Tips for Surviving the Holidays Brenda B. Style

So here we are, on the other side of Halloween breathing hard and heavy on the two biggest eating days of the year - Thanksgiving & Christmas. I don’t know about you but we have two of each. We are an inter-cultural family ( I am Hispanic and my husband is a black mid-westerner) so I get the pleasure of participating in and preparing two separate meals in order to make all palates involved happy.

The menu usually looks like this:

• Thanksgiving 1 – at my mom’s or sister’s house – Dominican style – Turkey, arroz con gadules (rice and beans), sweet platanos (plantains), green beans, my sister’s homemade cranberry sauce, maybe salad, flan and pumpkin pie. This year will be even more decadent as my brother, the chef, will be here and adding his own offerings to the mix.

• Thanksgiving 2 – at our house the next day – Southern style – Turkey, homemade mac-n-cheese, greens, cornbread, cornbread dressing, my sister’s leftover cranberry sauce, my sweet potato-pecan pies.

• Christmas 1 – at mom’s or sister’s on Christmas Eve – roasted pork, same sides as above without the cranberry sauce and pastelitos (like empanadas but in a flakey pastry).

• Christmas 2- at our house on Christmas day – open house style – brunch – Hawaiian Bread French Toast with thick bacon and scrambled eggs; early dinner – prime rib, garlic mashed potatoes, Brussel sprouts , asparagus and bread pudding.

Now these menus don’t include all the eggnog, home-made cookies (baked by hubby and kids), spiced apple cider, candy canes and anything else that ends up in our house. Now here is the kicker – I eat EVERYTHING! Guess how much I gained last year? I lost 2 pounds!
How? Easy. This is the perfect time to learn how to bake your cake (pie) and eat it, too, without dieting! (I hate that word and refuse to do it.) Here are the rules of engagement from now until forever:

1 – Get your heart rate up first thing in the morning for 20-30 minutes. Talk a brisk walk, do a video, anything to get your engines revved up for the day, every day.

2 - Keep blood sugars stable by:

• A - ALWAYS have a protein on the plate. Notice my pies are sweet potato-pecan. By adding the pecans I added protein so I don’t get blood sugar spikes. Choose the cookies with the nuts, have cheese with the crackers or fruit. Don’t just stand there and pop grapes by themselves.

• B – One carb a at time. You know you are having seconds so get mac-n-cheese the first time then dressing the second time. Make a turkey sandwich with the rolls as an in between meal snack, add some lettuce or even a little pre-tossed salad will taste great but don’t have all three in one sitting. Again, keep blood sugar stable.

• C - Eat in three to four hour increments – this keeps your metabolism burning all day. So you burn what you eat before eating again.

3 - Stay hydrated. Drink a glass of water for every glass of anything else you drink especially alcohol. Dehydration is often confused for hunger. Being properly hydrated will keep you from over eating at each sitting.

4 – Slow down – it takes 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain that you are full. (That is why you don’t usually realize you have overeaten until after you are done.) By eating more slowly you automatically eat less – if you pay attention and stop that is! Besides, eating more slowly allows you to actually TASTE all that good food so your mouth is happy, too.

That’s it. Simple yet profound. I say, what’s the point of celebrations without good food and friends to enjoy them with? So enjoy, but don’t make yourself sick in the process. If you can master this during the holidays, you can make room for a different New Years’ Resolution and never have to utter that “d” word again.

Have a great Holiday!
Brenda B. Smith

Follow me on Twitter @brendabsmith1