Here we go again… The holidays are over and it’s a new year. I have to admit… I went hog-wild over the weeks leading up to and over the holidays. I was eating whatever I wanted to eat, going out for restaurant dinners wherever I wanted to go, and enjoying holiday treats and toasts whenever I wanted to! I knew this day would come and now it’s here. It’s time for me to reel it in a bit. It happens every year, and I know I’m not alone.
So, I thought I’d share a few tips on how to easily reel in the holiday binge.
1. Just cut the portion size down a little.
Moderation is everything! The best way I find to do this is to ban second helpings. When I make my dinner plate, I put all the leftovers away in storage containers and into the fridge. Cold second helpings are not as appealing!
2. Cut down on guilty ingredient quantities.
Recipes generally call for more oil, butter, sugar etc… than they need in order for the recipe to work (unless they are specifically written as a light recipe). I write a lot of recipes, and I’m as guilty as the next recipe-writer of having more of the guilty ingredients than you need. When I’m writing a recipe, I’m writing it for flavor. Of course a marinara will taste better with 3 tablespoons to start out with, but you can usually use 1 tablespoon and still have a tasty marinara sauce. So, cut down on the oil, butter, sugar when you’re following recipes (or even when you’re just cooking on your own).
3. Go for leaner versions of ingredients.
Just take things down a step: instead of whole milk, choose 2% or 1% milk; instead of ground beef, try lean ground beef; instead of full fat yogurt, enjoy a fat-free Greek yogurt which has just as creamy a texture. (The only exception I have to this rule is sour cream. I just can’t bear fat-free sour cream and I’d rather just go without!)
4. Try some ingredient substitutions.
Some of the best recipes come from swapping out an ingredient. Think of turkey chili!
- Instead of bacon, try Canadian bacon or turkey bacon or prosciutto
- Instead of sour cream, try yogurt
- Instead of heavy cream, try evaporated skim milk
- Instead of mayonnaise on a sandwich, try mashed avocado
- Instead of a whole egg, try 2 egg whites
- Instead of mayonnaise in a chicken salad, try Greek yogurt
- Instead of ground beef, try a vegetarian protein substitute (I just tried Quorn and I loved it! Surprised myself!)
- Instead of long pasta, try spaghetti squash or thin ribbons of zucchini
- Instead of a beef burger, try ground turkey or chicken
- Instead of mashed potatoes, try mashing some cauliflower
- The list can go on and on…
5. Use lighter cooking techniques.
The lightest cooking techniques are those that don’t involve a lot of oil or butter. So, try steaming, poaching, roasting, broiling. Or, try sautéing foods with just a little chicken or vegetable stock in your skillets instead of oil. After sauteing in this method, you can make braises easily too without involving oils. Of course, pressure-cooking can also be a GREAT way to cook without oils and butters and the flavors are amazing!
6. Use fresh herbs and dried spices to boost your flavors.
This is sort of key to my reeling in the binge program. Because you’re cutting down on some of the ingredients that you love, you need to make sure meals are still tasty, exciting and delicious. Fresh herbs are so easy to throw in at the end of food preparation for a burst of flavor. People ask me how much to put in. I always tell them “put in as much as you think will taste good, and then put in some more”!
None of these suggestions are terribly revolutionary, but making small changes can make a difference over time. If your goal is to reel in the holiday binge and feel better about yourself, pick just one or two of these strategies rather than trying to tackle everything at once. Small goals and small victories can lead to bigger things.
Happy New Year!
ML