December 10, 2024 • 29 mins
It’s the most wonderful—and delicious—time of the year! On this final 2024 episode of The Nutrition Couch, we’re helping you enjoy the holidays without the guilt or the extra kilos.
Here’s what we’re serving up:
- Mindful Eating Tips: How to navigate festive feasts while staying satisfied, not stuffed.
- Holiday Platters Made Healthy: Discover a supermarket appetizer that’s perfect for your celebrations and still dietitian-approved.
- Back on Track After Christmas: Simple strategies to reset and refresh your nutrition before the new year.
Plus, we share our favorite holiday hosting hacks, discuss how to stay active amidst the chaos, and answer a listener’s burning question about post-holiday resets.
Whether you’re hosting the party or attending one, this episode is packed with practical tips to help you enjoy the festive season without compromising your goals.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It is well and truly party season, and while it
is certainly a time to enjoy good quality of food
with friends and family, it is also a good opportunity
to practice mindful rather than over eating and drinking. So
on the final episode of The Nutrition Couch for twenty
twenty four, today we share our best tricks and tips
for powering through the holidays with your health and nutrition
(00:23):
goals on track.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hi, I'm Susie.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Burrow and I'm le and Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And together we bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly
podcast that keeps you up to date on everything you
need to know in the world of nutrition, as well
as all things festive eating. Today we deep dive balancing
your food intake on key holiday days.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
We have found a new appetizer.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
At a supermarket that might be a good addition to
your celebratory platters. And our listener question is all about
getting back on track after the Christmas break so Leanne,
it's been a big year on the Nutrition Couch.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
As always, what are your plans for the holidays.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We'd like to take it easy here in Queensland. For
We'll go up and see some family. We'll have a
day or two of the beach and then we're just chill.
We don't do too much. Our kids are still quite little,
so I think it's harder to go places and not
they're not car they're not car kids, so about forty
minutes in the cars about their limit before they cracket
in their seats. So we don't do too much. We
just kind of entertain a little bit, have some friends
(01:18):
and family over.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
But it's so hot.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
I've being here in Queensland, like unless you're doing something
near the pool or at the beach, it's too hard,
Like you can't really go to the park. Is just
so so hot in the summer in Queensland. Like it's
beautiful and we're very blessed, but it's also kind of
that other end of the scale where it's almost too
hot to be leaving the air conditioned house.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
True.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Torres I said, I have been up there before. It
almost died on a trip to Willis in the middle
of the day. So I do hear you about the weather.
And I think that the main difference that I observe
between say, how a health professional or how you or
I would approach Christmas, compared to some of the communication
I'm having with clients as we move into party season
and the number of social engagements is that. I think
(01:59):
a lot of it comes down to the mindset that
we go into this period with, because if you approach
it with that mindset of oh, it's Christmas, and as
we've spoken about before on the potty, Christmas can go
for several months as opposed to a couple of key
dates and really isolating those out. And we want the
message here on the Nutrition Couch to be we're certainly
(02:19):
not grinches in the air of food. You know, I
strongly encourage my clients to enjoy you festive treats, but
also to learn to eat mindfully and not just overeat,
because I think there's a general idea that Christmas means
gross over eating, and so to give you a context
(02:39):
around what that translates into, It's Christmas Day and you
get up and you might have a glass of champagne
with your family, and you might have sort of some
bacon and egg rolls around or even some pastries because
that's considered sort of special food. And then you roll
out the Christmas meal, which might be appetit, so you
(03:00):
might have kind of platter food, and then you might
start with the roast turkey, the ham, the vegetables, and
then they might be pudding. And then you've had that meal,
which is probably over two thousand calories if you consider
all the alcohol and the extra like the chocolates lying around,
and then you back it up and you head to
a second meal at your in law's house and that's
another serve of pudding or ham, turkey, you seafood, and
(03:24):
then you get up the next day and you start
it all over again. Now, the difference there would be
if you started Christmas Day and you thought, right, it's
going to be a fairly indulgent day food wise, so
I probably don't need to have the extra pastries or
even the bacon and eggs. So maybe we'll just do
some fruit platter or some mini pastries or just some
mini bums with an egg on it. And then we
(03:46):
might also go for a walk because the weather's gorgeous
and kids might have new bikes and things to take out,
so we're actually go and do some activity, and I'll
serve myself. I'll lay off the dips and the extra
chocolates because i know I'm going to have a large meal.
I'll focus then on the lean proteins and lots of veggies,
but I'll have a small surf of pudding. I'll then
maybe try and go for a second walk rather than
(04:07):
just lying around on the couch, and then know that
I'm actually really not that hungry for the second meal
because I've eaten so much that day, so I rather
than stuff it in, and I might just have a
few tastes of things or even just the dessert rather
than having the meal again, knowing that I can probably
take some leftovers home.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Again, the message here is not meant to be grinchy,
but I think there's a real psychology around I'm allowed
and should be able to completely stuff myself, and I'd
like to just challenge that to say, there's a big
difference between gross overeating and enjoying foods in smaller amounts,
because inevitably you feel pretty grace when you've overeaten. And
the overeating doesn't come from the ham and the turkey,
(04:44):
you're even the pudding. The overeating comes from all the
extras that we give ourselves permissions to have, the chips
and the chocolate's Like you know, my family, for example,
always open Quality Street and roses the night before, Like
that's probably at least five hundred, if not more calories
will eat just from the chocolates. Now, that's something we
do once a year, and we do it that night.
But if you consider that on top of the food,
(05:06):
you can see how easy it is to just have
a gross over consumption of food rather than a more
mindful savoring. And unfortunately, as we get older, knowing that
many of our listeners are forties and fifties, we just
don't have that many calories and it's really hard. You're
programming yourself basically to over eat. So I think the
message from us is really pay attention to how you're
spending the calories, and rather than having that all or
(05:27):
nothing experience, practice mindful eating, because I guarantee you'll get
just as much pleasure from half the portions of food
then you will from completely stuffing yourself. And that's where
you sort of rolls on for several days of overeating,
and that's where it can be several kilos of weight
gain over the course of the Christmas week.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, and I totally agree.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
I think it was all really in the mindset, And
like you said, I think people almost give themselves this
psychological permission to just overread we're in the reality is
it doesn't actually make us feel good. So I always
say eat until you're satisfied, not stuffed, because the last
thing you want to do is have to pass out
on the couch, unbutton new jeans and just think, oh God,
I've eaten so much. And then there's dinner. But it's
(06:04):
okay to go light in a meal. Just because there's
ham and turkey and prawns and salads and potato bake
and lazanna and garlic bread. It doesn't mean that we
have to have everything. So I always like to say
to my clients, choose the food that you really love
and leave the rest. Because if there's garlic bread on
Christmas Day, I'm not gonna go near it, because I
could eat garlic bread anytime of the year. But if
there's a beautiful plum pudding, particularly it's very similar to
(06:27):
how my Nanna used to make it before she passed,
that is absolutely something that I'm gonna have versus Pavlova.
It's not something I'm a fan of versus some of
my clients absolutely love it. So really try to choose
the foods that you love and choose the foods that
aren't regularly available to you. It's really important that you
do get your protein and your vegetables in because that
does lead to that satiation, there's satisfaction, it builds up
(06:48):
your tummy. But in terms of soul foods, really focused
on the things that you love. Like to me, I'm
not a roun ball person. I don't really like those
apricot balls. I'm not a huge Pavlova person. I sound
like the Grinch here. For me, I really love the fresh,
you know, the seasonal fruits. So I'll have some fruit salad,
some mangoes, some peaches with some ice cream, or I
might have if somebody has made like a beautiful caramel
(07:09):
slice or a brownie. They're some things that I love
versus some of the other more traditional Christmas treats. I
guess I'm not so much of a fan of them,
so they're the things I'll pass on and I'll really
thoroughly enjoy something else instead. Or i might like a
beautiful glass of French champagne. But if somebody brings out,
you know, spirits or just makes up any other kind
of cocktail, it's not really my thing. Again, so I'm
(07:29):
really going to be quite particular with the things that
I choose on Christmas Day because there is just so
much food around and so many treats and so many meals,
And like Susie, you know the same thing, Like my
family will do a Christmas breakfast, then we'll go to
another family's house for lunch, and then I will generally
host a dinner. Next day's Boxing Day, we'll head up
the coast to another family member's house. And then the
(07:50):
twenty seventh, there's my little MEA's birthday. So she's turning
three this year, and promised her a big party. She
knows it's her birthday, she knows she's turning three. They
have a big do in that, and then you know,
a couple of days later, it's it's Christmas. Even then
it's you know, it's the new year. So it's basically
a whole week. But it doesn't have to be a
week of over eating. It can really be quite balanced eating. Sure,
we can indulge in some delicious things, but we can
(08:11):
also have our salad in between. We can also go
lighter on some meals if we need to. We can
also drop the snacks out if we're having three larger
meals a day, particularly if those meals are a little
bit later. You know, Christmas Lunch might start at twelve,
but the reality is at two pm we're still all
picking and grazing on, you know, the six course meal
that's on the table. So we don't probably need afternoon
(08:31):
tea if we're still picking and grazing on the Christmas
lunch at two o'clock. So the food just tends to
be everywhere, all around us, all the time. So just
be quite particular with the things that you choose and
really make sure you do aim to get that protein
and that salad inn at luncheon dinner each day, and
then as much as possible, send all the extra things home.
Like often I'll host a Christmas lunch and everyone's like
(08:52):
keep this, keep that.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I'm like, no, no, no, you take it. You take it,
because I.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Just don't need all of these slices and bake goods
and boxes and boxes of chocolate in my house because
the reality is if it's there, we will just pick
and graze on it for many many days afterwards. So
as much as possible, try to pack it up and
send it home, particularly if you've got older kids they're
growing there in Uni, they're you know they're out and
they're active, send it home with them because they'll absolutely
love it. I used to love when Mom would send
(09:16):
me home with like boxes of stuff when I was
at UNI because I couldn't really afford it, and be
I was like, yes, free food.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I'd have to cook for a couple of days. It
was great, true, And I.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Think one of the things the supermarkets are doing quite
well is there's a lot more mini approaches to things
like you can get because pavlova is common, but whether
it's a pudding or I love how you can get
the little merangue nests and the little mini pavlovas rather
than the big one. Because keep in mind, when it
comes to food intake, we eat what we served, So
if you are served a massive slice of pav or putting,
(09:47):
you'll eat the lot. If you're served a small serve it,
you'll eat that and feel just dissatisfied. So an easy
way to still enjoy all of the traits of the
season is to go for the mini sizes. Do individual
plates of a few maranue nests and bea or do
a mini pudding as opposed to a large one, and
then everyone's still having pudding, but you're not having the
huge extra amount. So I'm really a big fan of
(10:07):
those mini approaches when it comes to dessert. Let's also
remember leand the Australian seafood prawn set that you know,
they're really nutritious foods and very low in calories. So
then if you can afford seafood and that's a special
thing for summer, have that that's a million times lighter
than pork and ham and crackling and all those other things.
So load up on that, load up on the beautiful
(10:29):
fresh summer salads and make that the bulk, and then
focus on having the more indulgent things like the desserts
or the extras as little add ons rather than the focus.
And I also, like we're going to talk about Christmas
Day in a minute, but as a rule of thumb,
food always tastes much better when you're hungry to eat it.
So you'll find that you'll enjoy the second Christmas dinner
(10:50):
or even Christmas lunch much better if you haven't had
much breakfast because you won't be so full and it's
much more satisfying. So programming in those heavier meals and
lightning the meals before is so important, and as a
rule of thumb, you want at least three hours in
between eating occasions, if not closer to five after a
big meal. So I noticed that we can that completely
goes out the window on Christmas and we just eat
(11:11):
constantly rather than isolating the actual special meal and then
having a break and digestively. You're going to feel so
much better if you have had that break in between
and said, right, I'm going to actually have a break
or a nap or a walk now, just because physically
you'll feel better and it will mean that you're just
not in that overeating cycle for the entire day.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
In a really handy tip if you find that you
are overeating on Christmas days, just to grab two small
children because you'll never have time to sit down and
eat anyway.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
That's what I find.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Well, Leanne's got a couple apparently she's happy to hand
it over.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
You can borrow mine, and you just won't have time
to sit down and eat because you'll be so busy
running after them the whole morning.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
So that's a really handed tip. If anyone wants to
go borrow a couple.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Of kids, well, I say, because of course I've got
my new puppy, Taco, who if anyone I haven't actually
mentioned this on the podcast, I don't think that we've
got a dog now. I don't love dogs, so when
I when I arrived at home, I was less than thrilled.
But I have to say that I'm a big fan
of Taco. He's an Australian Chepherd. He's six months old.
He's gorgeous, lovely doggie. But he requires a huge amoutter
(12:10):
of walking. So already I'm planning on Christmas morning I'm
going to need to walk him, and then I'll need
to take it out in the afternoon as well. So
you know, whether you've got children to run with, or
play with, teenagers or a dog, everyone will benefit from
having some extra steps on that day.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It will help your digestive system.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And that's a good rule for any kind of party,
you know, just buffer it with some extra movement and
a longer fast after you have overindulged. But a few
of the other sort of superfoods at this time, so
you can still enjoy I think platters. There are some
good dips out there. We'd reviewed a lighter Hommus not
long ago. There's the higher protein dips, platters filled with
veggies and a little bit less of the indulgent cheeses.
(12:45):
The white cheeses like goats cheese are lighter, as are
the ones like yalsberg that you can slice thinly. You know,
there are lighter options out there. And as I said,
you'll still have all the pleasure, but just make the
treats a little bit smaller and enjoy them at the
right time rather than leaving them openly out there to
graze on the whole day.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Yeah, and I will say as well, you mentioned how
a smaller sized treats are really good. And I was
browsing it calls the other day as we do as dieticians,
and I found the Christmas range. Actually I'm going to
put a reel up on my Instagram as well, and
they had single serve plum puddings, they had single serve fruitcakes,
and they had single serve these little mini gingerbread things,
and they even had a little gingerbread decorating kit for
(13:23):
kids as well, which I thought was really cute. So,
you know, if you don't want to make plum pudding
that's going to serve thirty people that you have to
eat for the next three months just by the little
single serve because the reality is that a lot of
people won't eat plum pudding on Christmas Day, a lot
of people don't like pablo where a lot of people
don't like prawns. So I think we're just in this
mindset of over catering. Or I think that if you've got, say,
(13:44):
for example, ten people come into your house for Christmas Day,
cater for six and that'll be enough because there is
just so much food available everywhere that I just think
that we over cater and that drives the overconsumption as well.
So see if you can get the miniserve ones, and
that way as well last that a little bit longer
as well, if you don't want to make it yourself,
and you know, even those mini single served ones, if
(14:05):
you've had a really big, indulgent Christmas lunch, you might
want to share, you know, half a portion with someone,
even if it is a single serve one, which can
be a really great way as well, if you're not
feeling overly hungry for it. You can have a few spoons,
enjoy the taste and the satisfaction of it, but not
you know, actually need to have the entire thing. As well,
So I really do like those single mini portion size
things as well. I think they're a great little hack
(14:26):
for Christmas Day too.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Well.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
The most satisfaction is in the first two mouthfuls of food,
so you have the power or the putting one maybe two,
maybe three, But after that you should actually be pretty stuff.
So just keep that in mind that we program to overeat,
and there's nothing wrong with tasting and enjoying without continually eating,
because you can come back over several serves and have
a little bit each day without sort of that you know,
(14:48):
over eating. And I guess the other question is if
you're someone who's pretty controlled most of the time and
you really like to let loose at Christmas and basically
eat whatever you want, you know, go for all the
indulgent stuff we've been talking about, no problem. I think
the key is just to get back on track once
it's come Boxing Day, Whereas many people will write it
out right until New Years and that's where we run
into issues. So if you are someone more who likes
(15:10):
to really you know, give it a good goal on Christmas,
even Christmas, just be prepared to get back on track.
Boxing Day is another good sort of reset point. Otherwise
before we know it, it's rolled on to the thirty first,
the first, and that's the second or third week of
January and you still haven't done anything. So I think
it's those markers in time right now, it's time to
pull it in. I've had a really good run of it,
but it's time to get back on track.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Absolutely, And I do think that having a plan for
those couple of days in between Christmas, Boxing Day and
New Years, because like you said, most people will just
let it go and it's a full you know, seven
ten days, because let's be honest, we start the celebrating
probably from about the twenty third to twenty fourth, and
that rolls right around to the first or second of January.
So just have a really solid plan in place for
all the you know, three four five days in between.
(15:52):
So you've got some easy salad kits in the fridge,
you've got some salm and you can whacken the air fry.
You've got a little bit of you know, I like
the marinated tofu sea a massive aout a tofu. But
you know that can sit in the fridge for a
couple of weeks. It doesn't really go off. You can
throw it in a pan, put it in with a
salad kit, and you've got a really nice, healthy balance lunch.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
So just have a bit of a plan.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
For those extra days in between and really focus on
getting in that extra quality protein and vegetables as well,
because it's just going to make you feel so much
better before you know. The reality is it's the over
indulgence of you know, New Year's Eve and New Year's
Day again, and then kind of everyone waits till the
second or third of January to get back on track.
But if you can really focus on having a solid
few days between Christmas and New Years, you're just going
(16:31):
to feel a thousand times better.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
True, true, true.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So Christmas Day we're going to talk about specifically Christmas Day?
Or have we given and maybe we've given enough tips already?
I think, yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I think.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
I think the best thing you can do is really
eat until you're satisfied. If you want to try everything,
try everything. It doesn't mean you have to eat everything.
And I was having this conversation with my client the
other day and I said, she went to like a
I think it was like an eight course du station,
Like it was crazy. It was just an insane amount
of food, and she's like, well, you know, like I've
paid for a and I said, yeah, look, just taste everything.
You don't necessarily have to eat everything. And after coming
(17:04):
away from that, she said, that was absolutely just a
game changer for my mind set, not having, you know,
not thinking that I actually had to eat everything in
front of me just because I wanted to try everything.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I said, just take a bot or two.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Like, I'm not advocating wasting it, but if you just
want to, you know, if somebody has made some I
don't know, Christmas brownies, My sister always makes these brownies
and she melts like the candy canes on top, so
they kind of taste minty brownies.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
They're really delicious.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
But if somebody's cut a piece of that, you can
always cut the piece in half. You can cut that
piece into a quarter. You don't have to just take
a whole piece of that. You can just try it.
I mean, if you take a bite out of it,
it's kind of wasted because no one else is going
to want it. So we're not advocating wasting food, but
you can just try things. You don't actually have to
eat everything on your plate. So I think the most
important message for Christmas Day is that balance eating until
(17:48):
you're satisfied and not stuffed, and try to avoid grazing
all day long, and get out of the house. Go
for walk, go to the beach, you know, go for
a swim in the pool, play some backyard cricket. Put
the sprinklel of the hose on and it's boiling hot,
and just get a little bit, you know, a little
bit hydrated, a little bit cooler.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
With the sprinkler on.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
I think it's just really important to move your body,
particularly when there is just so much food around and
there is a bit of over indulgence. But that's probably
the most important three messages on Christmas Day is eat mindfully,
don't graze all day long, and get out and get
active if you can.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I think the exercise is one that very quickly gets
ditched at this time of year, when it's really a
time to do more. The days are longer, we're eating
a lot more, work is often a little bit more relaxed.
School's over, it's time to really get active, and then
you can sort of enjoy food a lot more without
worrying about it. And that's a good place to be,
considering most of us do like to eat the am
all right. Well, moving on to some of the Christmas
rangers out there, and I agree, I'm like everyone. We
(18:42):
get excited when we see new products in the supermarket
for Christmas. And I do Coals in particular do it
really well, and I do love it. We're not sponsored
by Coals, but credit where credits do they do do
Christmas well? And I found I guess one of the
foods that can be risky at this time of year
is like the appetizers, the cannapaze, it's the pastry and
no matter you go to drinks anywhere, they're always serving.
It's the are and chini balls and the spring rolls,
(19:04):
and we all love them. They're delicious, but they're like
often one hundred two hundred calories each and pactful of
bad fat. Like they're really not good for us. And
I have noticed that the supermarkets are doing more and
more of those appetizers that you can heat up, and
often I buy them and I'm disappointed they're not great.
You know. Often the ones we make at home ourselves
are much better, like the beautiful fresh sour dough with
some ricotta or goats cheese and smoked salmon or fresh
(19:27):
prawns with a dipping sauce like, they're always so much
nicer I find, or homemade meatballs leam with a dipping
sauce like, they're so much fresher and tastier. But I
have found one that I like, and I actually haven't
showed you yet, so I hope you like them too.
But this is the coal's finest. So this is in
the black boxes in the freezer section. Goats cheese, polenta chips. Now,
I goat cheese is polarizing. It is lower in fat
(19:49):
than regular cheddar type cheese, but not everyone likes it.
But if you like it, it's got a very strong
flavor and can really give cannapase in particular a lovely
taste to them. And when I have a look at them,
the initisial information per hundred grams, they come in at
about a thousand kilodules or about two hundred and fifty calories,
(20:10):
but perserve about one hundred calories per serve, which is
pretty reasonable. Now, I'll have a look at a second
how many are a serve to give us an idea.
It may only be one, but the overall fat is
thirteen percent, which is not too bad for a CANape,
keeping in mind that pastry based products would be up
around thirty forty percent. Fat per hundred grams is about
five grams of protein, and the carbohydrates were quite low
(20:34):
as well, coming at twenty three grams per hundred or
just ten grams of carbohydrate per serve. So I thought
as an appetizer they were not overly hind fat, not
overly hind carbohydrate. And when we look at the ingredients,
it's seventy three percent base of polenta which is maize
and goats cheese, so that's a pretty clean mix. There
are some preservatives mixtures palmes and cheeses and their wheat
(20:57):
flour thickness, so it's not a what we would call
a clean product nutritionally. There are some additives in there,
but the overall base at seventy three percent polenta and
groats cheese is actually pretty strong. And I'm going to
have a look now how many actual chips you would
get for.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
That, So two pieces in a serving. A serving size
is forty gram so there's five servings of packing two pieces,
which is reasonable.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, because if you were teeming that I thought with like,
you know, a platter of some healthier dips, some crackers
which I'm going to make crackers actually land this year.
That recipe tin eats the crackers I'm going to make,
so they're yummy, and then you can do some veggie
sticks on there your dips. You could do maybe the seafood,
like if you like the smoked oysters, like I do,
some smoked salmon, and then one or two of these
(21:40):
is a hot cannopey. They're one of the best ones
I've found, so they get a big thumbs up from
me in terms of pre made things you can buy
in the supermarket, and a million times better than anything
with a pastry base, which is generally deep fried and
may even be offering or adding some transfats to the diet.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
I love it, and the ingredient list is pretty good.
I'll say it's a good find, and I love and
I love ghast cheese. So I'm actually going to buy these.
I'm very excited. But I think a serving size of
two for about one hundred calories is pretty fair, particularly
if you're having some dips and a bit of veggie sticks,
a little bit of crunch, and you know, some fresh
stuff with it as well. But I think a big
mistake a lot of us make it this Timmy Vie
is thinking, you know, it's a cheese platter, whereas I
(22:17):
always say, no, it's a bit of a grazing platter.
So put some fruit on there, put some veggie sticks
on there, put some leaner dips, even with cheese. A SUSI,
if I buy a big block of Bree or a
nice smoke cheddar or something, I'll cut it in half
and only put half on and then another tip I
tend to do it this time of the year is
actually pre slice the cheese and line it up in like,
you know, nice little shapes. Because if you let people
take their own chunk of bree, it's a chunk. Like
(22:39):
I've seen people in an entire wheel of Bree eat
that and say six six slices or something like. It's
crazy the big chunks that they'll have. So if you
can pre slice some of that cheese, it's better for
the budget because it'll go a little bit further and
it will naturally just help people to eat that little
bit less. So I love these. I think they're great.
I'm really excited to try them. As well, and there's
quite a few of the coal swine as the Christmas range.
(23:00):
I saw these little ice cream sticks for kids. They're
like little Christmas trees on a stick. They're quite cute.
And like I said, there's like single serve plum puddings
and everything as well, so there's quite a few. And
I think I saw some Christmas potatoes as well which
looked really good. And last year I think we were
reviewed there were some carrots as well, some butter parmesan
carrots or something which.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Were really tasty.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
So I definitely have a look, and you know each calls,
your local ones will stop a few different things.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But I think these are quite good. I quite like them.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Nutritionally, I agree.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I love a cheese shaver to shave down the slices
of cheese. I like the white cheese like the goats,
because you spread less on a cracker. If you put
goats cheese with some tomato on a thin cracker or
seeded cracker, it's delicious. And I agree with you. If
you put out the whole block of cheese, everyone will
just eat it. If you do half, it'll really go
a lot further. So Grassini is another thing that I
often put on a platter. People love to crunch on
(23:47):
a grassini and I love the flavored roasted faber beans
you can get in different flavors.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
They're crunchy.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
There are much healthier alternative to chips, and again much
more filling because you're geting some fiber and some protein
at the same time. So there are plenty of options
out there. We're certainly not saying don't eat any Christmas
indulgent food, but we're saying you can certainly buffer with
plenty of healthier options.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah. I think they carrot sissya their carrot balls, aren't they.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Yeah, the carrot ballbles with parsley butter. So the cole
Swiness range as well. They're something else that I found
as well in that Christmas range. And there was also
a Christmas tree potato noki as well, and yoki which
I thought was quite interesting. I didn't buy that because
my kids aren't a huge fan. But you know, there's
just some really fun things around at the supermarkets at
the moment, and they were these little fig cheddar and
parmesan bites as well. I'm going to do up a
(24:30):
little reel on my on my Instagram with some fun
little things. But yeah, just have a look around in
the shops and there doesn't have to be you know,
a ton of cheese or a ton of meats on
those platters. There can be lots of you know, interesting things.
At a Marmae beans they are another really good one
that little kids tend to like as well. Not tiny
children because they're a bit of a choking risk, but
you know, slightly older kids. I'm a little salted at
a Marmae beans. They can pull them out of the pods,
(24:50):
and no kids that sushi train really like them. So
that's a great way just to get everybody eating that
little bit of extra venge. Plus you get the benefits
of some fiber and some protein as well. So out
of big hair full of etamrmaie to your next grazing plotter,
and you know the whole family will benefit, all right.
And then now list of question for our little fight
or Christmas episode. What is the best way to reset
(25:11):
after the holidays and get back on track food wise? Well,
I think the best way is to have your mindset
right in the first place, so there's no over indulgence,
there's no just riding off that whole December period there's
no getting back on track, like just stay on track
the whole time. And staying on track doesn't mean that
you have to miss out. It doesn't mean that you
can't enjoy your food. It just means that you're going
(25:32):
to be a little bit more balanced and mindful than
you have been in previous years. And as I said before,
the best way to get back on track or stay
on track is to plan ahead and the next day,
whether it's you know, December the twenty sixth or December
the twenty seventh, wake up and have a really nourishing breakfast.
Prep some overnight otes so you've got a really delicious,
nourishing breakfast ready to go. Make sure you've got a
plan for lunching place you might want to do. You know,
(25:54):
I love those the salad bags. I particularly love the
Asian Salad Kit and the kales Law one doers a
beautiful yogat dressing with cranberries as well from Wilworst. So
just have a plan in place and have the meals
planned out for the next day, so there's no oh,
what I feel like for breakfast, Maybe we should go out,
Maybe I should you know, have the leftover croissants, what
I feel like for lunch, maybe I'll just have a
bit of you know, some cheese and crackers that are
(26:16):
left over and skip lunch.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Because that's what tends to happen.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
We overgraze, we oversnack, we skip meals and before we
know it, and the more you eat crappy food and
get into that bad cycle.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
The harder it is to get back out of it.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
So I do think the best way to stay on
track is to get back on track, is to actually
stay on track in the first place, and plan ahead
and make sure you've got some fresh salad bags in
the fridge ready to go, you bought some lean protein,
you've got some beautiful fresh fruit and some Greek yogurt
ready to go for breakfast time. So it's not about
I guess, being super strict and doing a cleanser or
(26:47):
a new diet or anything like that. It's just really
about making balanced food choices at this time of year
and really trying to maximize every single meal. And it
doesn't matter really what happened in the mealble food or
the day before. It just really see it as a
new or tunity to put some good food and some
good quality, nutritious food back into your body and just
really try to maximize every single meal. That's really my
(27:07):
best way to answer that question. I think it's really
about the mindset and how we approach this time of
year more than anything true.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
And I also think it's a little bit about being
strict with your diary and your calendar, because I'll often
hear clients report to me, Oh, I've got so much
on there's so many events, But ultimately you also have
to say yes to those events. So if you've had
a very indulgent November and December and know that you
need some time to reset in January, it might be
time to sort of cut back a little bit and
(27:35):
to be saying no. And I find each week, you know,
if you create Sunday evening and afternoon time to reset
and get focused for the week ahead, you tend to
have a much better week. And I'd be inclined to
say the same thing in January. If you're going away
camping for several weeks, you need to then give yourself
a couple of buffer days to reset, Or if you've
had ongoing social arrangements right up to New Year's Day,
you need to give yourself a few days otherwise you
(27:56):
never create that space and time. And I think as women,
we're very reluctant to make that care. We don't want
to say no to people. We don't want to disappoint them.
We don't want to say no to our mother in
law or our cousin or our aunts, your our parents.
But sometimes you actually need to be able to stay
I need a few days at home to eat lightly
and get back on track. And that can be the
difference sometimes between actually achieving goals or making progress with them,
or just staying in this same place every year where
(28:18):
you sort of always feel like you've overdone it, but
never also get back on track. So I think, looking
at the diary, if you can really create some time
for yourself in the new year to dedicate to your
own health and well.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Being, absolutely, or just be strict with your boundaries as well,
if somebody really wants to catch up, so yeah, no problem.
But instead of lunch, can we go for a walk,
can we grab a coffee? Or would you mind if
you came over to mind for lunch. I'm going to
make us some beautiful a nice fresh salmon salad with
some mangoins and cranberers whatever, it might be, and just
be fairly firm with your boundaries at this time of year,
because when you eat good, you feel good, and that's
(28:50):
essentially what it boils down to. So we want to
eat well so we feel well and we stay healthy,
you know, long term, So just be quite firm with
your boundaries this time and it'll pay off in a
really positive way.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
All right.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
All that brings us to the end of the Nutrition
Couch for twenty twenty four. We want to always say
a massive thank you for your support, in particular for
your support of our augural Nutrition Couch Retreat, which we
are hoping to repeat in March, so please get in
touch if you were interested in attending that, but also
for our supplement range, which we launched in January twenty
twenty four, designed by dietitians. It has far exceeded our
(29:23):
expectations in terms of support, and a lot of that
comes from our podcast listeners. So we wish you a
very very merry Christmas and RESTful and healthy New Year,
and we can't wait to see you back here in
twenty twenty five for the Nutrition Couch once again.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Merry Christmas.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Thank you so much for all of your support guys,
we love you. Merry Christmas.
It is well and truly party season, and while it
is certainly a time to enjoy good quality of food
with friends and family, it is also a good opportunity
to practice mindful rather than over eating and drinking. So
on the final episode of The Nutrition Couch for twenty
twenty four, today we share our best tricks and tips
for powering through the holidays with your health and nutrition
(00:23):
goals on track.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hi, I'm Susie.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Burrow and I'm le and Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
And together we bring you The Nutrition Couch, the weekly
podcast that keeps you up to date on everything you
need to know in the world of nutrition, as well
as all things festive eating. Today we deep dive balancing
your food intake on key holiday days.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
We have found a new appetizer.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
At a supermarket that might be a good addition to
your celebratory platters. And our listener question is all about
getting back on track after the Christmas break so Leanne,
it's been a big year on the Nutrition Couch.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
As always, what are your plans for the holidays.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We'd like to take it easy here in Queensland. For
We'll go up and see some family. We'll have a
day or two of the beach and then we're just chill.
We don't do too much. Our kids are still quite little,
so I think it's harder to go places and not
they're not car they're not car kids, so about forty
minutes in the cars about their limit before they cracket
in their seats. So we don't do too much. We
just kind of entertain a little bit, have some friends
(01:18):
and family over.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
But it's so hot.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
I've being here in Queensland, like unless you're doing something
near the pool or at the beach, it's too hard,
Like you can't really go to the park. Is just
so so hot in the summer in Queensland. Like it's
beautiful and we're very blessed, but it's also kind of
that other end of the scale where it's almost too
hot to be leaving the air conditioned house.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
True.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Torres I said, I have been up there before. It
almost died on a trip to Willis in the middle
of the day. So I do hear you about the weather.
And I think that the main difference that I observe
between say, how a health professional or how you or
I would approach Christmas, compared to some of the communication
I'm having with clients as we move into party season
and the number of social engagements is that. I think
(01:59):
a lot of it comes down to the mindset that
we go into this period with, because if you approach
it with that mindset of oh, it's Christmas, and as
we've spoken about before on the potty, Christmas can go
for several months as opposed to a couple of key
dates and really isolating those out. And we want the
message here on the Nutrition Couch to be we're certainly
(02:19):
not grinches in the air of food. You know, I
strongly encourage my clients to enjoy you festive treats, but
also to learn to eat mindfully and not just overeat,
because I think there's a general idea that Christmas means
gross over eating, and so to give you a context
(02:39):
around what that translates into, It's Christmas Day and you
get up and you might have a glass of champagne
with your family, and you might have sort of some
bacon and egg rolls around or even some pastries because
that's considered sort of special food. And then you roll
out the Christmas meal, which might be appetit, so you
(03:00):
might have kind of platter food, and then you might
start with the roast turkey, the ham, the vegetables, and
then they might be pudding. And then you've had that meal,
which is probably over two thousand calories if you consider
all the alcohol and the extra like the chocolates lying around,
and then you back it up and you head to
a second meal at your in law's house and that's
another serve of pudding or ham, turkey, you seafood, and
(03:24):
then you get up the next day and you start
it all over again. Now, the difference there would be
if you started Christmas Day and you thought, right, it's
going to be a fairly indulgent day food wise, so
I probably don't need to have the extra pastries or
even the bacon and eggs. So maybe we'll just do
some fruit platter or some mini pastries or just some
mini bums with an egg on it. And then we
(03:46):
might also go for a walk because the weather's gorgeous
and kids might have new bikes and things to take out,
so we're actually go and do some activity, and I'll
serve myself. I'll lay off the dips and the extra
chocolates because i know I'm going to have a large meal.
I'll focus then on the lean proteins and lots of veggies,
but I'll have a small surf of pudding. I'll then
maybe try and go for a second walk rather than
(04:07):
just lying around on the couch, and then know that
I'm actually really not that hungry for the second meal
because I've eaten so much that day, so I rather
than stuff it in, and I might just have a
few tastes of things or even just the dessert rather
than having the meal again, knowing that I can probably
take some leftovers home.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Now.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Again, the message here is not meant to be grinchy,
but I think there's a real psychology around I'm allowed
and should be able to completely stuff myself, and I'd
like to just challenge that to say, there's a big
difference between gross overeating and enjoying foods in smaller amounts,
because inevitably you feel pretty grace when you've overeaten. And
the overeating doesn't come from the ham and the turkey,
(04:44):
you're even the pudding. The overeating comes from all the
extras that we give ourselves permissions to have, the chips
and the chocolate's Like you know, my family, for example,
always open Quality Street and roses the night before, Like
that's probably at least five hundred, if not more calories
will eat just from the chocolates. Now, that's something we
do once a year, and we do it that night.
But if you consider that on top of the food,
(05:06):
you can see how easy it is to just have
a gross over consumption of food rather than a more
mindful savoring. And unfortunately, as we get older, knowing that
many of our listeners are forties and fifties, we just
don't have that many calories and it's really hard. You're
programming yourself basically to over eat. So I think the
message from us is really pay attention to how you're
spending the calories, and rather than having that all or
(05:27):
nothing experience, practice mindful eating, because I guarantee you'll get
just as much pleasure from half the portions of food
then you will from completely stuffing yourself. And that's where
you sort of rolls on for several days of overeating,
and that's where it can be several kilos of weight
gain over the course of the Christmas week.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Yeah, and I totally agree.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
I think it was all really in the mindset, And
like you said, I think people almost give themselves this
psychological permission to just overread we're in the reality is
it doesn't actually make us feel good. So I always
say eat until you're satisfied, not stuffed, because the last
thing you want to do is have to pass out
on the couch, unbutton new jeans and just think, oh God,
I've eaten so much. And then there's dinner. But it's
(06:04):
okay to go light in a meal. Just because there's
ham and turkey and prawns and salads and potato bake
and lazanna and garlic bread. It doesn't mean that we
have to have everything. So I always like to say
to my clients, choose the food that you really love
and leave the rest. Because if there's garlic bread on
Christmas Day, I'm not gonna go near it, because I
could eat garlic bread anytime of the year. But if
there's a beautiful plum pudding, particularly it's very similar to
(06:27):
how my Nanna used to make it before she passed,
that is absolutely something that I'm gonna have versus Pavlova.
It's not something I'm a fan of versus some of
my clients absolutely love it. So really try to choose
the foods that you love and choose the foods that
aren't regularly available to you. It's really important that you
do get your protein and your vegetables in because that
does lead to that satiation, there's satisfaction, it builds up
(06:48):
your tummy. But in terms of soul foods, really focused
on the things that you love. Like to me, I'm
not a roun ball person. I don't really like those
apricot balls. I'm not a huge Pavlova person. I sound
like the Grinch here. For me, I really love the fresh,
you know, the seasonal fruits. So I'll have some fruit salad,
some mangoes, some peaches with some ice cream, or I
might have if somebody has made like a beautiful caramel
(07:09):
slice or a brownie. They're some things that I love
versus some of the other more traditional Christmas treats. I
guess I'm not so much of a fan of them,
so they're the things I'll pass on and I'll really
thoroughly enjoy something else instead. Or i might like a
beautiful glass of French champagne. But if somebody brings out,
you know, spirits or just makes up any other kind
of cocktail, it's not really my thing. Again, so I'm
(07:29):
really going to be quite particular with the things that
I choose on Christmas Day because there is just so
much food around and so many treats and so many meals,
And like Susie, you know the same thing, Like my
family will do a Christmas breakfast, then we'll go to
another family's house for lunch, and then I will generally
host a dinner. Next day's Boxing Day, we'll head up
the coast to another family member's house. And then the
(07:50):
twenty seventh, there's my little MEA's birthday. So she's turning
three this year, and promised her a big party. She
knows it's her birthday, she knows she's turning three. They
have a big do in that, and then you know,
a couple of days later, it's it's Christmas. Even then
it's you know, it's the new year. So it's basically
a whole week. But it doesn't have to be a
week of over eating. It can really be quite balanced eating. Sure,
we can indulge in some delicious things, but we can
(08:11):
also have our salad in between. We can also go
lighter on some meals if we need to. We can
also drop the snacks out if we're having three larger
meals a day, particularly if those meals are a little
bit later. You know, Christmas Lunch might start at twelve,
but the reality is at two pm we're still all
picking and grazing on, you know, the six course meal
that's on the table. So we don't probably need afternoon
(08:31):
tea if we're still picking and grazing on the Christmas
lunch at two o'clock. So the food just tends to
be everywhere, all around us, all the time. So just
be quite particular with the things that you choose and
really make sure you do aim to get that protein
and that salad inn at luncheon dinner each day, and
then as much as possible, send all the extra things home.
Like often I'll host a Christmas lunch and everyone's like
(08:52):
keep this, keep that.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
I'm like, no, no, no, you take it. You take it,
because I.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Just don't need all of these slices and bake goods
and boxes and boxes of chocolate in my house because
the reality is if it's there, we will just pick
and graze on it for many many days afterwards. So
as much as possible, try to pack it up and
send it home, particularly if you've got older kids they're
growing there in Uni, they're you know they're out and
they're active, send it home with them because they'll absolutely
love it. I used to love when Mom would send
(09:16):
me home with like boxes of stuff when I was
at UNI because I couldn't really afford it, and be
I was like, yes, free food.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I'd have to cook for a couple of days. It
was great, true, And I.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
Think one of the things the supermarkets are doing quite
well is there's a lot more mini approaches to things
like you can get because pavlova is common, but whether
it's a pudding or I love how you can get
the little merangue nests and the little mini pavlovas rather
than the big one. Because keep in mind, when it
comes to food intake, we eat what we served, So
if you are served a massive slice of pav or putting,
(09:47):
you'll eat the lot. If you're served a small serve it,
you'll eat that and feel just dissatisfied. So an easy
way to still enjoy all of the traits of the
season is to go for the mini sizes. Do individual
plates of a few maranue nests and bea or do
a mini pudding as opposed to a large one, and
then everyone's still having pudding, but you're not having the
huge extra amount. So I'm really a big fan of
(10:07):
those mini approaches when it comes to dessert. Let's also
remember leand the Australian seafood prawn set that you know,
they're really nutritious foods and very low in calories. So
then if you can afford seafood and that's a special
thing for summer, have that that's a million times lighter
than pork and ham and crackling and all those other things.
So load up on that, load up on the beautiful
(10:29):
fresh summer salads and make that the bulk, and then
focus on having the more indulgent things like the desserts
or the extras as little add ons rather than the focus.
And I also, like we're going to talk about Christmas
Day in a minute, but as a rule of thumb,
food always tastes much better when you're hungry to eat it.
So you'll find that you'll enjoy the second Christmas dinner
(10:50):
or even Christmas lunch much better if you haven't had
much breakfast because you won't be so full and it's
much more satisfying. So programming in those heavier meals and
lightning the meals before is so important, and as a
rule of thumb, you want at least three hours in
between eating occasions, if not closer to five after a
big meal. So I noticed that we can that completely
goes out the window on Christmas and we just eat
(11:11):
constantly rather than isolating the actual special meal and then
having a break and digestively. You're going to feel so
much better if you have had that break in between
and said, right, I'm going to actually have a break
or a nap or a walk now, just because physically
you'll feel better and it will mean that you're just
not in that overeating cycle for the entire day.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
In a really handy tip if you find that you
are overeating on Christmas days, just to grab two small
children because you'll never have time to sit down and
eat anyway.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
That's what I find.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Well, Leanne's got a couple apparently she's happy to hand
it over.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
You can borrow mine, and you just won't have time
to sit down and eat because you'll be so busy
running after them the whole morning.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
So that's a really handed tip. If anyone wants to
go borrow a couple.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Of kids, well, I say, because of course I've got
my new puppy, Taco, who if anyone I haven't actually
mentioned this on the podcast, I don't think that we've
got a dog now. I don't love dogs, so when
I when I arrived at home, I was less than thrilled.
But I have to say that I'm a big fan
of Taco. He's an Australian Chepherd. He's six months old.
He's gorgeous, lovely doggie. But he requires a huge amoutter
(12:10):
of walking. So already I'm planning on Christmas morning I'm
going to need to walk him, and then I'll need
to take it out in the afternoon as well. So
you know, whether you've got children to run with, or
play with, teenagers or a dog, everyone will benefit from
having some extra steps on that day.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
It will help your digestive system.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And that's a good rule for any kind of party,
you know, just buffer it with some extra movement and
a longer fast after you have overindulged. But a few
of the other sort of superfoods at this time, so
you can still enjoy I think platters. There are some
good dips out there. We'd reviewed a lighter Hommus not
long ago. There's the higher protein dips, platters filled with
veggies and a little bit less of the indulgent cheeses.
(12:45):
The white cheeses like goats cheese are lighter, as are
the ones like yalsberg that you can slice thinly. You know,
there are lighter options out there. And as I said,
you'll still have all the pleasure, but just make the
treats a little bit smaller and enjoy them at the
right time rather than leaving them openly out there to
graze on the whole day.
Speaker 4 (13:02):
Yeah, and I will say as well, you mentioned how
a smaller sized treats are really good. And I was
browsing it calls the other day as we do as dieticians,
and I found the Christmas range. Actually I'm going to
put a reel up on my Instagram as well, and
they had single serve plum puddings, they had single serve fruitcakes,
and they had single serve these little mini gingerbread things,
and they even had a little gingerbread decorating kit for
(13:23):
kids as well, which I thought was really cute. So,
you know, if you don't want to make plum pudding
that's going to serve thirty people that you have to
eat for the next three months just by the little
single serve because the reality is that a lot of
people won't eat plum pudding on Christmas Day, a lot
of people don't like pablo where a lot of people
don't like prawns. So I think we're just in this
mindset of over catering. Or I think that if you've got, say,
(13:44):
for example, ten people come into your house for Christmas Day,
cater for six and that'll be enough because there is
just so much food available everywhere that I just think
that we over cater and that drives the overconsumption as well.
So see if you can get the miniserve ones, and
that way as well last that a little bit longer
as well, if you don't want to make it yourself,
and you know, even those mini single served ones, if
(14:05):
you've had a really big, indulgent Christmas lunch, you might
want to share, you know, half a portion with someone,
even if it is a single serve one, which can
be a really great way as well, if you're not
feeling overly hungry for it. You can have a few spoons,
enjoy the taste and the satisfaction of it, but not
you know, actually need to have the entire thing. As well,
So I really do like those single mini portion size
things as well. I think they're a great little hack
(14:26):
for Christmas Day too.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Well.
Speaker 1 (14:28):
The most satisfaction is in the first two mouthfuls of food,
so you have the power or the putting one maybe two,
maybe three, But after that you should actually be pretty stuff.
So just keep that in mind that we program to overeat,
and there's nothing wrong with tasting and enjoying without continually eating,
because you can come back over several serves and have
a little bit each day without sort of that you know,
(14:48):
over eating. And I guess the other question is if
you're someone who's pretty controlled most of the time and
you really like to let loose at Christmas and basically
eat whatever you want, you know, go for all the
indulgent stuff we've been talking about, no problem. I think
the key is just to get back on track once
it's come Boxing Day, Whereas many people will write it
out right until New Years and that's where we run
into issues. So if you are someone more who likes
(15:10):
to really you know, give it a good goal on Christmas,
even Christmas, just be prepared to get back on track.
Boxing Day is another good sort of reset point. Otherwise
before we know it, it's rolled on to the thirty first,
the first, and that's the second or third week of
January and you still haven't done anything. So I think
it's those markers in time right now, it's time to
pull it in. I've had a really good run of it,
but it's time to get back on track.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Absolutely, And I do think that having a plan for
those couple of days in between Christmas, Boxing Day and
New Years, because like you said, most people will just
let it go and it's a full you know, seven
ten days, because let's be honest, we start the celebrating
probably from about the twenty third to twenty fourth, and
that rolls right around to the first or second of January.
So just have a really solid plan in place for
all the you know, three four five days in between.
(15:52):
So you've got some easy salad kits in the fridge,
you've got some salm and you can whacken the air fry.
You've got a little bit of you know, I like
the marinated tofu sea a massive aout a tofu. But
you know that can sit in the fridge for a
couple of weeks. It doesn't really go off. You can
throw it in a pan, put it in with a
salad kit, and you've got a really nice, healthy balance lunch.
Speaker 3 (16:08):
So just have a bit of a plan.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
For those extra days in between and really focus on
getting in that extra quality protein and vegetables as well,
because it's just going to make you feel so much
better before you know. The reality is it's the over
indulgence of you know, New Year's Eve and New Year's
Day again, and then kind of everyone waits till the
second or third of January to get back on track.
But if you can really focus on having a solid
few days between Christmas and New Years, you're just going
(16:31):
to feel a thousand times better.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
True, true, true.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So Christmas Day we're going to talk about specifically Christmas Day?
Or have we given and maybe we've given enough tips already?
I think, yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I think.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
I think the best thing you can do is really
eat until you're satisfied. If you want to try everything,
try everything. It doesn't mean you have to eat everything.
And I was having this conversation with my client the
other day and I said, she went to like a
I think it was like an eight course du station,
Like it was crazy. It was just an insane amount
of food, and she's like, well, you know, like I've
paid for a and I said, yeah, look, just taste everything.
You don't necessarily have to eat everything. And after coming
(17:04):
away from that, she said, that was absolutely just a
game changer for my mind set, not having, you know,
not thinking that I actually had to eat everything in
front of me just because I wanted to try everything.
Speaker 3 (17:13):
I said, just take a bot or two.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Like, I'm not advocating wasting it, but if you just
want to, you know, if somebody has made some I
don't know, Christmas brownies, My sister always makes these brownies
and she melts like the candy canes on top, so
they kind of taste minty brownies.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
They're really delicious.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
But if somebody's cut a piece of that, you can
always cut the piece in half. You can cut that
piece into a quarter. You don't have to just take
a whole piece of that. You can just try it.
I mean, if you take a bite out of it,
it's kind of wasted because no one else is going
to want it. So we're not advocating wasting food, but
you can just try things. You don't actually have to
eat everything on your plate. So I think the most
important message for Christmas Day is that balance eating until
(17:48):
you're satisfied and not stuffed, and try to avoid grazing
all day long, and get out of the house. Go
for walk, go to the beach, you know, go for
a swim in the pool, play some backyard cricket. Put
the sprinklel of the hose on and it's boiling hot,
and just get a little bit, you know, a little
bit hydrated, a little bit cooler.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
With the sprinkler on.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
I think it's just really important to move your body,
particularly when there is just so much food around and
there is a bit of over indulgence. But that's probably
the most important three messages on Christmas Day is eat mindfully,
don't graze all day long, and get out and get
active if you can.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
I think the exercise is one that very quickly gets
ditched at this time of year, when it's really a
time to do more. The days are longer, we're eating
a lot more, work is often a little bit more relaxed.
School's over, it's time to really get active, and then
you can sort of enjoy food a lot more without
worrying about it. And that's a good place to be,
considering most of us do like to eat the am
all right. Well, moving on to some of the Christmas
rangers out there, and I agree, I'm like everyone. We
(18:42):
get excited when we see new products in the supermarket
for Christmas. And I do Coals in particular do it
really well, and I do love it. We're not sponsored
by Coals, but credit where credits do they do do
Christmas well? And I found I guess one of the
foods that can be risky at this time of year
is like the appetizers, the cannapaze, it's the pastry and
no matter you go to drinks anywhere, they're always serving.
It's the are and chini balls and the spring rolls,
(19:04):
and we all love them. They're delicious, but they're like
often one hundred two hundred calories each and pactful of
bad fat. Like they're really not good for us. And
I have noticed that the supermarkets are doing more and
more of those appetizers that you can heat up, and
often I buy them and I'm disappointed they're not great.
You know. Often the ones we make at home ourselves
are much better, like the beautiful fresh sour dough with
some ricotta or goats cheese and smoked salmon or fresh
(19:27):
prawns with a dipping sauce like, they're always so much
nicer I find, or homemade meatballs leam with a dipping
sauce like, they're so much fresher and tastier. But I
have found one that I like, and I actually haven't
showed you yet, so I hope you like them too.
But this is the coal's finest. So this is in
the black boxes in the freezer section. Goats cheese, polenta chips. Now,
I goat cheese is polarizing. It is lower in fat
(19:49):
than regular cheddar type cheese, but not everyone likes it.
But if you like it, it's got a very strong
flavor and can really give cannapase in particular a lovely
taste to them. And when I have a look at them,
the initisial information per hundred grams, they come in at
about a thousand kilodules or about two hundred and fifty calories,
(20:10):
but perserve about one hundred calories per serve, which is
pretty reasonable. Now, I'll have a look at a second
how many are a serve to give us an idea.
It may only be one, but the overall fat is
thirteen percent, which is not too bad for a CANape,
keeping in mind that pastry based products would be up
around thirty forty percent. Fat per hundred grams is about
five grams of protein, and the carbohydrates were quite low
(20:34):
as well, coming at twenty three grams per hundred or
just ten grams of carbohydrate per serve. So I thought
as an appetizer they were not overly hind fat, not
overly hind carbohydrate. And when we look at the ingredients,
it's seventy three percent base of polenta which is maize
and goats cheese, so that's a pretty clean mix. There
are some preservatives mixtures palmes and cheeses and their wheat
(20:57):
flour thickness, so it's not a what we would call
a clean product nutritionally. There are some additives in there,
but the overall base at seventy three percent polenta and
groats cheese is actually pretty strong. And I'm going to
have a look now how many actual chips you would
get for.
Speaker 4 (21:11):
That, So two pieces in a serving. A serving size
is forty gram so there's five servings of packing two pieces,
which is reasonable.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
Yeah, because if you were teeming that I thought with like,
you know, a platter of some healthier dips, some crackers
which I'm going to make crackers actually land this year.
That recipe tin eats the crackers I'm going to make,
so they're yummy, and then you can do some veggie
sticks on there your dips. You could do maybe the seafood,
like if you like the smoked oysters, like I do,
some smoked salmon, and then one or two of these
(21:40):
is a hot cannopey. They're one of the best ones
I've found, so they get a big thumbs up from
me in terms of pre made things you can buy
in the supermarket, and a million times better than anything
with a pastry base, which is generally deep fried and
may even be offering or adding some transfats to the diet.
Speaker 4 (21:56):
I love it, and the ingredient list is pretty good.
I'll say it's a good find, and I love and
I love ghast cheese. So I'm actually going to buy these.
I'm very excited. But I think a serving size of
two for about one hundred calories is pretty fair, particularly
if you're having some dips and a bit of veggie sticks,
a little bit of crunch, and you know, some fresh
stuff with it as well. But I think a big
mistake a lot of us make it this Timmy Vie
is thinking, you know, it's a cheese platter, whereas I
(22:17):
always say, no, it's a bit of a grazing platter.
So put some fruit on there, put some veggie sticks
on there, put some leaner dips, even with cheese. A SUSI,
if I buy a big block of Bree or a
nice smoke cheddar or something, I'll cut it in half
and only put half on and then another tip I
tend to do it this time of the year is
actually pre slice the cheese and line it up in like,
you know, nice little shapes. Because if you let people
take their own chunk of bree, it's a chunk. Like
(22:39):
I've seen people in an entire wheel of Bree eat
that and say six six slices or something like. It's
crazy the big chunks that they'll have. So if you
can pre slice some of that cheese, it's better for
the budget because it'll go a little bit further and
it will naturally just help people to eat that little
bit less. So I love these. I think they're great.
I'm really excited to try them. As well, and there's
quite a few of the coal swine as the Christmas range.
(23:00):
I saw these little ice cream sticks for kids. They're
like little Christmas trees on a stick. They're quite cute.
And like I said, there's like single serve plum puddings
and everything as well, so there's quite a few. And
I think I saw some Christmas potatoes as well which
looked really good. And last year I think we were
reviewed there were some carrots as well, some butter parmesan
carrots or something which.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Were really tasty.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
So I definitely have a look, and you know each calls,
your local ones will stop a few different things.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But I think these are quite good. I quite like them.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Nutritionally, I agree.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I love a cheese shaver to shave down the slices
of cheese. I like the white cheese like the goats,
because you spread less on a cracker. If you put
goats cheese with some tomato on a thin cracker or
seeded cracker, it's delicious. And I agree with you. If
you put out the whole block of cheese, everyone will
just eat it. If you do half, it'll really go
a lot further. So Grassini is another thing that I
often put on a platter. People love to crunch on
(23:47):
a grassini and I love the flavored roasted faber beans
you can get in different flavors.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
They're crunchy.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
There are much healthier alternative to chips, and again much
more filling because you're geting some fiber and some protein
at the same time. So there are plenty of options
out there. We're certainly not saying don't eat any Christmas
indulgent food, but we're saying you can certainly buffer with
plenty of healthier options.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Yeah. I think they carrot sissya their carrot balls, aren't they.
Speaker 4 (24:09):
Yeah, the carrot ballbles with parsley butter. So the cole
Swiness range as well. They're something else that I found
as well in that Christmas range. And there was also
a Christmas tree potato noki as well, and yoki which
I thought was quite interesting. I didn't buy that because
my kids aren't a huge fan. But you know, there's
just some really fun things around at the supermarkets at
the moment, and they were these little fig cheddar and
parmesan bites as well. I'm going to do up a
(24:30):
little reel on my on my Instagram with some fun
little things. But yeah, just have a look around in
the shops and there doesn't have to be you know,
a ton of cheese or a ton of meats on
those platters. There can be lots of you know, interesting things.
At a Marmae beans they are another really good one
that little kids tend to like as well. Not tiny
children because they're a bit of a choking risk, but
you know, slightly older kids. I'm a little salted at
a Marmae beans. They can pull them out of the pods,
(24:50):
and no kids that sushi train really like them. So
that's a great way just to get everybody eating that
little bit of extra venge. Plus you get the benefits
of some fiber and some protein as well. So out
of big hair full of etamrmaie to your next grazing plotter,
and you know the whole family will benefit, all right.
And then now list of question for our little fight
or Christmas episode. What is the best way to reset
(25:11):
after the holidays and get back on track food wise? Well,
I think the best way is to have your mindset
right in the first place, so there's no over indulgence,
there's no just riding off that whole December period there's
no getting back on track, like just stay on track
the whole time. And staying on track doesn't mean that
you have to miss out. It doesn't mean that you
can't enjoy your food. It just means that you're going
(25:32):
to be a little bit more balanced and mindful than
you have been in previous years. And as I said before,
the best way to get back on track or stay
on track is to plan ahead and the next day,
whether it's you know, December the twenty sixth or December
the twenty seventh, wake up and have a really nourishing breakfast.
Prep some overnight otes so you've got a really delicious,
nourishing breakfast ready to go. Make sure you've got a
plan for lunching place you might want to do. You know,
(25:54):
I love those the salad bags. I particularly love the
Asian Salad Kit and the kales Law one doers a
beautiful yogat dressing with cranberries as well from Wilworst. So
just have a plan in place and have the meals
planned out for the next day, so there's no oh,
what I feel like for breakfast, Maybe we should go out,
Maybe I should you know, have the leftover croissants, what
I feel like for lunch, maybe I'll just have a
bit of you know, some cheese and crackers that are
(26:16):
left over and skip lunch.
Speaker 3 (26:17):
Because that's what tends to happen.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
We overgraze, we oversnack, we skip meals and before we
know it, and the more you eat crappy food and
get into that bad cycle.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
The harder it is to get back out of it.
Speaker 4 (26:27):
So I do think the best way to stay on
track is to get back on track, is to actually
stay on track in the first place, and plan ahead
and make sure you've got some fresh salad bags in
the fridge ready to go, you bought some lean protein,
you've got some beautiful fresh fruit and some Greek yogurt
ready to go for breakfast time. So it's not about
I guess, being super strict and doing a cleanser or
(26:47):
a new diet or anything like that. It's just really
about making balanced food choices at this time of year
and really trying to maximize every single meal. And it
doesn't matter really what happened in the mealble food or
the day before. It just really see it as a
new or tunity to put some good food and some
good quality, nutritious food back into your body and just
really try to maximize every single meal. That's really my
(27:07):
best way to answer that question. I think it's really
about the mindset and how we approach this time of
year more than anything true.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
And I also think it's a little bit about being
strict with your diary and your calendar, because I'll often
hear clients report to me, Oh, I've got so much
on there's so many events, But ultimately you also have
to say yes to those events. So if you've had
a very indulgent November and December and know that you
need some time to reset in January, it might be
time to sort of cut back a little bit and
(27:35):
to be saying no. And I find each week, you know,
if you create Sunday evening and afternoon time to reset
and get focused for the week ahead, you tend to
have a much better week. And I'd be inclined to
say the same thing in January. If you're going away
camping for several weeks, you need to then give yourself
a couple of buffer days to reset, Or if you've
had ongoing social arrangements right up to New Year's Day,
you need to give yourself a few days otherwise you
(27:56):
never create that space and time. And I think as women,
we're very reluctant to make that care. We don't want
to say no to people. We don't want to disappoint them.
We don't want to say no to our mother in
law or our cousin or our aunts, your our parents.
But sometimes you actually need to be able to stay
I need a few days at home to eat lightly
and get back on track. And that can be the
difference sometimes between actually achieving goals or making progress with them,
or just staying in this same place every year where
(28:18):
you sort of always feel like you've overdone it, but
never also get back on track. So I think, looking
at the diary, if you can really create some time
for yourself in the new year to dedicate to your
own health and well.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Being, absolutely, or just be strict with your boundaries as well,
if somebody really wants to catch up, so yeah, no problem.
But instead of lunch, can we go for a walk,
can we grab a coffee? Or would you mind if
you came over to mind for lunch. I'm going to
make us some beautiful a nice fresh salmon salad with
some mangoins and cranberers whatever, it might be, and just
be fairly firm with your boundaries at this time of year,
because when you eat good, you feel good, and that's
(28:50):
essentially what it boils down to. So we want to
eat well so we feel well and we stay healthy,
you know, long term, So just be quite firm with
your boundaries this time and it'll pay off in a
really positive way.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
All right.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
All that brings us to the end of the Nutrition
Couch for twenty twenty four. We want to always say
a massive thank you for your support, in particular for
your support of our augural Nutrition Couch Retreat, which we
are hoping to repeat in March, so please get in
touch if you were interested in attending that, but also
for our supplement range, which we launched in January twenty
twenty four, designed by dietitians. It has far exceeded our
(29:23):
expectations in terms of support, and a lot of that
comes from our podcast listeners. So we wish you a
very very merry Christmas and RESTful and healthy New Year,
and we can't wait to see you back here in
twenty twenty five for the Nutrition Couch once again.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Merry Christmas.
Speaker 4 (29:38):
Thank you so much for all of your support guys,
we love you. Merry Christmas.
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.