Diet Designs' Holiday Party Eating Guidelines

Carrie Wiatt's Diet Designs

Holiday Party Eating Guidelines

Fighting fat between the weeks of Thanksgiving and New Years Eve can be very difficult.  Most people gain between 7 To 10 pounds during the Holiday Season.  The following guidelines will help you stay on course through the Holidays.

*NEVER GO HUNGRY TO PARTY.  Eat a salad, apple, or a yogurt first. Eat only the foods you like best at each party and pass on the rest.

*BEFORE YOU WALK IN THE DOOR OF A PARTY, HAVE A PLAN. Decide how many appetizers and drinks you will allow yourself, and stick to your plan.

*THINK OF “PARTY EATING” LIKE A BANKING TRANSACTION.  If you are overdrawn one night, pay back the next day by cutting your daily caloric allowance.  This doesn’t mean skipping meals entirely, just cut back your calories.

*IF YOU ARE PREPARING A HOLIDAY MEAL, HAVE FRIENDS AND FAMILY DO THE  TASTING FOR YOU.  All that tasting adds up.

*IF HAVING GUESTS OVER, PREPARE FOOD WITH LESS SUGAR AND FAT.  Sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes do not need butter or sugar.  Use corn bread stuffing instead of white bread stuffing.  Use Fat-Free chicken broth for stuffing and basting the turkey.  Utilize Low-Fat recipes available through Diet Designs.

       

*STOCK YOUR REFRIGERATOR WITH CUT UP FRUITS AND VEGETABLES AND HAVE YOUR DESIGNATED SNACKS AVAILABLE.

*TAKE TINY PORTIONS OF EVERYTHING.  Avoid gravies and fat filled dressings.  Have about 4 oz of Turkey (3 to 4 slices).  Use a tablespoon to gauge side dish portions.  Have fresh fruit and a 1” slice of your favorite pie.

  

*HAVE WINE OR BRANDY, instead of after dinner liqueurs, mixed drinks, or seasonal eggnog (unless it is non-fat). (1 glass of wine can count as 1 of your snacks.)

*IF SOMEONE GIVES YOU FATTENING FOODS AS A GIFT, GIVE IT TO SOMEONE ELSE, RIGHT AWAY.

Happy Holidays!

Diet Designs: The Secret to Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain

Diet Designs' secrets are revealed in this recent article: 

Hollywood's Secret for Avoiding Holiday Weight Gain.

Healthy Kids & Healthy Lunches

In January 2011, the USDA proposed a few healthy requirements to be implemented in school lunches.  This month, Congress denied all legislation, due to “financial concerns” and “lack of data on potential health benefits.”  In their spending bill for the National School Lunch Program, Congress delayed or stopped all major suggestions, including the following:

• Allow vegetables such as corn, peas, and potatoes only twice per week  in an effort to reduce French fry consumption and increase vegetable variety;
• Require a minimum of green and orange vegetables to be served each week;
• Change the amount of tomato paste that counts as a vegetable serving. (Currently, two tablespoons of tomato paste (normally served on pizza) can count as a vegetable serving.  The USDA wanted the total to be set at half-cup.);
• Limit sodium;
• Make all grains and breads whole grain, instead of refined grains;
• Set a maximum calorie allowance for meals; and
• Install more targets for low-fat dairy content.

  Today, 1/3 of American children are overweight or obese.  These USDA proposals aimed to reshape our younger generation’s view of a healthy diet.  Studies show that students receive 40% of their calories and up to half of their daily sodium allowance through school lunches.   How can parents keep their children healthy if students are given free reign at school?  Recent articles claim that eating healthy is more expensive than a diet full of processed, high-fat, sugary foods.  If this is true and parents can’t provide nutritious meals at home, wouldn’t they want a guaranteed nutritious lunch for their kids?

On the other hand, many schools and politicians claim the government doesn’t have the right to restrict what school lunches serve.  Some think that Congress would rather follow the recommendations of frozen pizza makers, food manufacturers, and potato growers instead of nutrition child advocates and experts.  

        Can’t there be a middle ground of schools providing better, nutritious meals while allowing fun, healthier kid-friendly options?  Hopefully in the not-so-distant future, our government will have the financial means and consistent evidence to put the USDA’s proposals into action.  Excellent eating habits begin in our school-age years, through examples set at home and in schools.

Learn the secret to a longer, leaner, healthier life with Diet Designs.

Overeating has become a national health crisis and probably a personal crisis for many of you too. Diet Designs is a RE-EDUCATION program that will realign your mind and body with your diet, UNLEARNING a lifetime of mistruths. You can-and you will-turn your portion problem into a new sense of PORTION PERCEPTION that will bring you LIFELONG fitness and health.

SIGN UP FOR DIET DESIGNS TODAY. NO CONTRACTS. UNLIMITED DISLIKES. CALL 310-253-9079.

Fruit, Fads, & Huffington post

Read our newest blog post on the Huffington Post:

Fruit: Fads, Digestion, & Cleanses

Huffington Post & Diet Designs

Take a look at our most recent HuffPost blog for enlightening tips:
14 Ways to Bring Positive Change in Your Life

Empower Your Healthy Self

Growth is the energy of life.  You can invite the light of growth into your life in simple daily ways. Small changes add up to big ones, and every positive step you take for yourself can advance you on your path to a healthy, balanced, beautiful life.

In all my work inspiring people to choose enlightened lifestyles, I've found that change is contagious.  See how embracing growth can empower your best self in mind, body, and spirit.

Here are a few of my favorite ideas for expanding your life energy.

• Start a journal
• Eat outside the box.
• Join a group.
• Quit a group.
• Try a New Workout.
• Take an acquaintance to lunch.
• Enrich your color palette.
• Be a tourist in your own town.
• Rearrange your living room.
• Plant something.
• Set a daring goal and make a plan to achieve it.
• Break the language barrier.
• Dance.
• Make a date with a child.

Start a Journal.
Freedom of expression is always at your fingertips when you keep a journal. Browse stationery or bookstores for a journal that sparks your imagination. Whether it's the weight of the pages, the colors on the cover, the size that slips into your purse-pick the one that feels just right. You might customize your journal by collaging the cover or pasting pictures on pages. Then, write! Try free association first thing in the morning, a sentence describing the brightest moment of each day, snippets of songs or poems or overheard conversations. Reflect on your goals and dreams, and log the progress you make.

Eat Outside the Box.
To open your mind to new pleasures, try a dish or cuisine you've never tasted-perhaps a Vietnamese spring roll wrapped in a lettuce leaf, genuine Jamaican jerk (meat rubbed with a unique spice mix and grilled), or something exotic from the imported produce section at the market. Hit an authentic restaurant or pick up a cookbook from the bookstore or library and explore in your own kitchen. Feel your taste buds come alive! (P.S. Watch your portions and skip the high-fat dishes.)

Join a Group.
Great things happen in groups. Consider joining a community choir, the Sierra Club, Big Brothers or Sisters, a book club, charitable board, neighborhood committee, or political campaign. Pursue your passions, share with likeminded people, and let your voice be heard.

Quit a Group.
Has one of your affiliations gone stale? Have you contributed and learned all that you can? Say goodbye to clear the slate for new adventures to come.

Try a New Workout.
There's nothing like a change of pace to revamp your exercise routine. The workout world has become a global village, and you can sample international treats from tai chi (China) to Pilates (Germany), karate (Japan), capoeira (Brazil), yoga (India) and more-or just get that tennis ace friend to finally give you a lesson.

Take an Acquaintance to Lunch.
We all work or interact with someone we don't really know. For no reason at all, ask this mysterious individual to join you for a noonday salad. See what you discover.

Enrich Your Color Palette.
Buy or borrow a piece of clothing or accessory in a color you never wear. Wear it. How do you feel?

Be a Tourist in Your Own Town.
Whether you live in a sparkling metropolis, sleepy suburb, small town, or the countryside, there's guaranteed to be something you haven't done or seen right in your backyard. Take a day in which you pretend you're a tourist from another country here to see the sights. Put on your walking shoes and go.

Rearrange Your Living Room.
(Don't try this at home alone.) Does your living room lag behind your current lifestyle or simply feel frozen in time? With an able-bodied assistant or two, clear out all the tired items and move around the furniture and remaining accessories and accents. Bask in your new point of view.

Plant Something.
On a city balcony or in a big backyard, putting your hands in the dirt is a primal connection to growth energy. Plant a pot of herbs, a precious orchid bulb, a bed of peonies, or a vine of tomatoes to ripen in the sweet summer heat. Tend your plant and grow along with it.

Set a Daring Goal and Make a Plan to Achieve It.
When you strip away the blinders of self-doubt, what would you really love to do? Travel the world, become a teacher, write a book, start a business, dance in a Broadway play? Think blue sky! No matter how unrealistic your venture might seem, daring to write it down and assess the steps that could take you there can be a profoundly liberating experience.

Break the Language Barrier.
Communication plants seeds of peace and positive growth for the world. Learn how to introduce yourself to someone in another language. Do it. (This has greatest effect if you share your new greeting with a native speaker of that language.)

Dance.
If you're like most busy people, I bet it's been awhile since you really got your groove on. Hit a salsa club (try the early lesson to learn a few steps), take a jazz or ballet class at a dance studio, or grab a friend and head out to a live venue. Let the music move you.

Make a Date with a Child.
Kids grow and change at the speed of light, and even overloaded parents can gain insight by taking some time out with a child-yours or someone else's-to do something special. Try a favorite activity from your own childhood, or the fantastic event you only ever wished for as a kid.