Sláinte – To Your Good Health!
By Maureen B. Keane MS CN

Sláinte’s Holiday Diet

With Halloween over we head into the holidays season with its many temptations. Rather than wait until January 1st to make that resolution to lose weight why not start right now? Lucky for you Sláinte has a fool proof diet that is great for the holiday season. If you have children or teenagers who are overweight, this diet is suitable for them too.

But Sláinte, I hear some of you whine, I don’t need to lose weight. You will after the holidays; everyone gains ten pounds. This diet will help you prevent that weight gain. It has four easy parts.

1. Cut the amount of food you eat by a third and replace what you cut with the low carbohydrate green or colored vegetables. This way you can eat the foods you love only less of them. If you regularly eat dessert, put one third back and replace it with whole fruit. Better yet, skip dessert and have a piece of whole fruit two hours later as a snack. At first literally remove one third of every food you have on the plate. Fill your plate with your usual amount of food and then divide off one third of the potatoes, one third of the meat, one third of the dressing etc., and remove them from your plate. Then add back the same amount of raw or cooked low or no starch vegetables. Buy a book or booklet with the calorie content of foods to help you make your choices.

2. How you eat is as important as what you eat. Eat slowly. This gives your gut time to tell your brain you are eating and gives your brain time to signal back that you are full. Stop eating as soon as you are full even if there is still food on your plate. Throw the food away and next time use smaller portion sizes. If you “clean your plate” when you are not hungry, part of the food will go down the sewer anyway and the other part will end up on your thighs.

3. Plan ahead for holiday parties or get-togethers by “banking” your calories in advance. Cut back on higher calorie foods during the week (this does not include the third you are already cutting) and save them for use over the weekend when you will be eating more.

4. Exercise by walking 10,000 steps a day. An active lifestyle like this is the best way to lose weight. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk instead of drive, and use a manual toothbrush and a manual can opener. How do you know when you have reached 10,000? Sláinte suggests you buy a pedometer—a nifty little device that keeps track of your steps for you.

Everyone should take a balanced multivitamin mineral supplement whether they are on a diet or not. Read the label and chose one that does not contain herbs or large doses of any one vitamin or mineral. Sláinte also suggests that you don’t consume soft drinks. They are little more than liquid candy bars. Drink water or a very low calorie beverage (like tea) in between meals. If you really want to lose weight, add some resistance exercise to build calorie-burning muscle.

That’s it. If your waist or thighs don’t shrink, you are cheating somewhere.

Sláinte!