Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating

Tips for Healthy Holiday Eating

Worried about eating too much during the holidays? Want to limit the sweets your children have? Try these easy tips to keep holiday eating under control.

• Make time for regular, healthy meals so that you and the kids don't get too hungry and snack on sweet treats.

• Big holiday party? Have a healthy snack before hand to take the edge off your hunger to stop overeating. Talk with your children ahead of time about what foods to choose, taking small portions, skipping seconds, and sharing desserts.

• Focus on friends at holiday gatherings, rather than food.

• Planning on sugar filled pies such as chess or pecan? Switch to pumpkin or sweet potato—that way you'll get less fat, less sugar, and more vitamins, minerals and flavor.

• Keep healthy snacks—like fresh fruit—handy. Try a snack mix of low-sugar cereals like Cheerios, Total, and Chex. For older children add raisins, pretzels, and sunflower seeds.

• Make healthy snacks fun! Serve them in muffin liners, wrap in plastic wrap and tie with red and green ribbon.

• Making holiday cookies? Cut fat by one-third and sugar by one-third. Use applesauce in place of most of the oil.

• Try oatmeal cookies with cranberries instead of chocolate chip bars, fudge, or other sugar-based treats. The extra fiber fills you up so you're less likely to overdo it on sweets. Make fewer kinds of cookies or candy. People usually want to try each type of sweet on a tray, so just bake one or two favorites.

• Instead of making sugar cookies with your kids, roll out bread dough very thin (you can even use the frozen kind to save time), cut with cookie cutters, sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and sugar, let rise, then bake for a taste treat that's low in fat and sugar.