In a festive meal, there is a need to have “eating right” principles. These give us the maximum freedom to enjoy our meal without the fear of putting on extra weight. In this post, I have distilled the wise exhortations from a Health Promotion Board article into five tips.
#1 Avoid attending a feast on an empty stomach
You can take a glass of water or eat a low fat protein snack, eat some cucumber slices, or several cherry tomatoes before you visit or leave for the restaurant.
#2 Choose wisely what you decide to eat
Choose foods that are high in fibre or low-fat protein e.g., chicken, fish, or lean cuts. These would certainly have lower calories gram-for-gram compared to pasta, fried rice, or oily soups. Eat until you are no longer hungry, and not until you feel full.
#3 Drink water, unsweetened tea or coffee instead of calories
Drinking 330 mls of water fills you as much as 330 ml can of soft drink – minus the calories. Unsweetened tea or coffee are alternatives.
#4 Say “later” when you have trouble saying “no”
By saying “later” you postpone your host’s invitation to eat what are high in calories or what you are tempted to eat but what is not good for you, without feeling bad to your host or feeling bad to yourself.
#5 Eat slowly
Eating slowly allows “your body to register that you have had enough so you don’t overeat”. [Ref 1]
Take home messages
Having tips for eating fewer calories will help in avoiding taking excessive calories. With each experience of negotiating with yourself successfully, you will find eating right less and less of a struggle. If you have eaten excessively you have one more avenue to put things right: exercise a bit more to get rid of those extra calories from being stored in your body as visceral fat.
Acknowledgement
Thanks are due to Health Promotion Board, Singapore for the article in reference 1. Thanks are also due to the anonymous photographer for the Unsplash feature photograph.
Reference
- Health Promotion Board, Singapore. Seven Healthy Eating Tips. Accessed 18 Dec 2021. URL: https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/1457/dig-in-everyone