Party wisely, stay healthy

(By Lisa Sarah John, Courtesy Bangalore Times, Dec 25, 2006)

During festive times or on a holiday, managing your food is the biggest challenge. Because these situations are not about one meal, but several days of rich party food. The first step is to decide whether you are on a weight reduction programme or are just maintaining your weight. If you are already working hard and losing weight, I’d advise you to adopt the mindset that you have already tasted these goodies earlier and will continue to do so later. If you just keep those blinkers on this once, it’s the best treat you can give yourself and also boost your self-control.
The second option is to decide to enjoy yourself just once or twice during the celebrations or holiday. Here’s how:
Timing
Fat take 6-8 hours to get digested and therefore it is wiser to indulge at lunch rather than at dinner. If you have a heavy meal at 1 or 2 pm, there is enough time to use up much of those extra calories. However, if you eat heavily at 8 or 9 pm, the digested calories are coming into your blood at 2 or 3 am and there is no way to burn this while you are sleeping. Those calories get converted to fat and stored while you sleep. Similarly, if you are longing to taste some chocolate or dessert, try to taste it during the day and not late at night.
Also, on holidays many people tend to eat a big breakfast, skip lunch and end up eating a heavy dinner. But do eat a good breakfast and lunch and taste the specialties of that place during the day, but be strict at dinner time.
Control the quality
When you look at a table full of goodies or a buffet spread, don’t try everything. Be choosy and spend your calories wisely. Choose the items you like and enjoy what you have chosen.
Control quantity
Ask yourself if you are eating to enjoy the food or bingeing to comfort yourself. You don’t need to overeat till you feel uncomfortable. So if you like the main course, eat two moderate servings of it and just a spoon or two of dessert. If you want to indulge in the dessert, eat one serving of the main course and more of the dessert. Never overeat or indulge at both lunch and dinner in one day and starve the next. You can gain 2-3 kgs in a week of overeating and all your work a weight loss can be ruined in just a few days. Finally, keep your walks going even through the holiday period. If you cannot make it in the morning after a late night, try to squeeze in a walk later in the day. Water too, is a must. It’s cold and you may not feel thirsty, but 2-3 litres a day is a must, all year round.

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