The Valley Hospital

FALL 2014

Spirit of Women magazine is a national publication presented to women by hospitals and their physicians. The magazine provides up-to-date, evidence-based healthcare information and promotes our hospitals as leaders in women's health excellence.

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S P I R I T O F W O M E N FA L L 2 014 w w w. s p i r i t o f w o m e n . c o m simplify 6 H E A L T H Y E A T I N G By Bev Bennett Y ou know the holiday cooking drill: You're preparing food nonstop from Thanksgiving through New Year's Eve, as you make everyone's favorite dishes as well as a few delicious surprises. But you don't have to cook yourself into a frenzied state, and you don't have to opt for high-fat, high-calorie fast food as an alternative. By a wonderful coincidence, the same strategies that nutrition experts recommend to avoid weight gain during the holidays will help you rein in your kitchen workload: 1. Re-evaluate traditional dishes. To make sure you use your calories and your time wisely, "think about the food you look forward to during the year, things that are special dishes," says Dr. Angelina Cain at WellStar Comprehensive Bariatric Services, part of WellStar Health System, Marietta, Ga. Prepare those dishes and skip the ones that no one touches, keeping a nutritionally balanced menu in mind. Maybe this means you'll cross the Christmas fruitcake off your to-do list. Instead, knowing your family loves apple desserts, you can prepare an apple crumble with a topping of oats and nuts, suggests Margaret Brittain, a registered dietitian with Pocono Medical Center, East Stroudsburg, Pa. 2. Have a plan. When you're dieting, you think about upcoming social activities and how you'll manage making healthy food choices, says Diane Giambruno, registered dietitian, CentraCare Heart & Vascular Center, St. Cloud Hospital, St. Cloud, Minn. Do the same with your holiday meals 5 ways to

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