Healthy foods for the party season

It’s the time to put on your fancy shoes and let down your hair because it’s the party season! With the year end is just round the corner and the multiple parties are at a stone throw away, and in the parties our focus on healthy eating goes for a toss out of the window. I have seen it in so many clients who are so good in their eating habits but the minute we enter party season, the bad eating habits become part of their lives. When they come back with statements saying there just wasn’t any good food at the party or wedding, I explain to them that there is good food everywhere; we just have to be smart about finding the right food.

I often find it best to simply eat at home before I go as this keeps my energy up and I don’t reach out for anything and everything in food. Often, I eat my complete meal which will consist of a bowl of soup, vegetables, roti and daal. It will lower your hunger cravings at the same time leptin levels will rise, thus controlling your appetite.

Sometimes you do not get a chance to eat so on your way to the party or wedding, munch on a roasted seed mix. It can be made up of a variety of seeds like flaxseeds, fennel seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and black and white sesame seeds. Each seed has a benefit of its own but cumulatively, you will be eating a good amount of high-quality fat which will provide you with a great level of satiety. You could even opt for a handful of roasted peanuts or any nut mix made up of walnuts, almonds, pistachios and cashew nuts. All these are essentially good fats which keep you full for a longer time.

On arriving at any celebratory occasion, I always prefer to head to the live counters first. Here I opt for a sautéed vegetable mixture, be it the red, green and yellow bell peppers along with some mushrooms, olives, onions either in some olive oil or in red tomato sauce. If there is no live counter, choose from the mezze platter. Choose more vegetables followed by babaganoush, hummus and some pieces of pita bread. In the Indian cuisine, I start off with a good serving of cut salad vegetables followed by a mixed vegetable sabzi with tandoori roti and in this season, there is always something made from fresh green peas.

To keep your head clear and prevent any weight gain over the party season where the soft drinks and cold drinks are flowing. I would be very careful about my choice of beverage. Just drink a lot of water. Choose sparkling water, fresh lime soda, Virgin Mary. If you feel like an alcoholic drink, I would do a bloody Mary or vodka with soda and lime. I would strongly keep away from mocktails and cocktails as they will give you a quick sugar rush. Alcoholic drinks serve as a natural depressant or sedative making you sleepy or drowsy.

Parties and weddings without desserts seem incomplete but I would stay away from them. Most people get drawn to them. I suggest that you don’t deprive yourself. Go identify what you have never tried before and what you really want to eat and go ahead and have a few teaspoon size bites to satisfy any craving. It truly does works! On the morning of the New Year, wake up happy fresh and alert, ready to take the world by a storm. Good food is the key.