12 effective dietician’s tips on how to eat to not put on weight at Christmas

You’re afraid that Christmas binge eating will ruin your healthy living efforts. There is nothing to worry about, a few days of cheat meals are nothing if you eat rationally on a daily basis. Follow effective tips so that you won’t put on weight during Christmas and don’t have to take your own boxes of rice and chicken to Christmas Eve dinner, but instead treat yourself to festive dishes without remorse.

Anna Urbańska

You don’t have to end up with a few kilograms more after Christmas. Eat your favourite Christmas dishes and don’t put on weight: it’s possible. Follow proven and valuable tips based on real-life experiences of those who care about their figure. Don’t let worrying about your diet prevent you from enjoying Christmas.

1. Make a list in your head of your favourite foods and don’t deny yourself these only

Have you been waiting all year for a Christmas poppy seed or honey cake? Eat them with pleasure and don’t deny yourself. But don’t blindly follow traditions and habits: you don’t have to eat all the Christmas dishes at all. Of course, even getting a taste of all 12 dishes can be done wisely. However, I advise you to reject dishes that are calorific and not among your Christmas Eve favourites. How about a fried carp or a vegetable salad? Make your own choice by going for your favourite dishes and eating them with pleasure.

2. Opt for diet Christmas dishes

Many Christmas Eve and holiday dishes are really healthy. You can even include them in your daily menu. Christmas is not just about fatty food. Christmas Eve dishes can also be fasting, tasty and naturally low in calories. Here are some of them:

  • fasting mushroom soup,
  • borsch,
  • vegetarian bigos (stewed cabbage),
  • Greek-style fish,
  • stewed sauerkraut with peas,
  • łazanki (short pasta).

It’s on these that you should build your Christmas menu, and only enhance it with smaller portions of your favourite Christmas classics.

3. Use the tricks for easily reducing the calorie content of Christmas dishes

Learn how to slim down Christmas dishes[au1]  to take in fewer calories. Instead of fried fish, serve roasted fish, give up on battered foods. Serve the dumplings boiled, not fried. For a vegetable salad, make a dressing based on yoghurt mixed with mayonnaise, not with calorific mayonnaise alone.

Some of these substitutes will not be enough for you and you will go for the originals anyway. This is understandable. Make compromises where possible, opt for low-calorie dishes.

4. May Christmas last a few days, not over a month

Realistically, it is impossible to gain a few kilograms of body fat in 2-3 days. So why in late December do many people feel noticeably heavier, which is confirmed by the weight display? A whole month of binge eating is to blame, not the Christmas Eve dinner or the first day of Christmas. Santa treats, hearty Christmas markets, Advent calendar chocolates, herring with friends, Christmas Eve dinner at work, making gingerbread (and eating it) together – and that’s just the prelude to the hearty Christmas Eve, Christmas dishes and later... finishing up afterwards. Define your priorities clearly and don’t be tempted to deviate from a healthy diet at the slightest opportunity.

5. Include a new Christmas dish: fresh vegetable salad

While there’s no shortage of goodies on the Christmas table, be sure to add another important dish: a salad of fresh vegetables. Precede all savoury meals with a few bites of fresh and crunchy salad. This approach has several advantages: it keeps glucose from spiking (important for people with insulin resistance and diabetes), it adds antioxidants that will neutralise the adverse effects of overcooked or fried food, and on top of that, the salad is healthfully filling.

6. Ensure whole grain products on your Christmas table

Even if you can’t convince your family to swap white bread for wholemeal rye one, next to the wheat bread, put the wholemeal rye one on the table and use it. Whole grain products will satiate you and make you not crave constant snacking. Fibre will fill your stomach and make you satisfied with less food.

7. Don’t give up on other meals

Even if you indulge more during Christmas time, you don’t have to “repent” with later starvation or strict fasting before meals. If you’re in for a hearty dinner, don’t skip breakfast and a light lunch. By letting yourself get really hungry, you can lose control over how much and what you eat. Do not allow such situations. Although your head may tell you to skip breakfast and “save” calories, nevertheless eat your meals at the usual times. They may be smaller and less calorific, but they will keep you from binge eating as soon as you sit down at the Christmas table.

8. Listen to your body’s signals – eat intuitively

Counting the calories of Christmas dishes may not be the best way to enjoy your meals. Even if you count calories every day, you can take a break for a few days. Try to maintain the principles of intuitive eating at Christmas. Listen to your body, distinguish between hunger and whims, and avoid emotional eating. When you feel full, refrain from having another serving. Don’t eat more dishes just “because they are there” in front of you on the table.

9. Avoid liquid calories

A great way to “save calories” is to avoid consuming them in liquid form. Follow this rule not only at Christmas, but on all the days around the holiday. Ditch the mulled wine at the Christmas market and opt for tea with Christmas spices instead. Don’t be tempted to drink hot chocolate. When visiting restaurants and cafes, don’t order festive versions of coffee and tea: they are often based on calorific syrups rich in sugar. At holiday gatherings with friends and co-workers, avoid alcohol and drinks. Drink a token glass of dried compote on Christmas Eve, but rather rely on water throughout the dinner.

10. Learn to say no to second helpings

For many Poles, the language of love involves feeding and offering favourite foods to their loved ones. I’m not urging you to refuse your grandmother’s cheesecake, which she has prepared especially for you, but you can say no to the second helping. “Thank you very much, one serving is enough for me”; “it’s delicious, as usual, but I’ll take an extra in a while”. You don’t have to explain your choices. Usually in this case, the “I’m on a diet” argument doesn’t work either, which only encourages additional comments and looking into your plate.

11. Set aside the batter, take less sauce

If you don’t have a direct impact on the composition of your Christmas dishes, you can always decide what lands on your plate (and in your belly). It is trivial, of course, to choose a small piece of, for example, herring or meat, or a smaller piece of cake. However, you can resort to other ways to reduce the total number of calories taken in.

  • Eat fried fish and croquettes without batter. You can simply slice it off your piece and leave it on the plate.
  • Don’t put too much sauce, such as with meat roasts. Tomato sauce is an exception.
  • Drain the herrings from the oil before they land on your plate.
  • Don’t pour extra cream over kutia and noodles with poppy seeds (this is a popular way of serving these dishes in some parts of Poland).

12. Don’t just think about food: get moving and spend time with your family

Polish Christmas traditions are inextricably linked to food: it’s hard to get away from that. But also focus on other important elements of spending the holiday season, not just at the table. Take the family out for a walk, step away from the table and play with the kids, or perhaps organise a festive hiking trip to visit some place of interest in the area. If you are going to church during Christmas, choose a standing place. Look for every opportunity to get moving!