For many of us, Christmas means sarmale, steak, cozonac, boeuf salad or piftie, traditional dishes that, although delicious, can be a challenge for those trying to maintain a balanced lifestyle. In order to properly manage holiday meals, we must realize that the biggest danger is not the dishes themselves, but disorganization and impulsiveness.
The Christmas meal can be prepared more nutritionally balanced. Archive photo
Contrary to myth, it is not necessary to completely eliminate festive dishes. The key is proper portioning, pacing of meals and understanding that two to three days cannot compromise months of discipline if managed correctly.
“I've noticed, working with obese clients over the past few years, that meal planning and traditional dishes succeed in creating that framework of safety and balance that we so need in our relationship with food, especially when we are struggling with a chronic disease like obesity. By planning to eat traditional dishes for 3 days and sharing 1-2 assortments of traditional Christmas dishes each day, we limit frustration and awkward questions in the family, but especially we educate ourselves that dieting is not similar to an endless wave of frustrations and abstinence. This is the first step to get out of the dieting mentality, so destructive in weight management, because it makes us see life in an “all or nothing” formula, where we are either on a diet and starve and suffer, or we give up the diet and any food limit. To have beautiful holidays, festive atmosphere and preparations traditional, we can follow 7 basic principles. After all, it is ideal to maintain our weight during this period, not to feel guilty if the cake on the table winks at us”explains Cori Grămescu, weight loss program coordinator and trainer.
1. Don't mix concentrated carbohydrates with fat: For example, avoid combinations such as sarmale with polenta and cream, fatty pork with potatoes or bread, cozonac or sweets eaten at the end of the meal. Carbohydrates include flour, rice, pasta, potatoes, sugar, honey, syrups derived from fruits, dried fruits. In the fat chapter, we have fatty cheeses, oil, lard, cream, fatty meat and traditional sausages. To balance your meals, cut out these calorie-dense sources.
2. Green vegetables: Whenever you eat fatty meat, the side dish should be a serving of plain cooked green vegetables with lemon juice and a teaspoon of horseradish mustard. It helps digestion and reduces the absorption of saturated fats.
3. Sweets as a snack: You can eat sweets as a stand-alone snack (in the first part of the day) without pairing them with milk/yogurt or other foods, then wait 2-3 hours until the next meal.
4. After each glass of alcohol you must drink 3 glasses of water and avoid drinking fizzy drinks, sugary juices or cocktails.
5. 30 minutes of walking after each main meal – Even if we are used to spending the holidays sitting at the table, we should take a 30-minute walk after each main meal. Movement helps digestion, reduces the intestinal transit time of food and reduces water retention due to high consumption of fatty and salty foods. Sports also help during this period.
6. Hydration: Every day you should drink at least 2.5 liters of water, and after meals you can consume teas beneficial for digestion, such as ginger, verbena, rosemary or calendula tea.
7. Attention to protein intake: Last but not least, it is important to eat only one type of protein at a meal, precisely to ease the digestion process. Avoid eating several traditional appetizers, steak and/or cheese at the same meal.
How we cook more calorically friendly traditional dishes
Tradition can coexist with healthy eating, and many of the recipes can be adjusted without compromising their taste.
“To reduce the fat content, adapt traditional mains and cook them mainly with meat from which you remove the visible fat. For example, sarmales can be made from a mixture of pork and beef, without added animal fat or smoke/bacon. Also, roast turkey is a very good alternative to roast pork, which you can pair with a variety of vegetable salads or baked vegetables instead of potatoes or In addition, I recommend preparing turkey meat, as I mentioned before, to share the traditional dishes with a variety of vegetables and salads, because this is the best approach, because we do not destabilize our diet and we should not ban any dishes. I recommend that people ask themselves how much they really need to feel pleasure. A lot of times, two or three sips are enough.” says the specialist.
Culinary traditions evolve and on holidays we can preserve the flavors of childhood and at the same time adapt the recipes to the current lifestyle, where we want more energy and fewer calories.
Lighter strings: Use mixed meat (beef + turkey), not just pork; add more onion, carrot and rice (no more than 100 g per 1 kg of meat). Reducing the fat by 30–40% preserves the taste but significantly lowers the calories.
Mayonnaise without oil: Adapted recipe for 12 people: 300 g hard-boiled eggs; 150 ml Greek yogurt 2%; 15 g (approx. 3 teaspoons); mustard; lemon juice (to taste); salt (to taste).
Boeuf light salad: Qreplace regular mayonnaise with oil-free mayonnaise and cut vegetables into smaller pieces for better satiety.
Turkey breast with herbs and citrus: For the Christmas roast you need: 3 – 3.5 kg whole turkey breast (without bone and skin); 150 g Greek yogurt (2% fat or similar); 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard; 12 cloves (crushed or chopped) garlic; grated lemon (or orange) peel; fresh rosemary or 3 teaspoons dried; 3 sprigs (or 3 dry teaspoons) of fresh thyme; sea salt and black pepper to taste; 300ml chicken/vegetable stock (or water). Serve roast turkey with asparagus or green beans – steamed very briefly or sauteed with a little garlic and lemon juice or steamed or baked broccoli: just salt, pepper and possibly chili flakes.
Sugar Free Brownies: Adapted recipe for 12 people: Dark Chocolate (90% – 100% Cocoa, no sugar): 300 g butter (65% fat); 100 g Greek yogurt (2%) or cottage cheese (well drained); 4 large eggs; 1 egg yolk; 1 piece of green sugar; 150 g – 200 g cocoa powder (unsweetened): 40 g almond flour; 60 g grated orange/lemon peel (from 1-2 fruits); vanilla essence; a pinch of salt; 50 g walnuts or almonds (pieces). Due to the low fat content, this brownie can dry out more quickly, so you need to check it after 20-25 minutes of baking at 170°C and remove from the oven as soon as it passes the toothpick test (the toothpick should come out with moist crumbs, not runny dough).
“During this time we just have to enjoy and relax, without worrying too much about food. If you keep the balance and the tips above, I assure you that everything will be fine. Remember that you have every reason to be proud of your achievements and deserve to relax“, said the specialist.
