Christmas is just around the corner, and we know you are all out shopping for the best ingredients for that classic holiday feast. However, holiday meals come with unnecessary calories and saturated fat, which can put your fitness routine into the dumps.

But here’s the tip, you don’t have to load your system with excess calories. So, let’s get started.

Roast Stuffing

Stuffing includes butter, sausages, and bread. All of these are high in calories and can leave you bloated. Thus, it’s advisable to reduce the fatty ingredients as much as possible.

Use just half an ounce per person of a lean roast turkey sausage for flavor. Cut the butter as well and replace the white bread with a whole-grain one.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Another carbohydrate-rich food holiday staple is mashed potatoes. They spike calorie intake, and when prepared with heavy cream, the calories double.

Cut the butter and the heavy cream by half, and if possible, switch the cream with whole or reduced-fat milk.

Alternatively, one can completely swap the potatoes with cauliflower, which not only cuts the carbs but also tastes the same.

Cranberry or Fruit Sauces

Fruit sauces are generally packed with added sugar, which is nothing but just calories without any nutritional value. Generally, it’s better to cut down on that, but still, if you want some sweets, then it’s advisable to make your own fresh sauce with cranberries. However, be sure to cut the sugar in half.

Green Vegetable Casseroles

The greens are the best part of a holiday dinner when it comes to nutritional value. However, the heavy cream, fried toppings, and excess cheese take the nutritional essence out of the veggies. The solution? Create a lighter thickener with low-fat milk.

In addition to that, limit the use of fat cheese. Instead of fried toppings, try sautéed ones or toasted whole-grain panko.

Holiday Pies

Desserts are the best part to conclude the meal, but they add very little to the nutritional value. Apple and pecan pie are high in calories and fat due to the sugary fillings. Well, you can’t make this entirely healthy, but you can lessen the calories. Cut back on butter in the filling and save most for a thinner crust.

For apple desserts, use fewer apples per slice and opt for open-faced tarts (galettes) to reduce crust calories. Halve the pecans in pecan pie and use lighter sweeteners where possible.

Written by

Suryakant Das

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu