
• Microwave oven: Microwave is great for quick and convenient low-fat cooking.
• Blender: Instead of a juicer, which strips away the beneficial fibre, buy your loved one a blender to make blended juice. Having blended juice is a great way to start a morning and a refreshing way to achieve your daily dose of vitamins and fibre.
• Healthy cookbook: A compilation of healthy recipes is sure to ignite the interest of the cooking enthusiast.

Gifts for the mind and body

• Gift certificate for spa/massage
• Books for mind games
• Books of inspirational quotes

So Remember

• Practise healthy eating during this festive season to stay in shape.
• Choose healthier food and exercise portion control at parties and buffets.
• If you cook, make healthier dishes to bring the gift of health to your loved ones and friends.
• Buy your loved ones and friends gifts that encourage a healthier lifestyle.

Contributed By: Health Promotion Board (HPB)
Toast to Healthy Eating This Holiday  by Health Promotion Board, 25 October 2021, www.healthhub.sg.