Holiday is in the air. Finally you can get away from those tormenting routine at work or campus and enjoy your life. Holiday is identical with vacation and of course, lots of tempting foods and beverages.
As year-end holiday usually lasts for more than a week, you can do whatever you want, including eating. You may think that holiday from must-to-do activities means holiday from diet. In holiday, people on diet probably want to loosen their strict way of eating a bit. But be careful. You can promise to yourself that today is the last day you eat sweet cakes and fats. But the next day when you walked around for Christmas shopping, you stopped at that pizza restaurant. Then your mind racing, reminding you that it’s been nearly a year you haven’t eaten pizza with spicy topping and mozarella.
Your diet has been ruined. Two days before you get back to work and tried your daily pants and blouses, you felt like they shrinked. It’s not the clothes that shrinked, it’s you who are getting fatter in less than 14 days. Feel guilty? It’s a little bit too late. Willy nilly, you will have to go back to the first time when you started diet and exercise program. Starting over is usually hard.
Before it is too late, you had better to read this article about 15 delicious holiday foods which you have to avoid. Delightful foods are like drugs. Once you taste it, even though a bit, you will be addicted and want some more, and more. It is okay for people who cannot be fat. But it threatens people with overweight or health problem.
1. Pot roast
Your eyes may gleam with greed when you see that pot roast on the dining table. Especially when your mom made it specially, with homemade dressings. It smells so nice and delightful.
Pot roast is actually tasty and it is worth to taste. But are you sure you will not be tempted to eat more? It has boneless feature that makes anyone want to give it a try. Its tender meat is deliciously covered with spicy gravy.
However, keep in mind that pot roast has high concentration of non-saturated fat and cholesterol. It is better to alternate pot roast with mushroom sandwich, for instance.
2. Beef Wellington
This fillet steak coated with pâté and duxelles unquestioningly makes people want to spend the whole night eating. When it is well-cooked and served, Beef Wellington can be the superstar at diner party.
It is okay to taste some cut of beef wellington. But make sure that you won’t eat more beef. Beef wellington, like pot roast, is rich with fat, calorie, and cholesterol. People with heart problem, obesity, or people undergoing diet phase should well notice about the fact.
3. Chocolate martini
Besides the main course, pay attention to what the beverages are served. Christmas party are often filled with spoiling beverages you rarely consume, like chocolate martini. The combination of chocolate liqueur, vodka, and ice mixed together is a great shot for celebration.
It is unsual for you to have chocolate martini everyday, right? You can assume it is merely a drink and nothing to worry about. But wait as you know the calories in a medium glass of chocolate martini: 438 calories. If you opt for bigger glass, it can be up to 1100 calories. It is okay for naturally thin people. But for you who are on diet, it is such a huge amount, isn’t it?
4. Stuffed potatoes
You may eat it every now and then while going through diet. But being in holiday means that you may meet stuffed potatoes everyday. The sweet and tender texture of potatoes filled with meat dressings and cheese is unbearable.
A piece of stuffed potato consists of 512 kcal. Stuffed potatoes also has 31% of fat. Not to mention its rich carbs. Just imagine if you eat it everyday during holiday. To make everything worse, people in holiday tend to ignore exercise. Unconsciously your weight gained drastically. If you don’t want to lose your ideal weight, it is better to choose healthier food or drink much fresh water to suppress your appetite.
5. Pecan pie
One more holiday temptation is called as pecan pie. Its light sweet taste will make you want for more once you eat a piece. The combination of pecan nuts, buter, eggs, sugar, any variation of syrups, sometimes with chocolate and bourbon is in fact delicious. It is a perfect dish for holiday.
One ounce of pecan pie consists of 412 calories, 33% of fat, 29% of non-saturated fat, and of course, carbs which is usually up to 17%. However, you should not srictly limit your consumption. If you want, you can eat just a crust of pecan pie.
6. Cheese straws
This delightful, crunchy snack is a must in Christmas dish. Remember, it is a snack. So even if you initially only attempted to eat one or two, you might end up in having a can of cheese straws.
Beware of cheese straws. It is better for you to choose fruits like apple to swap away the temptation of eating cheese straws. As its main ingredients are flour and cheese, it is certainly rich in calories, carbs, cholesterol, and fat.
7. Fruitcake
Do not be trapped of the word “fruit.” Cake will be cake, no matter what form it is. Fruitcakes usually comes with either canned or dried fruits so it is not totally healthy in fact. There are rarely fruitcake with fresh fruits.
Unlike the previous avoidable foods, you can eat fruitcake in small portion. One hundred grams of fruitcakes have 324 calories and moderate amount of carbs. The fat is relatively small, about 13% per portion and there is only 1% of cholesterol. Yet you have to notice that it cannot be your excuse to ravenously have fruitcake. A piece or two are enough to quench your hunger.
8. Creamed spinach
Spinach by itself is healthy. It is rich in fiber, vitamins, and iron which is good for diet people. But what about creamed spinach?
It seems like the cream has more proportion than the spinach. You know that the cream comes from cream cheese and milk. It contains lots of fat and calories. The seasoning like onion, butter, garlic, pepper, and salt make the holoiday dish richer with calories. It is okay to eat creamed spinach once during holiday though. It can be alternative to distract your hunger towards high-calorie snacks.
9. Glazed ham
The shiny brownish piece of pork seems too juicy to ignore. Glazed ham is one of the most prominent menu during holiday season. Not only because of its taste, but also it is practical to cook. You can make half-cooked glazed ham in the afternoon, eat some for diner and keep some other for brekafast. That is why it may be hard to get away from eating glazed ham.
One of the most favorite one is honey glazed ham. The additional honey just makes glazed ham more delightful. Ham has high concentration of fat as well as calorries and cholesterol. It is not good for overweight people, people suffering from heart attack or high blood pressure, and diabetic people.
10. Swedish meatballs
It is ground beef, ground pork, and nutmeg are blended together with seasonings. Swedish meatballs have delicious taste and are best-served with chilly sauce, bread crumb and cream.
Having Swedish meatballs for holiday menu can be an option since it contains not so many calories. You can also combine the meatballs with salad or vegetables to balance the nutrition. It will be harmful if you eat swedish meatballs everyday.
One hundred grams of swedish meatballs contain 197 calories and 13% of fat yet it is high in protein, up to 42%.
11. Eggnog
Like its name, this holiday beverage has whipped eggs as its main ingredient. Other ingredients like milk, cream, sugar, rum, or bourbon to complete the taste. This beverage is unquestioningly sweet. Besides making it at home, you can easily find instant eggnogs at the market.
Although it contains moderate amount of calorie (about 88 calories per 100 grams), it has rather high cholesterol (19%). Other weight-gaining substances like fat and carbs exist around 13% per portion.
12. Truffles
Among any other holiday menu, truffles are the only natural food. It means that we usually have truffles as the main ingredient while seasonings like pepper and garlic are served as the compliment.
Despite of its status as haute cuisine, truffles also have considerable amount of weight-gaining substances. They contains 284 calories and 24% of carbs. The good news is that truffles are also rich in fiber so you can eat it as snack even though you are on diet.
13. Cheesecake
Who does not love cheesecake? Its soft and creamy texture is just relaxing. No wonder that cheesecake is quite popular for holiday dish. There is thick layer of cheese predominating most of the cake’s part. While the bottom layer is usually filled with sponge cake, crushed cookies, graham crackers, and pastry. To make it more persuading to eat, there are usually toppings like cookies, fruit sauce, nuts, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup.
Despite of its delightful appearance, cheesecake has 257 calories per piece. As its main ingredient is cheese, then it is rich with fat (27%) and sugar. This food is not recommended for diabetic people and people with overweight problem.
14. Gravy
Rich with meat extract or juice, gravy is of course full of fat and calories. However, its tasty and spicy nature can make you forget that you are on diet. Eating gravy alone cannot make you fatter. But the compliment food like potatoes, roasts, rice, and mashed potatoes will increase your carb and calorie intake. It is better to avoid gravy because it is the ultimate appetizer especially when the gravy is actually well-cooked.
15. Popcorn balls
Popcorn balls is pretty sweet that it is not good for diet people. You can imagine how deadly sweet it is by looking at its corn syrup, confectioners’ sugar and marshmallows covering the popcorn.
Popcorn balls is usually served as snacks and so it is not too dangerous for your health. Because of its sweet taste, people would probaly limit their consumption. It is not recommended for diabetic people though.
That was all a list of holiday dishes you should avoid. It does not mean that you cannot eat them at all. Most importantly, eat with sufficient amount and keep exercising.**