Posted on 17 Dec 2016 Views 4508 Comments 4
The Christmas season is well and truly here and with the big day and family festivities fast approaching, it’s hard to get away from all those tempting festive treats. If you’re currently following a Slim & Save programme, it may seem tricky to know how to manage the Christmas season – whether to stay on the plan, or to have a short break. We have therefore written this article to give you information on these two options.
Hats off to you if you’re planning staying in ketosis over Christmas! The good news is that on the Lifestyle plan, there are plenty of options you can choose from, so you don’t feel left out. The menu planner database was updated last Christmas
to include some festive items for you to choose, whilst still staying in ketosis. The key to staying in ketosis is to keep your daily carbohydrate below a certain level, whilst also having a low calorie intake. You do this by sticking to the appropriate
portion sizes and types of food (e.g. a small portion of boiled potatoes is ok on Christmas day, but they should not be roasted or mashed). Our example menu also shows you what you could include on Christmas day - it even allows you to have a few
special treats, such as a Ferrero Rocher and cheese and crackers! To view last Christmas’s post for ideas, please visit here.
As always, the key is in forward planning - why not use the meal planner to plan your Christmas day’s menu ahead of time – that way you won’t get caught out.
There are also a range of festive foods and drinks available through Slim & Save that you may wish to order, such as Slim & Save’s mulled wine flavour drink mix and gingerbread shakes, Beanies flavoured coffees (amaretto, Irish cream and creamy caramel flavours feel particularly ‘Christmassy’), Walden Farms marshmallow and caramel dip, cinnamon-raisin spread and syrup selections.
If you’re planning on taking a break from the plan over the Christmas period, here are our 8 top tips:
Alcoholic drink | Number of calories (kcal) | Equivalent food |
---|---|---|
Spirit (one measure) | 70 kcal | Digestive biscuit |
Small glass (50ml) port or sherry | 70-80 kcal | 2 rich tea biscuits |
Glass of champagne / prosecco | 85 kcal | Chocolate digestive biscuit |
Small glass of wine | 125 kcal | Packet of crisps |
Double Baileys | 175 kcal | 7 ½ squares of milk chocolate |
Glass of homemade mulled wine | 180 kcal | 9 jelly babies |
Large glass of wine | 195 kcal | Slice of sponge cake |
Pint of beer | 197 kcal | Large slice of pizza |
Pint of cider | 210 kcal | Sugar doughnut |
Instead of… | Try… | |
---|---|---|
Starter | Cheese or Pate | Fresh melon, vegetable soup or smoked salmon |
Christmas main course | Roast potatoes cooked in goose fat | Roast potatoes brushed with olive oil |
Roast turkey with skin | Remove the skin (it’s high in fat) | |
Pigs in blankets | Choose reduced fat sausages, grill them, and choose lean bacon medallions, or back bacon with the fat trimmed off | |
Traditional stuffing | Chestnut and/or fruit based stuffing | |
Cranberry sauce | Bread sauce made with skimmed milk | |
Desserts | Christmas pudding with brandy butter or double cream | Christmas pudding with no added sugar custard or reduced fat crème fraiche |
Yule log | Fresh fruit salad with natural yoghurt | |
Trifle | Homemade trifle using sugar free jelly with fresh fruit, and layer with no added sugar custard and whip (made with skimmed milk) | |
Snacks / nibbles | Traditional mince pies | Homemade mince tarts made with filo pastry (filo has much less fat than traditional shortcrust pastry) |
Salted peanuts or salted cashews | Roast chestnuts (much lower in fat) | |
Sweets and chocolates | Dried fruit, plain popcorn, plain pretzels or raw vegetable sticks with low fat dips |
It's good to be slim
In the last | Slim & Save customers have lost |
30 Days | 3,126lb |
Read their stories |
Based on the Slim & Save customers who are using the Weight Tracker Application. (Data auto-updated at 5am each day).
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