Christmas Eating Tips

With all the Christmas parties we are going to, I thought these tips on over eating would help!!

These 10 steps have helped people lose at least 20 lbs in six months. Amazing how much changing how we do things changes the results.

1. Include a fruit and a vegetable with your lunch and dinner
2. Don't eat white foods at dinner.
3. Use the half-plate rule (fill half your plate with salad or veggies).
4. Have a sweet or salty afternoon snack only if you first eat a piece of fresh fruit.
5. Drink one glass of water before every meal or snack.
6. Use the Restaurant Rule of Two: Limit yourself to two items other than your entree.
7. Never eat in front of the TV.
8. Eat a piece of fruit on the way to work every day.
9. Save desserts for weekends.
10. Freeze half of what you make, and serve the other half.

Figure out where your diet danger zones are and rein it in and get it under control or avoid that zone completely until you can.

Meal Stuffing - Stuffers overeat at mealtimes, filling and refilling their plates, perhaps because they haven't eaten much earlier in the day.

Party Binging - Receptions and celebrations are distracting environments for party bingers, who can lose track - or control - of how much they've eaten or drunk.

Desktop/Dashboard Dining - Both desktop diners and dashboard diners are speed eaters. They eat at work or on the go to save time - yet often don't realize how much they've eaten, since they're eating quickly.

Restaurant Indulging - The restaurant indulger eats out often, having dinner away from home at least three nights a week. Research shows that if you're served more (as you usually are at restaurants) you'll automatically eat more.

Snack Grazing - Grazers typically reach for food more from habit than hunger. Maybe it's that 3 p.m. slump, when the offerings in the office vending machine actually look good.

So, where is your diet danger zone? Maybe it's not even on this list.

~~~Latest AARP Magazine 2010