Cutting Calories and Fat From Your Holiday Meal

Around the holidays, we are all tempted by large meals and scrumptious desserts. According to Registered Dietitian and founder of online nutrition community HealthCastle.com, Gloria Tsang, one holiday dinner can pack on more calories than most people should eat in an entire day.

However, if you plan ahead, you can cut calories from your holiday meal and still eat plenty of delicious food. Gloria Tsang offers these simple tips for trimming up to 400 calories and lots of fat grams.

Potatoes: Mashed potatoes are loaded with fat-heavy cream and butter. Try using buttermilk instead of cream, and use light butter instead of regular.
Calories saved: about 140

Cakes and pies, tip #1: Yes, you can still serve dessert! Try substituting unsweetened applesauce or pureed prunes for half the sugar in your baking recipes. Or, try using no-calorie artificial sweeteners like Splenda.
Calories saved per 1/8 cake or pie piece: up to 96

Cakes and pies, tip #2: To make your cake even leaner, try substituting egg whites or egg substitute for the eggs in recipes. If the eggs are used as an emulsifier, it’s best to use egg substitute (1/4 cup = 1 egg).
Calories saved per 1/8 cake or pie piece: up to 13

Whipped cream: Cutting whipped cream from a holiday meal seems a bit cruel – but this tasty topping is loaded with fat. Try making your own whipped cream using evaporated milk, or use non-dairy Cool Whip Free. Both offer a similar taste and texture without the fat and guilt.
Calories saved per 2 Tbsp serving: up to 90

Turkey: It’s not a holiday meal without the turkey! And believe it or not, turkey is actually a healthy item on your holiday menu. It’s an excellent source of protein, and has the least amount of fat per serving among all meats, if you pass on the skin. So there’s the key – remove the skin from your serving of turkey and you’ll save 5-7 grams of fat.
Calories saved per serving: 45 – 63

Photo credit: David Lat – sxc.hu