5 Foods I Should Never Eat to Avoid Holiday Belly Fat

No wonder Santa struggles with belly fat. Every year there are delicious holiday foods everywhere!

I look forward to them and give myself a little extra freedom to be able to indulge in my favorite once-a-year treats.?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Of course, when I give myself a little extra freedom it’s not without a price. I can choose to gain a pound or two or I can choose to up my physical activity a bit to burn those extra calories coming from my conservative indulgences.

I find the hustle and bustle of the holidays a natural way to get more activity. There’s just too much going on to be sedentary. Shopping! Wrapping! Parties! And if the weather cooperates with a white Christmas, shoveling snow!

It’s no secret that I lost 40 pounds with Weight Watchers about 23 years ago. It’s also true that I’m still living and learning the Weight Watchers program to maintain my weight loss. Yes, I’m still learning the program after all those years. Basically when it comes to weight management lessons, they can be learned, forgotten, and learned again.

One lesson I learned at Weight Watchers and learned well is the skill of flexible restraint.

It’s a technique I use to eat a little more when there’s a good reason for it, like the holidays, and maintain some restraint so that I don’t suffer a runaway weight gain.

Another way I avoid runaway weight gain is by never eating these 5 foods! By passing on them I’m saving calories that I can use for something that tastes a lot better. Heck, anything tastes better than the foods on this list!
1. Fruit cake

There’s no way to even guess how old one may be. You can open one of those festive fruit cake tins and the cake will look the same even if it’s been stored in the attic for years. It’s a horrible, heavy lump of something that doesn’t really resemble cake full of disgusting, candied fruits.

2. Ribbon candy

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Ribbon candy is better to look at, than to eat. It’s not particularly delicious and those thin ribbons of hard candy can be quite sharp. It’s easy to lacerate your tongue if you’re not careful. Ribbon candy makes a better decoration than a food.

3. Plum Pudding

If this traditional holiday pudding was really what the name suggests it could be pretty good. I like plums and I like pudding, so it stands to figure that I’d like plum pudding. This stuff, also called Christmas Pudding, has no plums in it. Instead, it’s sweet spices that give it its distinctive rich aroma, and usually made with suet.

Suet, is quite literally, "for the birds!"

Suet, is quite literally, “for the birds!”

Yes, suet, that gross chunk of solid beef fat that you put in special feeders for the birds.

4. Mincemeat Pie
Mincemeat gets its glisten from a whole lot of saturated fat!

Mincemeat gets its glisten from a whole lot of saturated fat!

Here’s another dubious treat. Some pies are made with the old recipes that call for lamb or beef, apples, raisins and …. gross….. yes, more suet! Some recipes skip the meat, but still depend on plenty of fat.

5. Haggis

I saved the worst for last. Haggis, considered a favorite Christmas treat by many, is completely revolting to me.  A mixture of minced heart, liver and lung of a sheep gets combined with onion, oatmeal, spices and stock. Then it stuffed into and boiled in a sheep’s stomach. It’s just too ugly to even post a picture!

I look forward to my holiday treats!??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I feel confident that I can get through the season without gaining weight by never eating those 5 foods. I’m pretty sure that eating that stuff would trigger a massive pig out to erase the taste of it in my mouth and the memory of it in my mind!  I’ll just say, “no thank you!”

 

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.