Pull out the knives and grab the cutting board. After raising two kids, Deborah Woodard knows exactly how to prep for Christmas dinner.
"You take your recipes, if you got to buy sour cream, you put that on the list ... butter," Woodard told Ivanhoe.
Preparing for the holidays. Those rich foods are the season's biggest bugaboo. The National Institutes of Health now say Americans gain an average of one full pound from holiday eating.Virginia Commonwealth University doctor Daphne Bryan says that's a problem.
"This time of the year is a very dangerous, so to speak, part of the year," Daphne Bryan, M.D., said.
The average holiday meal can hit 35 hundred calories, which equals one full pound of body fat. The solution?
"Just have more vegetables be a part of our holiday season," Dr. Bryan said.
Cut back on starches and sugars. A menu with dark meat turkey, a cup of stuffing, and jellied cranberry sauce runs about 13 hundred calories. But turkey breast, a cup of green bean casserole and homemade cranberry sauce runs less than 800 calories.
"The fun is watching people enjoy it," Woodard said.
Maybe so mom, but low-calorie stuff tastes good too.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Malorie Janis / Public Relations Specialist
Virginia Commonwealth University
804-827-0889
