5 Worst Foods to Avoid on Holidays
By Shubham Arora and Nathan Batalion
(HealingTalks) Holidays are exciting. With no great job responsibilities lingering over one’s head, it’s a perfect time to just relax and enjoy feasting with close family and friends. While the coming-together part is amazing, the feasting can leave us with regrets the next day. In our enjoyment of the moment, we may consume far too many calories, including specific foods that can really put a dent in one’s health routine.
Now that the holidays are over, no doubt many of us are regretting our gluttony. Preparing oneself and preventing this from happening next year is the best cure! While an abundance of delicious, calorie-filled foods are always tempting, we can avoid eating to excess.
Here, then, are the 5 typical holiday foods that do the most damage.
Eggnog
Eggnog consists of a cream, eggs, sugar and liquor combination that, while delicious, contains 600-odd calories per cup. You want to enjoy yourself at the annual holiday bash, but caution and self control also need to come into play. You want to enjoy next year’s holidays as well as this one, don’t you?
Mini Quiches
The problem with mini quiches is not their size. It’s that you may not realize after eating a few that you get a humongous 360 calories for every 3 quiches. In fact, it is huge when you consider the average calories intake in a day (2-2500 calories). A good substitute might be a vegetable crudité with a flavorful dip like hummus.
Pecan Pie
Pecan pies always taste delicious. Pecan nuts are generally healthy. But the pie itself contains lots of butter and sugar. Generally only one wedge of pecan pie can have 600 calories. That’s a sin, seriously. To satisfy you craving and sweetness hunger, you can try eating the fruit cakes instead, or check out this raw-some pecan pie recipe!
Mashed Potatoes with Butter
These potatoes don’t seem all that dangerous. Sadly they can be! No holiday meal is complete without a side of potatoes. It is, however, the 400 calories in typical mashed potatoes that build your waist line. If you cannot restrain yourself from the potatoes, try substituting a more healthy vegetarian oil like olive or omega-rich flaxseed oil to the mix. This is a good idea for all five of these otherwise dairy-fat filled dishes.
Cream-Based Soups
Soups generally are wonderful appetizers or an early course for a meal. Warm soups are great to offset chilly winter weather. But if the soups contain cream or whole milk, we have lots of calories and fat content. An alternative would be a vegetable broth with just the right mix of spices. Try mixing your favorite raw veggies in a blender, to the right consistency and just keep adding warm or hot water as needed. Garnish with parsley or cilantro.
There you have it. While you’re working off those extra pounds (the worst holiday gift), remember that there’s a better way to enjoy next year’s festivities.
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Thanks for giving such beneficial and health tips.
It’s really difficult to avoid eating these yummy foods especially when everyone else is doing it.