Your Complete Guide to Healthy Holidays

While you’re celebrating the holidays this season, your body could be quietly sending out a cry for help. The period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s can be a disaster for your best intentions of watching what you eat and staying active.

“Although your body may be sending out a quiet SOS, you might be so living in the moment that you don’t hear it,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of Tufts’ HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory. “The best way to prevent post-holiday remorse is to develop strategies ahead of time to avoid overconsumption of unhealthy food and beverages. This doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself of holiday favorites; it just means you have to be aware of how much and how frequently.”

Thanksgiving dinner alone can easily total 3,000 calories, according to the Calorie Control Council <caloriecontrol.org>. Add in pre- and post-feast nibbling, appetizers and drinks and the calories can top 4,500—and we’re generally not talking about calories from healthier foods like fruits, veggies, nuts, beans and fish. But that’s just the beginning: From Turkey Day through New Year’s, a typical American adult averages 550 extra calories a day, mostly from starches and meats, and gains between five and eight pounds.

That’s in part because familiar holiday fare, whether Thanksgiving turkey with dressing or Christmas ham or Hanukkah fried latkes, are a sort of “perfect storm” for unhealthy indulgence and weight gain. Susan B. Roberts, PhD, director of Tufts’ HNRCA Energy Metabolism Laboratory and author of The “I” Diet <www.theidiet.com>, says, “The defining characteristic of traditional holiday items like stuffing, traditional gravy and pie is that they’re all extremely high in calories and low in fiber. In other words, they’re the perfect mix of nutritional factors to make you have to eat huge amounts of these foods before you feel content and full.”

For many dieters, Robert adds, the holidays are a time for simply giving up. Faced with a six-week onslaught of unhealthy foods, many people just resign themselves to packing on extra pounds and so let themselves go.

HOLIDAY CUES: It’s not just the food choices per se that make the holidays a gauntlet for many would-be healthy eaters, however. “The sight and smell of abundance triggers real metabolic signals of hunger and expands our stomach so that we need to eat more to feel full,” says Roberts.

Tufts research has also found that overeating “situationally” – such as during the holidays – is an important predictor of weight regain after weight loss during other times of the year. Some people seem to put on all their excess weight during the holidays, Roberts adds, because they don’t know how to deal with the abundance of less-healthy food and the variety of caloric temptations.

“Cues” to encourage overeating are as abundant during the holidays as tinsel and wrapping paper. Other studies have shown that each additional guest at dinner increases the amount of food you’re likely to consume by 35 calories. Eating while watching a holiday football game? You’re likely to down 140 more calories than if you were sitting at the table with the TV off. Even Christmas carols playing during dinner or at a holiday party can encourage extra eating, an average of 100 extra calories.

TAKE CONTROL: The key to eating right even in the fa-la-la face of seasonal temptation is taking control of both the menu and your food environment. At Thanksgiving and other holiday feasts, it’s OK to serve traditional fare and even desserts – but shift the spotlight to fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts. Serve salad as a first course, Lichtenstein suggests, going heavy on greens, colored veggies and healthy oils and lighter on non-veggie add-ins like croutons; add color, crunch and more nutrients with bits of (peel-on) apples or pears. (For Thanksgiving, skip the bacon bits and consider dried cranberries and sunflower seeds on your salad.) Starting with salad helps fill you up before the caloric main course ever hits the table. You might even consider following the salad with a vegetable-based soup course, like one made with seasonal squash, and seasoning such as nutmeg.

Even then, make vegetable side dishes at least the co-star of the main course. (See box for one of our favorite holiday side dish suggestions.) Now is the time to roast your vegetables, which brings out their natural sweetness while better retaining nutrients otherwise left behind in the boiling water.

If you leave off the marshmallows and butter, traditional sweet potatoes bring plenty of healthy nutrition to your holiday table. You’ll find several varieties in the supermarket, including “yams” that are actually sweet potatoes, too. All are excellent sources of vitamin A, potassium, dietary fiber and vitamin C. You’ll also get magnesium, phosphorus, choline, iron and calcium – and just 180 calories per cup of cooked sweet potato. You can bake sweet potatoes whole, much like white potatoes, or cut into bite-sized cubes, toss with a little oil and spices, and roast with other seasonal vegetables on a baking sheet at 425 degrees. Stir occasionally and cook until deeply browned and soft.

If you prefer traditional white potatoes, substitute buttermilk for the butter and cream in your mashed potatoes and reduce the portion size. Or try roasting baby potatoes that are now available in a rainbow of colors – a sign that they are rich in pigment phytonutrients.

Your Thanksgiving cranberries also start out as healthy choices. In addition to dietary fiber and vitamins A, C and E, cranberries are among the richest source of phytonutrients such as anthocyanins, ellagic acid and quercetin. Unfortunately, the standard cranberry sauce recipe on the back of the bag adds a whole cup of sugar to each 12-ounce bag of berries, so a half-cup serving tops 200 calories. You can keep your cranberry sauce more tangy by adding less sugar, as well as working cranberries into different holiday recipes where other fruits can help sweeten them or they add a tart touch to savory foods. (Don’t bother substituting other natural sweeteners, such as honey or agave syrup, for white sugar in your cranberry sauce: All sugars affect your body – and your waistline – similarly.)

TURKEY TIME: The traditional centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner – turkey – can actually be a nutrition-smart choice, too. Skinless turkey provides more protein for the amount of calories than almost any other meat – 23 to 26 grams of protein with just 120 to 140 calories per three ounces, depending on the piece. Turkey is also a good source of iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorus and B vitamins. And turkey has no more than 1.5 grams of saturated fat per three ounces, comparable to lean pork or beef.

Skip turkeys that have been injected with “solutions” – mostly salt and water – that add extra sodium; look out for label terms such as “enhanced” or “self-basting.” (Due to ritual, traditional Kosher turkeys are treated with salt and hence, have sodium contents similar to “self-basting.”) When preparing, roast the traditional way or try turkey on the grill, but don’t fall for the deep-fried turkey fad. Come serving time, discard the skin and let your guests decide how much or how little gravy (see our recipe) to add themselves – or skip the gravy and lightly drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Smartly prepared and served, in fact, turkey can be such a healthy holiday choice that you should consider it for meals besides Thanksgiving. It has about a third the calories of a beef rib roast, for example, which also delivers 10 grams of saturated fat per three ounces. If spiral-sliced ham is your go-to Christmas entre, substituting turkey this year could save you nearly 800 milligrams of sodium. Opting for turkey instead of brisket cuts your saturated-fat intake by about three-quarters.

Can’t eat a whole turkey? Have your butcher cut a whole bird in half and freeze one portion for later in the season. Or carve half the turkey and then freeze the rest in meal-size portions. Turkey breasts and tenderloins are economical choices, too. (See this issue’s recipe for making a boneless turkey breast the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving.)

Also consider having fish, like salmon, instead of turkey or at least as a second choice.

Your decisions about the dressing served with the turkey can also make your feast healthier. If choosing to make a standard bread-based dressing, opt for whole-grain bread, use less, and boost the portions of onions, celery, mushrooms, carrots or other root vegetables. Try adding nuts and fruits such as those extra cranberries, apples, raisins and other dried fruits diced small. Minimize the butter and choose instead liquid vegetable oil (such as canola, soybean or virgin olive oil) for sauting and low-fat, reduced-sodium broth for moistening.

Or try thinking outside the bread box. Wild rice, barley, farro, millet and other whole grains can turn into hearty non-bread dressings and stuffings, augmented with aromatic vegetables, mushrooms, nuts and fruits – and turn you into a new culinary star for the holidays.

PORTION POWER: Whatever your holiday menus, keeping your seasonal eating healthy also means practicing portion control. In our examples above, we cited a three-ounce serving of turkey – but most Americans dish up two or three times that much all year long and especially at holiday time.

A “serving” is the amount of food recommended in consumer education materials such as MyPlate <www.choosemyplate.gov> or used in Nutrition Facts labeling. A “portion” is the amount of a food you choose to eat at any one time – which may be more or less than a serving but is typically more.

The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics <www.eatright.org> offers these tips to help visualize proper portion sizes:

– 3 ounces of meat is the size of a deck of cards

– 1 teaspoon of butter is the size of one dice

– 1 cup of pasta is the size of a baseball

– 11/2 ounces of cheese is the size of four stacked dice

– 1/2 cup of fresh fruit is the size of a tennis ball.

When cooking at home for the holidays, dish up the recommended serving to each member of the family. Leave the leftovers in the kitchen rather than putting on the table, so second helpings require a bit more effort. Refrigerate leftovers promptly after the meal, both to prevent foodborne illness and to discourage after-dinner snacking.

CALORIES AND “CHEER”: What you drink with your holiday meals also matters. A study titled “What America Drinks” reported that Americans consume 22% of their total calories in liquid form. That percentage can easily rise during the holidays, whether from wassail or eggnog or just an extra glass of “cheer.” Calories from beverages don’t fill you up as much as solid food, so you can drink your calories and still have plenty of room for a big meal.

Keep in mind that a glass of wine contains about 120 calories. That’s not a huge indulgence, but several glasses can add up to a significant share of the total calories you should consume in an entire day, while loosening your resistance to unhealthy holiday fare. After that first glass, keep your glass filled with seltzer so there isn’t any opportunity to have it refilled with alcohol.

Seltzer, club soda or sparkling mineral water can also be added to equal parts white wine to make festive spritzers with only half the alcohol and calories per glass.

Avoid truly indulgent seasonal beverages like eggnog (about 220 calories per cup) or hot buttered rum. That buttery alcoholic drink packs about 300 calories per eight ounces, along with more than seven grams of saturated fat. Lichtenstein adds, “If this drink is one of the things you look forward to all year, consider picking one event during which you will have a half-serving and feel good about exercising restraint.”

SAVVY SOCIALIZING: Parties make it especially difficult not to overdo it during the holidays, combining alcoholic beverages with a seemingly endless array of salty, starchy hors d’oeuvres and sugary treats.

You might think it’s a good idea to skip regular meals before attending a party, to “bank” calories. But Roberts says it’s actually smarter to stick to your normal meal schedule on a party day. Before you go, eat a healthy, high-fiber snack like raw vegetables, nuts or fruit to take the edge off your appetite.

Parties – especially dinner events – are also challenging because as a guest you’re ceding control over the menu to your host, who may be more interested in tempting and impressing you than in serving nutritionally sound choices. You can take back control of at least part of the menu by offering to bring a dish and making it a healthy one. Your host will appreciate the help and you’ll know you have something good-for-you to eat.

Holiday parties are also a smart time to suddenly, even if temporarily, become a vegetarian. While white bread, potatoes and vegetarian dishes like quiche can be just as unhealthy as those with meat, you’ll avoid many meaty temptations. With more people opting to adopt vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diets these days, your host is likely to already plan to accommodate these guests. Why not join them?

At the party, don’t be one of those guests who stays planted by the buffet table. Stand more than an arm’s length away from the food and snack bowls, Roberts suggests, so you aren’t unconsciously reaching for more while you chat. “Multiple research studies have shown that the proximity of food determines how much you load onto your plate,” she notes.

At sit-down dinner parties, keep the less-healthy foods and alcohol moving down the table away from you. Make sure the least-healthy but sometimes most-tempting platters don’t end up within easy reach.

When you do indulge a little, remember Roberts’ rule: “Never eat a treat alone. Always eat your treat accompanied by a healthy food. For example, if your treat is chips, try eating them with a yogurt dip and some red-pepper slices and celery.”

GET PHYSICAL: Even as the holidays tempt you to forget your healthy-eating goals, the busy period from Thanksgiving through New Year’s plus the arrival of winter weather in much of the country can put a dent in your best-laid plans to stay physically active. The result can be a double whammy of extra calories in a sedentary season.

Jennifer M. Sacheck, PhD, an associate professor in Tufts’ Friedman School who specializes in studying physical activity, offers these tips for keeping active even during the holidays:

– Don’t blame your lack of activity on the weather.

– Plan for an “event” that will keep you motivated – snow-shoeing with the family, a cross-country ski excursion, swimming laps with friends at the local YMCA, weight lifting with a trainer, learning yoga, etc.

– Don’t exercise to eat – eat to exercise. “That is, don’t indulge and then try to work it off, but think about eating to fuel your body for physical activity.”

– Exercise to look and feel healthy at all of the holiday parties – “whether that is putting on a sleeveless dress, bragging about your latest physical activity endeavor, wearing a tighter belt, or simply glowing because you are eating well and exercising.”

– “Mall walking is not a bad idea!”

Park at the far end of the parking lot to get in some walking before you reach a store. Use a trip to the mall as an opportunity to enjoy a brisk walk, out of the elements, before you start actually shopping.

You can also spotlight fitness-related gifts on your holiday wish list. Fitness trackers and other pedometer-type gizmos, exercise equipment, hand weights, gym memberships, workout clothes and even headphones to keep you entertained while you exercise all make great gifts.

Other gifts can make it easier to prepare healthy meals. Consider a kitchen scale, nonstick or cast-iron pans that minimize the need for added fats, a salad spinner, a vacuum food sealer to store and freeze right-sized portions, even spices and low-sodium jarred sauces that can make meals taste great with less salt.

When the presents are all unwrapped, you’ll already have a head start on a fresh batch of nutrition-smart and fitness-focused resolutions for 2017.