College Cooking: Healthy Holiday Eating

With holiday season in full swing, our hectic schedules, holiday baking, and sneaking one too many treats may
leave people a few pounds heavier come New Years. Well, it doesn’t have to be that way! Here are some simple ways to cut out unnecessary calories during the holidays without missing out on any delicious food.
 
Cut the fats in half!You don’t have to skip the stuffing, mashed potatoes or your favorite holiday cake, but with every tablespoon of butter you omit from the recipe, you also cut 100 calories. By using other flavor boosters (like spices, Greek yogurt, scallions, etc.), you won’t even know it’s missing!
 
Be aware of your appetizers.
Swap out your sour cream and mayonnaise-based dips for non-fat yogurt and snacks of veggies like roasted zucchini and artichokes instead of high-fat cheeses like brie. Just by making these changes you can knock off over 200 calories.
 
Make a topper trade-off.Can’t enjoy a pie if its not a la mode? Can’t enjoy mashed potatoes without a dollop
of sour cream or sprinkle of cheddar cheese? By using sorbet or frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, you can cut almost half the fat without compromising any flavor! Also, instead of sour cream and cheese, try topping your mashed potatoes with Greek yogurt, or a tablespoon of part-skim cheese (ricotta and mozzarella work well). Both of these options contain much less fat, but still lend their salty and creamy flavor.
 
Be portion aware.Try to read labels and recipes and learn what the recommended servings and portions are.
Eating smaller portions is one of the easiest ways to cut back on your calorie intake while still enjoying food you love eating—and you can do it without obsessively relying on measuring cups and scales. Try to mostly fill up on lean proteins and vegetables so that you can consume smaller amounts of carbs, fats and sugars.
 
Get cooking!By making your favorite foods at home instead of buying them at a restaurant, you can control
the amount of fat, sugar, and salt in your food. Restaurant food is substantially more caloric than the same homemade dishes. With tons of unneeded fats used by restaurant chefs, take the matter into your own hands and whip yourself up a delicious meal.
 
And don’t forget the best tip of all if you want to indulge in the holiday feasting: exercise. Getting at least 30 minutes of cardio three times a week will jump start your metabolism and help your body burn any additional calories. Hopefully these tips will teach you how you can have your cake and eat it too!