The Christmas season is here. You may be planning a family dinner or a gathering of friends and co-workers. With a little planning and effort, you can bless your guests with health-friendly festivities so they can feast and stay fit. Here are 17 suggestions to help you be a health-conscious host:
- For a buffet dinner, use smaller plates.
Providing your guests with large dinner plates will make it easier for them to overload and overeat. If the plates are smaller, your guests will take smaller portions. - For a buffet dinner, do not make the food the center of attention.
Put out an attractive mouthwatering spread, but have an even more eye-catching center piece or conversation piece at the opposite end of the room, like the Christmas tree or an animated Christmas village. Your guests probably won’t make a second trip to the buffet table if their attention is focused elsewhere. - For a buffet dinner, arrange the seating so that guests will have their backs to the buffet table.
The logic is simple: Out of sight, out of mind. If the collection of tempting treats is not in your guests' direct line of sight, they will be less likely to yield to the temptation for more. - At a sit-down dinner or a buffet, do not insist that your guests have a second helping.
Using small plates will not help if your guests have two or three refills. If there is food left over at the end of the event, ask your guests to take home a doggy bag. - Build serving size into the bounty.
The rule of thumb is the palm of your hand or the size of your fist. One serving of meat, fish or poultry should be no bigger than the palm of one's hand (without the fingers.) One serving of starch or vegetable should fit in the palm of one's hand or should be no bigger than the size of one's fist. If possible and where appropriate prepare dishes that can be presented as individual servings, such as stuffed fish fillets, salmon steaks or stuffed chicken breasts. - Serve more vegetables than starches.
Include a variety of brightly colored vegetables on your menu. Go easy on the starches. Make sure that any starches you do serve are wholegrain. - Skimp on the sauces.
Avoid serving foods that are swimming in sauce or drowning in cheese. If possible, serve the sauces on the side and modify the recipes to be lower in fat and sodium. - Don't make dessert your guests' downfall.
Don't deny your guest dessert, but help them use restraint. Pre-slice cakes and pies to reasonable portions; set the slices out on dessert dishes. Serve desserts that lend themselves to being presented as individual servings like tarts. When preparing the dessert menu, look for low-fat, low-sodium options. Always serve fresh fruit as a dessert option. - Encourage your guests to savor each flavor.
If you eat slowly, your guests will follow suit. Enjoy the flavor and texture of each mouthful. Ask your guests to see if they can discern the seasonings in the dish they like the most. (Eating slowly will give their brains time to tell their stomachs when they're full. A special part of the brain, the satiety center, tells the stomach that it has had enough. It takes 15 to 20 minutes for the satiety center to kick in. Eating slowly gives the brain plenty of time to send the stomach the stop signal.) - Allow early finishers to sip and sit.
If one of your guests finishes and others are still eating, offer that guest a glass of water with lemon so they can sip it slowly while your other guests finish dining. - Serve plenty of water.
Serve sparkling water and mineral water before, during and after the meal. - Serve healthy snacks.
Nibbling on chips, dips and nuts is one way to keep busy when you're uncomfortable or bored in a social situation. Calories from salty, fat-laden snacks add up, so make the pre-meal munchies as healthy as possible. Serve low-fat, low sodium wholegrain chips, raw veggies and low-fat dips. If someone looks bored or uncomfortable, introduce them to someone they may not know and start a conversation. - Discuss while you dine.
Engage your guests in conversation during dinner. Since it's rude to talk with your mouth full, your guests will be forced to eat at a slower pace. This will give their respective satiety centers a better opportunity to communicate with their respective stomachs and determine when they've had enough to eat. - Provide calorie-free cocktails.
Provide sparkling water or club soda with a twist of lemon or lime. These are good alternatives to the empty calories found in soft drinks and alcohol. - Provide other alcohol alternatives.
For guests who do not drink alcohol but opt not to have water, provide sparkling cider or fruit smoothies. Sparkling cider is available in a variety of flavors from pear to pomegranate. Serve the cider and smoothies in champagne flutes to keep the atmosphere festive. - Make sure eating is not the main event.
Involve your guests in activities that will keep their minds and/or their hands occupied, like playing games, decorating the tree or singing Christmas carols. Have your guest share favorite Christmas memories or their funniest Christmas mishaps. Provide the craft materials for each guest to make a Christmas ornament. At the end of the evening, they can trade ornaments or they can take home their own creations. - Send each guest home with a gift that will renew their body, mind and spirit.
The Christmas season can be stressful. Some people respond to stress by eating. Encourage your guests to feed on God's faithfulness instead by give each one a pocket size devotional. Invite them to spend time with God and thank Him everyday, for giving us His only begotten Son.
Psalm 37:3-4
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Share the health.
Deborah White, MD, MBA