Healthy Food Chart

Part of the holiday challenges is food preparation. Even cookie batter may taunt us! Here are some suggestions to get you through some of the temptations:

-Bake or cook early in the day when your resolve is high and after a full meal when you aren't hungry.
-Get support of someone who has the same eating challenges. You may want to consider cooking together if feasible.
-If you can, decide on recipes that aren’t your particular favorites.
-If cookies or sweets are for gifts, package them as soon as possible after baking. Freeze any that aren’t going to be given away promptly. If they are for home usage, consider wrapping individual servings for portion control in a Ziploc bag.
-Plan on having low-carb and low-fat meals the rest of the day to compensate for any extra calories consumed.
-Prioritize exercising the day you bake to burn off any extra calories.
-Chew gum while you bake to avoid excessive "tasting"/snacking. (I actually had a client who literally taped her mouth shut to avoid this problem!)
-Sit down, enjoy, and savor each bite of what you deliberately decide to eat.
-If you are the type that cannot help going overboard while baking, consider holiday breads, which you give away whole and therefore can't sample.
-If you have to taste at all, have someone else do it for you or taste just a small amount.
-Or, just don’t bake at all.  Purchase your favorite baked items.

Lastly, my mantra of the season, remember moderation!

Readers how do you handle holiday cooking and baking temptations?