The Christmas Diet Plan is the unofficial term for all of the diet techniques you’re going to try to follow this holiday season. It’s not an official diet – but it can certainly help you lose weight.
What is the Christmas Diet Plan?
The Christmas Diet Plan isn’t a formal thing. It’s not even a proper noun – so we’ll stop capitalizing it.
Instead, the Christmas diet plan is a collection of strategies and tips you can use to lose weight (or at least avoid gaining weight) this holiday season.
By adopting a few basic diet strategies, you can avoid the infamous holiday weight gain. How should you plan your diet this holiday season? Let’s take a look at some of the most popular tips and strategies people just like you are implementing this year.
Understand the Dangers of Over-Indulgence
Research shows that people typically consume around 7,000 calories, on average, on Christmas Day. That’s 3500 to 4000 more calories than your body needs. It’s also enough to cause you to gain about one pound of extra weight.
That same study showed that people didn’t even know they over-indulged. When asked how much they ate, these people estimated they consumed less than half those calories on Christmas Day – which goes to show you that people have trouble tracking their over-indulgence.
To put those 7,000 calories in perspective, it would take 10 hours of running, seven hours of cycling (at more than 20mph), 8 hours of stair climbing, or 12 hours of skipping to burn off that 7,000 calorie load.
Obviously, life’s short, and there’s nothing wrong with over-indulging on one day during the holidays. However, most families don’t just celebrate on Christmas Day. You might have similar celebrations on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day (also known as “the day after Christmas” in America), and New Year’s Eve.
Remember: it’s easy to eat a few thousand extra calories in one day. It’s much harder to lose that weight in the future. Make sure you limit your over-indulgence – or at least understand how much extra time you’re going to have to spend on the treadmill after eating that 2nd slice of pumpkin pie.
The Most Dangerous Christmas Foods for your Christmas Diet
Certain holiday foods are notorious weight loss. You’re probably aware that beverages like egg nog are packed with calories and fats. However, that’s not the only dangerous food for your diet.
Here are some of the other foods and calorie counts you should be aware of this holiday season:
Appetizers
-Nachos with Beef: 430 calories per serving (6.9 oz, or about 10 to 15 nachos)
-Spinach Artichoke Dip: 286 calories per serving
-Potato Chips: 620 calories per 1/2 of an 8 ounce bag
-Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips (like Doritos): 300 calories per 22 chips
-Chicken Wings: 616 calories per 6 wings
Beverages
-Champagne: 133 calories per glass
-Mulled Wine: 119 calories per glass
-Baileys: 130 calories per shot (30mL)
-White Russian / Kahlua: 567 calories per 8 ounces
-Wine: 130 calories per glass (red and white is about the same, although white has slightly more)
-Whisky: 120 calories per 50mL
-Beer: 170 (lagers) to 210 (Guinness/stouts) per pint
-Port: 160 calories per 100mL
-Egg Nog: 344 calories per 1 cup (8 fl oz)
Christmas Dinner
-Roast Turkey: 101 calories per slice
-Roast Beef: 213 calories per slice
-Turkey Leg: 417 calories per leg
-Skinless Turkey Breast: 305 calories per 8 ounces
-Honey Glazed Ham: 120 calories per slice
-Dinner Bread Rolls: 233 calories per role
-Stuffing: 123 calories per tight ball
-Roast Potato: 200 calories per potato (up to 300 calories in larger potatoes)
-Mashed Potato: 237 per cup (7.4 ounces)
-Vegetables: 20 calories per serving
Dessert
-Pumpkin Pie: 279 calories per slice (1 slice of an 8 inch pie, or around 4.7 oz)
-Pecan Pie: 532 calories per slice (1 slice of an 8 inch pie, or around 4.7 oz)
-Sugar Cookies: 340 calories per 4 cookies
The Best Tips for your Christmas Diet
So far, we’ve talked about the doom and gloom of Christmas dieting. We get it: you eat more during the holidays, and the foods you eat aren’t good for you.
So how about some positive thinking? Here are some of the best tips and tricks to make sure your Christmas diet goes according to plan:
The Obvious Tips
We’ll get the obvious stuff out of the way first. The best way to stick with your Christmas diet plan is to not eat or drink as much during Christmas.
Obviously, you should still try to enjoy Christmas. It only happens once a year. So instead of being a Grinch and avoiding eating or drinking anything, try swapping out your foods and beverages with healthier options. At the very least, you should avoid the biggest calorie culprits.
Be Smarter About What You Eat
The average person consumes 6,000 to 7,000 calories on Christmas Day. With a few smart choices, you can easily knock 2,000 calories or more off that total while still having a great Christmas dinner.
-Eat vegetables as an appetizer instead of chicken wings, potato chips, and other calorie-rich options. “Eat more vegetables” is a winning strategy for any weight loss plan, but it’s particularly important at Christmas dinner. If you fill up on vegetables early in the evening, you’re going to eat less later in the evening.
-Eat turkey for Christmas dinner, if possible. It’s the best of the three main “Christmas meats” (roast beef and ham being the other two). Turkey is low in fat, high in protein, and contains fewer calories per slice than the other meats (it even contains fewer calories per slice than chicken). Three to four slices of roasted turkey (with no skin) is approximately 300 calories.
-Avoid gravy. Gravy is an easy way to pack extra calories onto your plate. Yes, it’s tasty and adds a lot to your meal – but it can also add a lot to your waistline. If you absolutely don’t want to give up gravy, then you can certainly make healthy gravity. The BBC posted two healthy gravy recipes, including a make-ahead vegetable gravy (84 calories), or a red wine gravy that can be prepared in just 10 minutes (35 calories). Both are designed to be poured over meat.
-Choose vegetables as your sides when possible. Whether you’re cooking Christmas dinner or letting someone else cook, there will be plenty of tempting sides – including roast potatoes, bread rolls, and other carb and calorie-rich foods. Limit your intake of these sides, and switch to vegetables sides instead.
Make Smarter Drinking Choices
Food is only half the weight gain battle at Christmas dinner. If your family’s Christmas dinners are like most Christmas dinners, then alcohol is unavoidable (and even recommended).
Alcohol, to nobody’s surprise, is packed with calories. Sweet holiday cocktails – like rum and egg nog or mimosas – aren’t exactly healthy for you.
But we’d hate for you to be totally sober during Christmas dinner. With that in mind, here are some “healthy” drinks for Christmas Day:
-Light Beer: Yes, it tastes like water. Yes, your uncle will make fun of you for drinking it. But hey, it’s got fewer carbs and calories – so you’ll be laughing all the way to the gym.
-Use Soda Water or Sparkling Water as Mix: Drinking rum and cokes? Mixing soda with other spirits? Adding a little water (sparking or still water) is a great way to limit your calorie consumption while still drinking a full-sized beverage. Besides, you don’t need all that sugar. Alternatively, you could just drink straight whisky without the soda, or straight whisky with water.
-Avoid Diet Soda: There aren’t many studies showing that diet soda can lead to weight loss. However, if you are drinking soda, then you may be tempted to switch to the calorie-free versions. Unfortunately, most research shows this is counter-intuitive. Diet soda messes up signaling pathways in your brain, preventing your body from telling your brain that it’s full. That’s a dangerous thing any day of the year – but on Christmas Day, when you have plenty of snacks in front of you, it’s extra dangerous. Your best option is to not drink soda at all. However, if you do drink soda, you may consume fewer calories in the long run by drinking full-sugar soda. Sounds weird, but it can work.
-Low Fat Egg Nog: Egg nog has ridiculous calorie and fat totals. Fortunately, there are healthier options on store shelves. Switch to the low fat or reduced fat egg nog if possible. It’s still far from healthy, but it’s healthier.
Start Working Out Today to Boost your Christmas Diet Plan
The holidays are a time to relax and enjoy the festivities. However, nobody is going to blame you if you sneak off for 20 to 60 minutes for a quick workout.
Getting some cardio in on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or Boxing Day puts a dent in your caloric intake for the day. A fast 20 minute workout can burn 300 to 400 calories, or even more if you’re doing high intensity workouts.
Ultimately, you don’t need a lot of time to burn a lot of calories. Go for a quick run in the morning, before everybody starts drinking and eating and feeling bloated. You’ll thank yourself later.
By following the tips, tricks, and strategies listed above, you can stick to your Christmas diet plan and make your New Year’s weight loss resolution that much easier to stick to.
