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Melanie Cole (Host):  As the holiday season ramps up we have some of our favorite traditional foods on our minds and many of these traditional foods are considered less than healthy since they're typically loaded with saturated fat, salt, sugar, and animal products, all waiting their turn to clog our arteries. My guest today is Mary-Elyse Edgar. She's a registered dietitian-nutritionist with the GHS Life Center. Welcome to the show, Mary-Elyse. Tell us, what goes on at the holidays? Does everybody have to gain weight at the holidays? And, what do you tell people every single day about maintaining moderation and eating during the holidays?

Mary-Elyse Edgar (Guest):  I certainly don't think that everybody has to gain weight during the holidays and, really, I think that the healthiest goal during the holidays is to focus on maintaining your current weight. It is not a time to try to be continuing to lose weight if you're in the middle of a weight loss program. If you can just try to keep your head on and eat healthy, balanced meals throughout the holiday season, I think most of us will be just fine.

Melanie:  People tend to think, “Okay, it’s Thanksgiving or its Christmas Day, I'm not going to eat breakfast because I'm going to be eating appetizers and such a big dinner,” so let's start with breakfast. Should you eat breakfast?

Mary-Elyse:  Absolutely, and skipping any meal at any time is never a really good idea because all the people tend to like to save their calories particularly at a holiday event like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Usually what happens for most of us is that by the time a big meal comes around, we're stressed, we're exhausted and we are famished. All of those are really a very difficult situation to face when you're going into a meal full of foods that you're not commonly eating, foods that tend to be high in fat and salt, in cholesterol and sugar. It's really a recipe for a bad scene for eating unhealthy, and feeling miserable after the end of the meal. I really encourage everybody to absolutely eat breakfast, to also eat lunch, to not skip meals during the day of a big meal like Thanksgiving or Christmas, and to try and get some physical activity in as well. Just try and just keep your normal routine and eat balanced meals and never go into a meal very, very hungry.

Melanie:  Along those lines, never going into a meal very hungry, some people advocate eating before you go to one of these parties, like having a salad or having something along those lines to fill you up. Does that just make you eat double the amount or does that really help you to use a little bit more willpower?

Mary-Elyse:  That really is a great tool that we frequently encourage people to do before a party, before a big holiday meal, is to have a small snack balanced with a good source of protein before you go in so that you're not famished, so that you won't over eat and overindulged. Which is what we tend to do when we go into a meal very, very hungry, and the protein helps keep our blood sugar stable and help just feeling more able to make good choices when you're sitting at a table full of lots of delicious treats and things that this time of year we tend to look forward to having.

Melanie:  So, if people are able to eat a little bit something before they still get there and there's all these wonderful appetizers, little quiches and crab dips, and all these things and they want to sample them. What are they supposed to do about using that willpower and motivation to not overdo it on the appetizers knowing what's coming after?

Mary-Elyse:  When it comes to any type of holiday gatherings, one thing that I really like to encourage people to think about is that you're really going to the gathering to meet with friends and family or business acquaintances. The focus of the gathering isn't the food, the focus of the gathering is the gathering of your friends and the people that you work with, the people that you have some time away from work to visit with. So, number one is to focus on the people more than you do on the food. If you're talking about appetizers before a big meal comes in, then if you were able to have something before it's terrific. If you're not and you're just a little bit hungry and you're going to that big meal and that appetizers are sitting there ahead of you, I would really encourage you just to try a few things. Get a small plate, get a few things that you think might tide you over, particularly if there's something that has a little bit of protein in it or a little bit of fat like some nuts, some little appetizers that might provide something to just take the edge off. Get your little plate and then go over and talk to your friends and stay away from the table until the meal comes.

Melanie:  Then, as we're talking to one of our friends, one of the most common things that happens around the holidays is people are drinking which can reduce inhibitions plus there's a lot of calories in alcohol. What do you tell people about drinking their calories?

Mary-Elyse:  Absolutely. Well, I think that if you're faced between eating your calories and drinking your calories, I would always take the side of eating my calories instead of drinking my calories and avoid too many calories from your beverages and that can be difficult during this time of year particularly if people around you are drinking. One of the things that I think kind of helps people to step back and slow down having repeated trips to the bar to have repeated drinks is to have some water, some club soda with lime, something in between each alcoholic beverage. If you're having a glass of wine when you get there, when that glass of wine is through perhaps going and having a nice club soda, talking to some more friends and then finishing that glass before you go back and have another glass of wine or whatever your drink of choice is. There are also some tips for trying to decrease the calories in the drink that you're having, using perhaps a diet soda or club soda to mix with your beverage instead of a regular sugared soda. There are holiday drinks like eggnog. There are great recipes and tips and tricks to try and reduce the calories in those, so I would definitely encourage people to look into some of those before they start increasing the amount that they have over the holiday period.

Melanie:  If you're the person who's cooking, you're kind of tasting food all day, and you're cooking and you're tasting. So, when the meal comes then you're just loading up and adding onto the calories you've already been really noshing on and tasting all day long. What do you tell the cook about what they can do to try and make it such a non-damaging day?

Mary-Elyse:  I think the tools that we encourage people to use as party goers are really the same tool that I would encourage the cook to use. Frequently, if you're the person who's cooking the turkey, then you're going to get up really early in the morning, you might skip breakfast, have a couple of cups of coffee, get right into the kitchen, and go through your day without really eating any normal scheduled meals, without getting any exercise, and you are tasting constantly and frequently what we tend to be tasting are those things that we're serving in the evening that are going to be higher in fat and sugar. I really encourage the cook and everybody else that's helping her and any guests that are in your house that are helping you cook to also make sure that you do have on that big special day before the meal you have a nice breakfast that's balance from whole grains and lean sources of protein and some dairy, maybe some healthy fats that start your day off right. Then, you will be less tempted to nosh all day long if you're already having some balanced meals. Get out of the kitchen everyone in a while. Go for a quick walk around the block while the turkey is cooking in the oven, and try and maintain the same meal pattern as you would on any other day so that you're not famished when the meal is served and you're also not full from just mindlessly sampling all day long.

Melanie:  There's the main meal itself, maybe it’s turkey or ham; there's always the side dishes; and then there's the pans of sugary marshmallow to cover side dishes that masquerade as orange vegetables. So, what are we supposed to do about making those good choices for us, Mary-Elyse, that won't be quite so bad and put you into a food coma afterwards?

Mary-Elyse:  Well, I definitely think that when you are sitting in front of a huge spread of lots of different things that you really focus only on those foods that you absolutely love. This isn't the time to be filling up on bread or foods that you just like or want to get just a taste of, to fill in your plate. I would really focus on the foods that you really, really love, and just try to avoid the food that aren't going to bring you that much pleasure. When you're making your plate you've got a couple of different options for how to approach it. Basically, I like to load up on all the vegetables and then, for those foods that are higher in fat and higher in salt, having a smaller portion of it, and just being very mindful of what you're putting on your plate and making sure that it's what you really would like. I also am not a very big advocate of telling you just to avoid things, “Don't go near the sweet table,” or “Don't have anything that you really feel is not a healthy food.” It's a very special occasion and sometimes you are having food that you wouldn't normally have throughout the rest that year and I think sometimes when you sacrifice that and completely avoid it, it really sets you up for feeling bad and overeating somewhere else down the road. If there's pumpkin pie, and apple pie, and pecan pie, and those are things that you really been looking forward to all year long, I'm not going to tell you to not have them but I would certainly tell you to have a little taste of each one maybe a small piece, find a buddy that you can split a serving with so that you're not feeling deprived but you're not over overindulging. You're not increasing your calories drastically through one meal.

Melanie:  Would you just wrap it up for us in the last few minutes here, Mary-Elyse? It’s great information for the holidays upcoming and healthy eating and making those good choices using willpower when necessary. So, wrap it up for us?

Mary-Elyse:  I just think it's important to go into the holidays with a really good plan. If the weight is a problem for you or eating healthy has been a struggle for you in the past, I think having a plan before you go into the holiday season is really, really important so that you don't feel like things are falling apart for you somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Make sure that you remember that the purpose is to enjoy your friends and your family, and food is kind of a side bar but that you can manage it with just a few different tools and tricks of your own to eat sensibly, to choose things that you really, truly love to eat until you are satisfied and not stuffed. Remembering not to skip meals and to include a lot of opportunities for not just you but your friends and family who might be visiting having lots of opportunities for activity whether it's a hike in the mountains, or a bike ride, or a walk through the rabbit trail. Something that everybody can do to get out and to stay active during the months that we frequently tend to become less active while we tend to increase what we're eating. I think with all of these tips, you can navigate the holidays without any difficulties.

Melanie:  Thank you so much for being with us today. You're listening to Inside Health with Greenville Health System. For more information on the GHS Life Center, you can go to www.ghs.org. That's www.ghs.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.