Food for December 24 (Christmas dinner #1):
1. Start each meal with a soup and/or salad and/or fruit.Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.
2. Follow the 50/50 plate method for your meals, filling half your plate (by visual volume) with non-starchy vegetables and 50% (by visual volume) with minimally processed starches. Choose fruit for dessert.Yes for breakfast and lunch, no for dinner.
3. Greatly reduce or eliminate added sugars and added salts. This includes gourmet sugars and salts, too. If either is troublesome for you, you can eliminate them.There was added sugar in the cranberry sauce, maple syrup in the sweet potatoes, and of course sugar in the after-dinner off-plan chocolate candy. There was added sodium in the neatloaf cups, the gravy, the stuffing, the rice pilaf, and the dinner roll (modest amounts).
4. Eliminate all animal foods (dairy, meat, eggs, fish, seafood).The chocolate candy had dairy.
5. Eliminate all higher fat plant foods (i.e., nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, soy).The neatloaf cups had tofu in the ingredients. The chocolate candy had cocoa. Grazed on nuts after dinner.
6. Eliminate any added oil.Yes
7. Eliminate all higher calorie-dense foods including flour products (i.e., bread, bagels, muffins, crackers, dry cereals, cookies, cakes), puffed cereals, air-popped popcorn and dried fruit.Had a dinner roll. Had dates after dinner. And obviously the chocolate candy!
8. Don't drink your calories (especially from juices & sugar-sweetened beverages).Had wine with dinner and a brandy after dinner.
9. Follow these principles, eating whenever you are hungry until you are comfortably full. Don't starve yourself and don't stuff yourself.Yes
10. Avoid being sedentary and aim for at least 30 minutes or more of moderate exercise daily (i.e., brisk walking).Yes, did 30 minutes on the treadmill.
Thoughts:I will be having two Christmas dinners -- I had one already with my husband and adult son on Christmas Eve, and will have a second one with my husband and my dad on Christmas Day (the second one will be mostly leftovers). So, one down, one to go. The dinner itself had some richer foods that are compliant on the regular McDougall program, which was planned, but the after-dinner grazing on chocolate, nuts, and dates was unplanned. My son had a tray of chocolates that he got from work, really special ones from a local chocolatier, and I couldn't resist. I had made a fruit dessert but didn't eat it and just went for the chocolate, nuts, and dates instead. I had some alcohol too, which I hadn't intended to. Oh well! Christmas only comes once a year (thank goodness). Also, my overall choices and the total amount of junk consumed could have been much worse
I hope everyone who is celebrating the holiday today is having a wonderful Christmas!