Trousers a little tight? Did you eat more than you should have? ELENI ANTONIOU muses on the feasting involved over the holidays
YOU MAY well be reading the Sunday paper, enjoying a quiet morning and having a nice cuppa without any milk because you’ve just realised you can’t even fit into your knickers anymore. Well, serves us right. We should have said “No, thank you,” when they were offering more turkey with stuffing and gravy. But we didn’t and thus we must acknowledge the horrible fact that we will not be wearing that cute, tight blouse that we just bought.
We get carried away, that’s the reason for obtaining a terrible waistline during the festive season. Unfortunately, it’s worse in Cyprus as every celebration whether its Easter, Christmas or a wedding, is automatically linked to food. For the first time, this was the year I only ate like a pig on Christmas Day as I avoided big family bashes where, naturally, souvla was being served… again. But is souvla the only thing to blame? Could it be the mince pies or all those other puddings?
Probably, like many, there were at least a dozen dishes on our table on Christmas Day. Souvla, pastitsio, turkey, stuffing, baked potatoes, Chinese noodles, sweet and sour chicken, rice, prawn cocktail and more. Now, tell me, as a normal human being, could you ground yourself to just eating Brussels sprouts and rice? I don’t think so. Even though I knew I would probably have to be helped into the car, I still took the chance and ate to my hearts desire.
“My clients tend to put on one to two kilos during the Christmas holidays,” said clinical dietician Jocelyne Thalassinou “but there are more that stay the same”. Apparently, 50 per cent stay the same, while 20 per cent put on a couple of kilos and the rest even lose weight but that’s very rare.
Jocelyne explained that she does not pressure her clients into eating what they should during the holidays. “They are allowed to cheat,” she said, “they can have some stuffing and a slice of Christmas cake.” Excuse me; I don’t think that’s all they ate because some of us who were not on a diet piled a whopping three kilos. Now, that includes everything, even alcohol. “Men put on weight during Christmas because they drink,” said Jocelyne, “but women put on weight because of the cakes and sweets in general.” Imagine how much I put on after drinking for three days and devouring almost an entire trifle. I would be more than happy if it were three kilos.
So, here we are with an extra two to three kilos and feeling guilty for every bite but don’t fret, you don’t have to go on a juice diet. “For the next two days, in order to cleanse your system you should try eating vegetables and rice,” said Jocelyne, “or even vegetable soups, just so you don’t mess up your metabolism.” It isn’t exactly more difficult to shed the pounds, its just taking a step backwards.
However, Christmas should not be used as an excuse to overdo it even if it is an opportunity for the family to gather, eat, drink and be merry. “We do not live in a third world country,” explained Jocelyne, “we have food and we are very lucky, so we should learn to control ourselves.” Everyday can be a party and it is if you consider the way we eat, how much we eat and when. We don’t exactly starve throughout the whole year to justify what we do on a particular day of joy. However, we are not as bad as others. “The Americans tend to overdo it more than us Europeans,” said Jocelyne, “but that doesn’t mean that we are any better.”
Things that trigger overeating during the holidays
Preoccupation: At Christmas parties, we talk to different people, usually near to the feasting table. Without knowing, we pick, nibble and sip more and we don’t even enjoy it.
Obligation: You’re old aunt from the village has invited you for dinner and she insists you try her new recipe. How can you not?
Stress: Even an extremely calm man can go crazy; therefore start eating everything in sight.
Acute happiness: We can’t be happy all the time, unless you are on a happy pill, so when we reach the point of acute happiness, we are so happy we don’t care how many calories is in the custard pudding.
Anxiousness: You have to buy presents, you have to wait for them to be wrapped, you have to hide them from the kids, and you have to wait in traffic and queues. That’s it, give me a cookie!
Holiday bills: Apparently, debt can trigger overeating.
How fattening was it?
Dry red wine 83 calories
Roasted turkey 450 calories
Stuffing 400 calories
Cranberry sauce 200 calories
Mashed potatoes 394 calories
1 slice of Christmas cake 249 calories
Trifle 124 calories
