Having just had my second three course Christmas dinner of the year I thought it would be worth sharing my Christmas dinner strategies to avoid piling on the pounds if you're having more than one.
As with most 'special occasion' meals there are two ways to go to mitigate the damage ... The fact is if you eat all that naughtiness in combination it's going to be damaging for the waistline, but if you miss out a few elements you can reduce the damage quite significantly.
The first choice is the low-carb one, this way you can enjoy the fattier indulgences but by minimising your insulin production you minimise the damage of the meal. For this option to work avoid carbs three hours before and four hours after the meal:
Starter: go for smoked salmon, soup or pate, but skip the bread
Main: turkey, veggies, pigs in blankets are all allowed, but skip the stuffing, cranberry sauce and roasties.
Pudding: no sugar allowed I'm afraid so skip the pudding course and have a herbal tea or decaf coffee. However you can tuck into the cheeseboard, just without the crackers.
Option 2, the carby option. With this option you can enjoy the carbs but need to reduce the fat intake and keep the foods relatively low GI.
Starter: smoked salmon or vegetable soup are again both good options (pate is too fatty), have with wholemeal or rye bread (white bread is too high GI).
Main: turkey (a pretty lean meat) and veggies are great, let yourself have a couple of roast potatoes too but skip the stuffing, pigs in blankets and cranberry sauce (too much sugar).
Pudding: if a fruit salad is available go for that, otherwise if you want a proper pudding a dark chocolate mousse or a Christmas pudding (without custard) will be the lower GI options. Afraid no cheese allowed with this option.
If you've got more than one christmas dinner lined up you can try both strategies and that way you get to eat a full Xmas dinner, just not all on the same day!
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