photo credit: ann marie boyle

Dr. Oz, from The Dr. Oz Show, is Oprah Winfrey’s top doc! The vice-chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University, who was the featured health expert on her show for five years, now offers up his top-notch health advice to stay germ-free during hectic holiday travel.

Holiday parties are all fun and games — until you get to the food table.

One of the best options to maintain nice — not naughty! — nutrition while at party is to prep before you go. For instance, you can always offer to bring something. This gives you an easy, healthy option and makes you an even better party guest!

Take a moment once you’re at the event to look around and see what your options are before diving into the first thing you see. Don’t feel the need to eat foods as they are presented.  It’s fine to just nibble on the meat in a finger-sandwich and avoid breads and spreads like mayonnaise.

If you are really excited about the dip, take a spoonful and try it on its own. Don’t feel the need to take the chips, which introduces more salt and creates a more intense craving. You can also substitute chips for vegetables that you can use with your dip.

The easiest way to avoid the fatty foods is to physically avoid them!

Take steps to stop from making food your focus. Find a place to sit or talk that’s not right next to the buffet line. Also, try to be present in conversation and really listen to others.

Another tip? Always have one hand free — have a drink in your hand, like a club soda with a lime. This can help you avoid feeling empty-handed and even make it more difficult to reach for food, since you’ve already got one hand tied up.

It’s time for a new slim-down mantra: Eat more to weigh less. No joke! The right foods help you drop pounds by revving your calorie burn and curbing cravings. Add these eats to your plate today and you’ll be slimmer and healthier in no time!

Eggs

Dig in to eggs, yolks and all: They won’t harm your heart, but they can help you trim inches. Women on a low-calorie diet who ate an egg with toast and jelly each morning lost twice as many pounds as those who had a bagel breakfast with the same number of calories but no eggs. “Egg protein is filling, so you eat less later in the day,”.

Eat more Omelets and scrambles are obvious choices, but if you can’t cook before work, bake a frittata on Sunday; chill it and nuke slices for up to a week.

photo credit: Christopher Chan

Oats

“Oatmeal has the highest satiety ranking of any food,”. “Unlike many other carbohydrates, oats even the instant kind digest slowly, so they have little impact on your blood sugar.” All oats are healthful, but the steel-cut and rolled varieties (which are minimally processed) have up to 5 grams of fiber per serving, making them the most filling choice. Instant oats contain 3 to 4 grams per serving.

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The average T-day meal packs a whopping 3,000 to 4,000 calories. Add in second and third helpings and you can end up looking like someone stuffed a pumpkin into the back of your skinny jeans. This year, fend off the holiday flab (the average person packs on 9 to 11 pounds between now and New Year’s) by making these smart (and not too painful) swaps.

1. The Chubby Choice: Dark Meat Turkey
Three ounces of dark meat (about the size of a deck of cards) contains 165 calories and unhealthy saturated fat.

Slim Swap: White Meat Turkey
Three ounces of white meat contains only 100 calories. Bonus: Lean protein like white meat increases satiety, making you feel fuller longer.

Calories saved: 65

2. The Chubby Choice: Candied Sweet Potato Casserole
Loaded with sugar and marshmallows, this Turkey Day fave can pack up to 430 calories per cup.

Slim Swap: Baked Sweet Potato with Skin
A whole baked sweet potato contains only 180 calories. You’ll get all the health benefits of this superspud, like vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and fiber, without all the excess sugar. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon for a flavor boost.

Calories saved: 250

photo credit: Lawrence OP

3. The Chubby Choice: Green Bean Casserole
A serving of green bean casserole is loaded with butter, cream of mushroom soup, cheese, and fried onions. No wonder it racks up 241 calories.

Slim Swap: Steamed Veggies
Steal one cup of steamed green beans (44 calories) or steamed asparagus (40 calories) out of the pot. If plain veggies are too bland for you, drizzle with olive oil and ground pepper. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for extra flavor without adding a ton of unwanted calories.

Calories saved: 197
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Losing weight and keeping it off for good requires both physical and mental preparation. You need to determine a weight-loss plan that you are able to stick with for the long haul. It’s not easy, but there are steps you can take to stay motivated.

10 Ways to Get Psyched for Weight Loss

1. Commit. “The first step is making a commitment to yourself,”.”Make a commitment and then share that commitment with somebody else.” This will make you more accountable to your diet, exercise plan, and weight-loss goals.
2. Make a plan. “Think about you as a person, as a whole being, and come up with a plan that’s going to be best for you,”.It should be a program that will help you lose weight, but also be easy to stick to. This goes for both diet and exercise.
3. Don’t wait for the “right time.” At one time or another, everyone has determined what they think is the perfect time to start a diet after the holidays, after vacation, after tomorrow. “I think it’s important to recognize that there’s never a perfect time to start,”.


photo credit: stephcarter

4. Get in the right mindset. Don’t fall into an “all-or-nothing” way of thinking, stresses Binks. You don’t have to give up all decadent foods or exercise strenuously every day of the week. It’s about small changes in your lifestyle that you can stick with and that will brings results overtime.
5. Be realistic. “Think about how your life is right now, and what you can realistically achieve in terms of an exercise and eating plan,”. That means considering all aspects of your life, including work and family responsibilities. “If you will be traveling for business over the next two months, you probably need to think of a plan to eat healthily in restaurants instead of a stringent plan you would always need to modify,”. more…

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