Holiday Season Weight Gain is Reduced by Planned Overeating

It’s a well known fact that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the official season for some serious overeating. Most of us pig out enough for a 5 to 7 pound weight gain in just six (6) short weeks.

The main culprit of holiday season weight gain is the age old New Year’s Resolution of starting another diet with the New Year. The thought of another depressing deprivation diet looming in the near future can lead to the “last supper” mentality of eating everything in sight between Christmas and the New Year. There is a better way.

Be realistic about your holiday plans...There will be parties and there will be high calorie foods. Decide ahead of time if you are going to have a high calorie treat and what form it will take. If your weakness is desserts, then plan on having one serving go the most tempting dessert you can find.

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Plan to overeat on certain days. If you know there is a party coming up, eat lighter calorie meals during the week. When the party rolls around, eat and enjoy without guilt.

Get right back on track. Just because you had an eating binge at one holiday party, doesn’t mean you should have a free-for-all until New Year’s Day. Go back to your normal eating pattern with the very next meal. The only overeating you should be doing is on those specifically preplanned holiday party dates.

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Get some exercise. The holidays are a difficult time to get your regularly planned workouts completed so rather than skip your workouts for weeks at a time, do what you can. If you only have time for 15 or 20 minutes, do it. Some exercise is always better than no exercise.

There’s absolutely no reason to go through the holidays feeling deprived and denied of your favorite holiday treats With planned overeating you can reduce holiday season weight gain and still have fun.

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Cream Cheese Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour, (see Ingredient Note)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 6 large egg whites
• 2 cups sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  (1 stick)
• 8 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchatel)

Beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Alternately add the flour and buttermilk mixtures, beating until just smooth. Fold in about one-third of the egg whites with a rubber spatula until just smooth and no white streaks remain. Fold in the remaining egg whites. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake the cake until a skewer inserted into it comes out clean and the top springs back when touched, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and turn out onto the rack; let cool for at least 1 hour more before slicing.

Ingredient Note: Whole-wheat pastry flour, lower in protein than regular whole-wheat flour, has less gluten-forming potential, mak-ing it a better choice for tender baked goods. You can find it in the natural-foods section of large super markets and natural-foods stores. Store in the freezer.

Per Serving: cal. (kcal) 261, Fat, total (g) 12, chol. (mg) 52, sat. fat (g) 5, carb. (g) 35, Monosaturated fat (g) 3, fiber (g) 1, pro. (g) 5, sodium (mg) 167, Potassium (mg) 73, Other Carb () 2, Fat () 2, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.