A guide to getting through the holidays safely

There's more to food than just foodChristmas is also an opportunity to spend time and talk with the people we love, so dedicate time to others, enjoy food and don't give it too much importance.

If you can have a little more free time, use it to do physical activity.

You can eat all the courses from starter to dessert but pay attention to the portions, avoid having seconds.

Attention to before and after lunch or dinner, that is, the moments when we tend to eat a lot without realizing it. I'm talking about aperitifs and/or the end of the meal after dessert. Avoid eating chips, bagels, cheese, etc. with aperitifs, since the meal will be very important. For the same reason, be careful about the fruit and nuts that follow dessert.

Don't keep eating All the time. If you're playing board games, cards, or watching a movie after a meal, don't continue nibbling all the time. Don't constantly incorporate food into your daily activities.

Be careful too to what you drink, avoid sugary drinks and beverages and don't overdo it with alcohol.

If you don't have lunch or dinner with friends or family at the other meal of the day, don't start eating leftovers; move them to another time. To rebalance your day a bit, prepare some dishes just for you. vegetable-based To fill your stomach but not further increase your calorie intake. For example, prepare a creamy cauliflower, radicchio, or zucchini soup, without using oil or fats, and without adding potatoes or other carbohydrates.
Simply sauté some onion in water, steam the vegetables, add a pinch of salt, a little water to taste, spices and/or herbs (e.g., turmeric or nutmeg), and blend everything together.

Manage them well leftoversDon't eat them for a week straight, but portion them out and freeze them if necessary. When eating leftover food from Christmas lunches or dinners, always consider the ingredients it was prepared with and therefore the macronutrients present (carbohydrates, protein type, fats).

Example: if you have some leftover pie, a food composed of: carbohydrate (pasta), protein fat (ragù, cheese), fats (béchamel, butter, oil) you can include it in limited quantities, a slice should be about the size of the palm of your hand and to fill you up you can add a good portion of vegetables before or after, limiting the oil seasoning.
For the other meal of the same day, choose a lean protein (white meat or white fish) with vegetables and your carbohydrate. During the same week, try to avoid cheese and other fatty proteins and include them no more than once a week.

Christmas breakfastIf you have leftover Pandoro or Panettone, use a small portion, half a slice (about 60-70g), for your breakfast. You can also heat it in a pan, or use it as is and add it to a good protein source, such as 0% plain Greek yogurt or white skyr. Add a dusting of cinnamon or bitter cocoa, if you like, and some red fruit (blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries). Sweets are foods that contain sugars (simple carbohydrates) and fats, so they will replace the carbohydrates and fats normally present in your breakfast.

These are some small tips you can try to follow, but the important thing, which I hope for you, is to spend the holidays peacefully and with many pleasant moments shared with the people you love most.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
Dr. Ilaria Boaria