The holidays are all about eating, drinking, and making merry — with a definite focus on the first two. There are holiday parties, family gatherings, and an abundance of yummy apps and decadent desserts that can prove to be way too tempting to resist. But you won’t be feeling particularly festive come New Year’s, when packing on the pounds will have you renewing your gym membership faster than you can sing, “Auld Lang Syne.” Fortunately, you can get through the holidays without making a major impact to your waistline. TV host Samantha Harris knows how you can avoid holiday weight again — when all you really want is to dive into the doughnuts instead.
The holidays are here, and everyone is prepping to go into a food coma. How can you avoid it?
I’m launching a new initiative called Let’s Fight Holiday Fat. It’s a site that’s been created by Alli and it’s a free online guide that offers weight maintenance support for those who during the very tempting times during the holidays want to eat healthier and squeeze in exercise.
As we’re talking, there is literally a box of doughnuts on a table right behind us.
[laughs] Yes, but you have healthy alternatives right next to it like veggies, too. I like that! That way, someone can get to that table and say, “Okay, do I want to go with that doughnut? Yes, but let me go with the carrot!”
So how did you become involved with the initiative?
It’s very symbiotic with how I live my life in that I try to make healthy meal choices that are reduced calorie and low in fat. I also make sure to plan ahead; if I’m going to be on the run from shoot to shoot, or if it’s holiday time and I’m going to be at the mall with my kids all day, you don’t want to hit that sugar low where you just reach for anything you can to stuff in your mouth. Instead, I have healthy snacks for not only for them, but for myself.
I think, as a mom, you’re always taking care of the kids and their needs, that you forget to take care of yourself as well. Trying to snack often is something that I try to live my life by. I find that when I eat a healthy balance of protein, carbs, and a bit of healthy fats every three to four hours, I’m more energetic. I don’t have that dip during the day.
Like when you hit that 3:00 slump.
Totally. Sometimes you feel it coming on and then it hits you like a ton of bricks. Other times, it’s subtle and you don’t know why you’re not as productive or as focused as you want to be. It can be because your body is unbalanced because it’s been too long since you had that last healthy meal.
Or you’re dehydrated.
Yes! Every year for my New Year’s resolution, part of the overall plan is that I’m going to drink more water. It tricks your brain into thinking that you’re fuller than you are. You can have a glass of water before sitting down to a big meal, and it really helps you to curb your urges to eat everything in sight. Having those healthy snacks before a holiday party also helps.
Speaking of which, what would be your tips when you’re going to holiday parties and you know there will be a lot of fabulous food?
You don’t want to hit the dessert table first. And you don’t want to save up your calories all day so that you can eat whatever you want at the party. People think that it’s one or the other, but if you do that, you’ll be so hungry that you might wind up overeating, or more than you would have if you had been eating those healthy meals throughout the day. Let’s Fight Holiday Fat lets you have a mobile companion to track your calories and activity as well as low fat recipes and healthy food alternatives you can choose. You’ll also find a supportive community to help you reach your goals. I think you need that support system to stay motivated.
What do you do when you want to make the meals you love during the holidays but they’re not necessarily the healthiest?
If you have a favorite recipe — like one from your grandmother — swap out the higher fat ingredients for lower ones, like a low fat or reduced fat cheese. Use nonfat Greek yogurt and applesauce in equal portions because they’re an excellent substitute when you need to use oil.
You also do other work related to healthy eating as well as hunger.
Yes, I’m continuing my work with Feeding America, which I’m on the entertainment council for. It fits really well into this. I’d like to study the correlation between — because I think it exists — obesity in America and the economic turndown. There are so many families struggling to survive and provide food for their kids. 44 million Americans struggle with hunger, including 1 in 5 kids. It’s your neighbors, friends, and coworkers. It might just be that their paycheck is not enough to stretch into that last week for food. I volunteer at the local food bank and families receive about 5-6 days’ worth of groceries and sometimes they wait for over an hour to get their bag of groceries.
I brought my older daughter with me a few times. We donated books, so the kids would have something to read while they’re with their families waiting for their groceries. Let’s face it: fresh fruit is expensive, and if you want to go organic, that’s also expensive.
How do you personally instill good eating habits for your daughters?
Leading by example is the biggest one. If my girls see Mommy making the wrong choices, they are going to think that’s how they should eat as well. It’s not like they don’t know what sugar is, but even my little one says, “Eat first! Energy!” She has gymnastics so she knows she has to eat a healthy breakfast before she goes. Nonfat Greek yogurt is a staple in our house, whether it’s for breakfast or a snack in the middle of the day. We also eat healthy whole grain cereals or fruit. At dinner, the girls always get dessert, which we kind of dangle as a carrot, so they eat their healthier meals like veggies and chicken breast for protein. We keep lots of fruit in the house, so they have options. It’s all clean and ready.
That’s a huge thing because if you have to start washing and peeling, it’s not going to happen. You’ll eat the chocolate chip cookie before you’re done.
[laughs] Or while you’re coring! Funny enough, that’s something that I’ve done for my husband because I wanted him to eat healthy, too. He said, “It’s really annoying to have to wash the strawberries and cut the green part off,” so I said, “I’m going to make this really simple for you.” In the mornings if I’m at the breakfast table, in between bites, I’ll be slicing up fruit. That way, I can still be at the table with them but prep the fruit, put it in a Tupperware, and keep it in the fridge so it’s ready to go.
But all of this is hard when the holidays are here and it’s a time that’s so connected to food.
True. The holidays are colder, and you want to pack on the weight to keep warmer for the winter months, which is what our ancestors used to do. We’re programmed in a way to do that. You have to learn how to make healthy food choices and include some kind of physical activity as part of your daily routine. I personally hated having to schlep myself to the gym or a class but when I was done, whether it was an hour or if I had 10 minutes, doing something physical helped me to be more focused. So on days when I feel like I don’t have the time, if I’m putting the 2-year-old down for a nap or waiting to change the laundry loads, I’ll grab some free weights or walk up and down the stairs. I’ll even use the stairs to do lunges on.
And there are easy ways to incorporate activity into your daily life. If you’re shopping for holiday gifts, find the farthest place to park so that you have to walk. That way, instead of circling for 10 minutes — and getting more frustrated and stressed during the holidays because you didn’t find the closest spot to the store — you’ll get a spot and some exercise, too.
It can be challenging to keep up the commitment past the first couple of weeks into the new year.
Going to the gym in January is so annoying! [laughs] It’s so crowded and you’re like, “Where have you guys been all year?” [laughs] You can’t get a spot in the class and you’re like, “Come, February!” because everyone is going to leave, and I can continue working out. Weight loss is for the long term and that can be hard because you want the changes fast. Healthy weight loss is only 1-2 pounds per week, so you can’t expect to be the size you want right away. It’s for long-term maintenance
And it can be even harder for parents, like when you go home, and you have a laundry list of things to do. If I stop eating well and exercising, I’m not going to be in the shape I’m in. A couple of years ago, I had higher cholesterol than I thought I would have, and I made eating healthy a priority. It had a positive impact on my health because I just had my annual physical. My doctor said that he was jealous that my cholesterol was so low. It was because of the meal choices that I make, and I was so grateful.
I think you start having a new perspective on health when you have kids.
Absolutely. Now that I have little kids, I want to be more energetic for them. I’m so lucky: I have a 92-year-old grandmother and an 88-year-old grandmother, and they are getting to know my kids. It’s really special and I hope that I have that opportunity, too, when I’m older.
But really, I want to be around for my kids. I lost my dad when he was 50 and I don’t want to miss any of their lives. Sure, we all want to look great because that’s the society we live in, but I want to be healthy and have energy so that I can be my best for myself and my family.