Christmas is known primarily for three things: family, gifts and overindulgence. Ok, four if you include arguments. Those things aside, what Christmas goodies should you be avoiding at Christmas if you want to hit your weight loss goals? Christmas foods, snacks and drinks can pile on the calories if you aren’t careful. With that in mind, what should you be avoiding?
Mince Pies
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Fruit pies are a staple of the holiday season, and a traditional mince pie is one of the few Christmas foods that is essentially the same every year. However, they still have a lot of calories and fat in them.
A single, small mince pie has about 300 calories, or the equivalent of a small lunch, because of the dense pastry and sweet fruits. So by all means, enjoy a mince pie this Christmas; just keep in mind that it contains a high number of calories for its size.
Christmas pudding with custard
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Christmas pudding is another traditional favourite. While it doesn’t contain a lot of fat, the heavy dried fruit load makes it a concentrated source of energy. Once we add brandy sauce, custard, and/or ice cream, our favourite Christmas dessert can have 600–800 calories per serving. The secret to enjoying your pudding while consuming fewer calories is to choose a thin slice, and use less custard or sauce.
Gingerbread Latte
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Is it Christmas without a seasonal hot drink? Objectively, yes, but it somehow doesn’t feel the same. Hot chocolate is a firm favourite, and Gingerbread Lattes taste great too. We would advise giving some thought to your Christmas hot beverage, though.
A Gingerbread Latte from Costa Coffee, for example, can contain a whopping 1,169 calories (in-store serving of 365ml). As great tasting as they may be, they are not going to do your waistline any favours at all.
Yorkshire Pudding
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Depending on the ingredients used, the average calorie count for a homemade Yorkshire pudding can range from 60 to 150. As a result, you can anticipate that a dozen of them will contain anywhere between 720 and 1800 calories.
Remember that homemade baked goods are always healthier than store-bought ones, even though that may come as a bit of a shock to some. When you consider that lots of people have two Yorkshire puddings with their Christmas dinner, that could be up to 300 calories on your plate in Yorkshire puddings alone.
Cheesecake
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Cheesecake almost always makes an appearance in the array of dessert options at Christmas gatherings. However, with a slice containing about 125 grams and 401 calories per serving, you might want to reconsider.
Given that cream cheese is the main component, the fact that the average cheesecake contains 253 calories just from fat is not surprising. To burn off these calories, you’d need to walk for approximately 108 minutes. Winter stroll anyone?
Yule Log
Yule Logs, which can contain an astounding 567 calories per 139-gram slice, are in a different category altogether from other desserts. This includes 276 calories from fat, of which 203 are from butter alone. To burn off the calories from this dessert, you would need to walk for around two hours. However, Yule logs are certainly attractive – maybe make it a small slice and put it on a workout day…
Don’t let Christmas get the better of you
Nobody is saying don’t have fun or indulge yourself over Christmas, but the health and weight negatives should be taken into consideration too. Grab the festivities by the Jingle Bells and be sure to enjoy yourself.
