Holiday Meals: Curb Your Appetite

Jasbina Ahluwalia asks Jackie Warner, author of This is Why You’re Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever): Your book has several great, practical tips regarding grocery shopping and eating out. Can you share two or three of those with us?

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Jackie Warner

Yes. I have a little trick for during the holidays. This took me some time to learn.

Holiday Meals: Eat Before the Party

We all have a lot of holiday parties. First, always eat your dinner before going to a holiday party. It’s key.

Eat that clean dinner. Eat your salmon, broccoli and brown rice. Have your dinner and then go to the holiday party afterwards.

What happens is that you’re not as likely to graze. Grazing can add up to 2,000 or 3,000 calories easily at some of these parties.

You have hors d’oeuvres passed around. You’re not as likely to drink. Alcohol will not absorb as well. You’re not as likely to have alcohol at that time.

Holiday Meals: Eat Veggies First

Number two is to eat the good, the bad and the ugly on the plate.

When I eat out or eat my Thanksgiving or Christmas meal, I classify everything on the plate as good, bad or ugly.

Good foods are lean proteins, vegetables or fruit. The bad ones are the starches, carbs or breads. The ugly ones are the dessert, wine and alcohol.

In America in particular, we eat in exactly the reverse order.

We drink our wine first. We have our bread as we wait for our dinner. Then we eat the yummy things on our plate, which are the starches and potatoes. Then we move onto the healthy things.

Holiday Meals: Drink Water

You have to switch that order. You eat the good first. Then you drink a full glass of water, preferably with lemon. You sit for a few minutes.

It takes 20 minutes for the chemical leptin to be released into your body. That chemical tells your body that it’s full. This is a very effective chemical.

I want to tell your listeners to really try this because it works. Drink that glass of water. Let your leptin release for about five more minutes.