Although the holidays are a fun time of year they are also a very stressful time of year! 45 percent of Americans say they would prefer skipping the entire season because of financial pressure. Most Americans feel that the stress really starts to build around December 13th, grows worse through December 18th and peaks on Christmas Day.
The holidays are a time of celebration, and assuming you do NOT have a problem with alcohol and can drink responsibly, it is okay to imbibe! The key to not getting fat from alcohol is to understand the calorie and carb content of alcoholic beverages and plan your intake ahead of time in terms of exactly what you chose to drink and how much you have.
All alcoholic beverages tend to drive insulin production so they are a big no, no for diabetics and other people taking certain medications. ALWAYS check for drug and alcohol interactions before drinking any alcoholic beverage.
It is also important to understand that in addition to the alcohol content itself alcoholic beverages are often full of sugar which further drives insulin and fat production. The good news is that there ARE alcoholic beverages that are much lower in sugar/carb and calories.
Champagne
One of the best deals for a low carb holiday beverage is champagne! Champagnes have the lowest carb and calorie content of any wine so are a great choice – particularly dryer champagnes. A 4-ounce serving contains just 1.6 grams of carb and only 84 calories making Champagne the best choice for holiday cheer!
Common White Wines
After Champagnes the next best choice is white wines (NOT including ANY dessert wines!)
Per 5 Ounce Serving Size:
Chardonnay - 120 calories and 3.43 grams of carb
Sauvignon
Blanc – 120 calories and 3 grams of carb
Reisling – 120
calories and 5.54 grams of carb
Pinot Grigio
– 122 calories and 3 grams of carb
Common Red Wines
Merlot – 118 calories and 4 grams of carb
Cabernet
Sauvignon – 130 calories and 3.82 grams of carb
Burgundy –
122 calories and 5.46 grams of carb
Pinot Noir –
116 calories and 4 grams of carb
Shiraz – 116
calories and 3.79 grams of carb
Low Carb Beers
Bud Select 55 – 55 calories with only 1.9 grams of carb
Miller64 –
64 calories with 2.4 grams of carb
Michelob
Ultra – 95 calories with 2.62 grams of carb
Becks
Premier Light – 64 Calories with 3.2 grams of carb
Miller Light
– 96 calories with 3.2 grams of carb
Amstel Light
– 95 calories with 5 grams of carb
Coors Light
– 102 calories with 5 grams of carb
Bud Light –
110 calories with 6.6 grams of carb
Mixed Drinks
Liquor such as gin, vodka, scotch and rum, but are full of calories and to some extent act as a “super” carb driving insulin and hunger. That being said they do not contain any carb whatsoever so as long as you mix them with no sugar/calorie mixers you can keep your carb and calorie intake somewhat under control.
One of the best choices is Vodka and Soda Water with Lime or Lemon coming in with zero carbs and about 100 calories! Other examples are whiskey and diet coke, Seagrams 7 and Diet 7-up, Rum and diet cola, or Spiced Rum and Diet Ginger Ale.
What to avoid!
Watch those mixers when it comes to mixed drinks – most standard mixers such as all sodas, fruit juices, and tonic are full of sugar unless you use the diet versions. All your Caribbean and Tropical drinks such as Pina Coladas, Daiquiris, Mai Tai’s, and Margaritas, etc. are chock full of sugar and calories.
Set a Budget for Your Intake!
Set a budget on your intake of alcoholic beverages and actually keep track as you drink them making a point of knowing how much you have had each hour. Remember each beer, glass of wine, and mixed drink takes one hour to process for the average male (and longer for females) so anything above 1 per hour is getting you inebriated at some level.
In addition to budgeting your intake drink a glass of non-alcoholic, no calorie beverage such as water or club soda for each drink/beer/glass of wine you have to slow yourself down and stay hydrated.
If you want to catch a buzz drink your limit and switch to all non-alcoholic beverages for 2 – 4 hours before driving.
Even better – get a designated driver or use Uber or Lyft for travel to and from Holiday Parties!
‘Tis the season again – we are entering that infamous Thanksgiving through New Years stretch where the average American will gain 8 – 12lbs! One of the main reasons for this is that we get out of our normal routines for both exercise and diet. It is even more challenging if you are travelling during this season because you are out of your home and have less control over your exercise and eating habits.
However, where there is a will there is a way. Here are some key tips to prevent weight gain during travel:
Plan your meals and your exercise. This is probably the most important tip because with a little planning you CAN eat healthy and get in your exercise.
2. Start by looking at your travel schedule and
planning your meals during travel. We
all know how lousy the food is on an airline so instead of being subjected to
the lousy and unhealthy food bring your own. In many airports today, there are plenty of healthy options that you can
purchase and carry on the plane. Great
options include:
a.
Nuts – see below
b.
Ready to drink shakes like Muscle Milk (even
starting to see this in an organic option in airports!).
c.
Nutrition bars – see below
d.
Hard boiled eggs
e.
Salads with chicken
3. Even better buy non-perishable food before you
leave home. Excellent choices for
meals and snacks that are easy to travel with include:
a.
Nuts – come in cans and pouches with smaller
packages being ideal because while nuts are healthy they are high in fats and
even healthy fats have lots of calories!
No honey glazed and if you need to be concerned about salt stick with
unsalted, roasted nuts. Best choices
include pecans and walnuts and brazil nuts followed by almonds, then peanuts
and cashews in terms of sugar content.
b.
Nutrition bars – there are a ton of healthier
bar choices now, and they have actually figured out how to make a healthy bar
that tastes pretty darned good without a ton of sugar that have high levels of
fiber, healthy fats, and protein.
Several variety of Kind bars fit this bill including Dark Chocolate and
Sea Salt; Caramel Almond and Sea Salt; and Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Pecan. These bars taste great and will satisfy you
and travel well.
c.
Ready to mix shakes – there are many great
options for shakes that are low in sugar and high in protein that taste great
and come in packets that are easy to mix in a plastic shake bottle after you
add water. Gone are the days where
these options must be blended in a blender.
Experiment a bit and you can find shakes that come in single serve
packets that mix quite well in a plastic shaker bottle.
d.
If you are driving, consider bringing some
pre-made meals in a cooler that are either ready to eat cold or can easily be
microwave or baked when you arrive.
When you bring some of your own food and healthy desserts you know you
will have good options!
4. Focus on a great breakfast because you can get
eggs in every town in America both at restaurants and in people’s homes. Eggs are fantastic meal that really
satisfies, and they can be prepared in many different ways. Starting the day off with 2 – 3 whole eggs
along with some sautéed vegetables, some cheese and some berries will keep your
hunger at bay and provide a healthy meal that is easy to come by!
5. Get your exercise in! Plan before you leave – worst case you can
use resistance bands and get a great workout in a very small physical space
such as a hotel room. For resistance bands and workouts with them check out www.resistancebandtraining.com
For a great bodyweight workout try this one: https://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-three-best-bodyweight-exercise.html
6. Go for a walk and check out the neighborhood or go see some nearby sites. Sitting on your butt all day while food is being prepared all around you is asking for trouble! Get up and get out and active for part of the day or offer to do some shopping for the group or pitch in with some of the physical chores if you are staying at someone’s home.
To put this in perspective it is very easy to eat upwards of 4,500 calories if you really go crazy and pay no attention to portion size, how many portions you are eating, and what you are eating. Given that the average person burns somewhere around 2,000 calories per day it means that you would have to fast for more than two days to get rid of this entire holiday binge!
On the other hand, let’s take a look at a more restrained (yet enjoyable) Thanksgiving Meal by looking at everything you would eat, how many calories each item contains, and how long it would take to burn off with specific exercises. At 2,445 calories this is very big meal, BUT if you only ate this one meal in a day the typical American is only eating 445 calories past their average daily calorie burn of 2,000 calories.
3 pigs in a blanket – 150 calories – 15 minutes – walking at
a moderate speed for 15 – 20 minutes
1oz brie cheese – 95 calories – Ice skating continuously for
12 minutes
4oz Sweet Potato – 187 calories – 45 minutes of weight
lifting
½ cup Green Bean Casserole – 227 calories – 18 minutes of
jumping rope
1 glass of wine – 125 calories – 10 minutes of burpees
¼ cup cranberry sauce – 102 calories – 20 minutes of cycling
outside
3.5 oz white meat turkey with skin – 177 calories – 20
minutes of touch football
½ cup gravy – 25 calories – 3 minutes of jumping jacks
½ cup stuffing – 195 calories – 25 minutes of swimming
1 cup mashed potatoes – 237 calories – 1 hour of canoeing
3 by 3 inch square cornbread – 198 calories – 25 minutes of
stair climbing
Green Bean Casserole – 227 calories – 30 minutes of walking
at a moderate pace
Pecan Pie Slive (1/8 of pie) = 500 calories – 1 hour of ice
skating
