One of the biggest worries that many people have over the holiday season is not what to get that special someone for Christmas or where you are going to let your guests that are staying with you over the holidays sleep, but how to keep off the pounds over the holidays.
A great way to keep off extra weight over the holidays is by fixing healthy Christmas dishes to replace fattening foods that normally populate Christmas dinner tables during the holidays. You might laugh at the idea of healthy Christmas food, but it might surprise you how many healthy substitutes there are to your favorite dishes.
Gelatin
Flavored Gelatin is a wonderful substitute for fattening chocolate dishes and puddings. Most gelatins have less than 50 calories per serving, some of them have almost none! Best of all, gelatin comes in a variety of flavors, such as lemon, orange, lime, raspberry, and other delicious fruit flavors. If you make really good gelatin, your family won’t even ask about what happened to those fattening brownies.
More Vegetables
Vegetables are fairly well known for having a place at the Christmas dinner table, however they sometimes don’t get a big enough space at the table. This next Christmas dinner, try to fix more vegetables to take the place of other fattening dishes. Carrots, green beans, spinach, broccoli, corn and cauliflower are popular choices.
Another great choice for a side is a garden salad. Salads are very low in calories and can be topped with low calorie dressings, such as a vinaigrette.
Fruit
It is surprising to see how little fruit makes it to the table for Christmas dinner. Fruit can be a very sweet substitute for deserts and only contain a small fraction of the calories. Fruit can also be paired with small portions of cottage cheese to create a scrumptious holiday dish. Some great fruits that you can prepare for your Christmas dinner include peaches, pears, apples, oranges, strawberries, and blueberries, just to name a few.
Low Calorie or No Calorie Drinks
A lot of people like Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate during the holiday season, and that includes Christmas dinner. These drinks are high in calorie content, though. So why not substitute other tasty hot and cold drinks, such as coffee, tea, water, or small servings of soda?
Make sure you have a happy and healthy holiday season – prepare wholesome foods for you and your whole family.
Gabriel Adams is a writer for www.smartgiftshopper.com where he shares yankee swap gift ideas and other holiday tips.
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