The custom of dense Christmas and New Year feasts has its roots far in the past. Our great-grandfathers fasted before the great holiday, respectively, they replenished their reserves for the holidays themselves.
In times of scarcity, normal champagne, sweets and other decent dishes, a simple Soviet citizen could afford only for the New Year. But we live in a time when any product can be on our table at our will. And the habit of stuffing their bellies at New Year's feasts has remained.
When you are the host of a feast, it's pretty easy to do. It is much more difficult when you come to visit relatives. In this case, you just need to keep yourself in hand and pretend that you have already tried everything. If you are preparing for the arrival of relatives, and it is customary for them to have a lot of things on the table, resort to a simple trick — divide one dish into several plates. Then you will be able to create the appearance of abundance and not overeat.
When you come to visit, ask the hosts for a glass of water — this will reduce the feeling of hunger. And remember that the feeling of satiety comes 20 minutes after eating.
I prefer to eat salads without mayonnaise. If the recipe requires, I try to cook it myself. But our relatives do not agree with us in this. But they love it when we also contribute to the New Year's table. Therefore, we either bring something from our diet with us, or I come early and help cook more healthy and interesting dishes.
That is, do not just fill your stomach. Try to eat slowly in order to feel all the shades of taste. In this case, you will eat less and will be able to feel full in time.
So, first of all, you will eat less, because besides chewing, your mouth will be busy with another important thing — singing a laudatory ode to the chef. And secondly, you will win the favor of the one who cooked. Here the standard rule «when I eat, I am deaf and dumb» it is better not to follow.
Even if you are not a fan of coffee, you should not refuse a cup of espresso after a heavy lunch. Coffee contains chlorogenic acid, which promotes digestion, slows down the release of glucose into the blood and reduces fat production. If, after all, for some reason you do not drink coffee, you can replace it with a cup of green tea, which is also known for its properties to improve metabolism.
No matter how delicious the New Year's treats are, try to put just a little bit on the plate. After three bites (spoons, slices, etc.), the sensitivity of our food receptors is dulled and we no longer feel the divine taste of the dish. Therefore, it is not worth putting a mountain of your favorite salad on yourself. You will get pleasure from the first few spoons, and the rest will already be absorbed as hay.
Alcohol in large quantities not only has a bad effect on our thinking abilities, but also has a number of negative properties that prevent weight loss. On the one hand, it increases our appetite, and on the other hand, it reduces the body's ability to burn fat.
Here your family lunch or dinner is over and you are sitting with a sense of accomplishment and an overflowing stomach. You think that you have fulfilled your filial or filial duty and can safely get up from the table. But it was not there! Chances to get away from «and tea with cake?!» usually almost zero. And if you don't try, you will get an answer «but I rolled out and baked cakes for Napoleon until three in the morning yesterday!». Naturally, you are unlikely to find arguments against this.
A great option is to ask for sweets with you. And if you also add something like «Let's get more, I boasted to my friends that my mom cooks the most delicious «Napoleon » in the world, and promised to treat them », earn tears of emotion and an extra piece of cake in the load. It is really inconvenient to refuse, and asking for dessert with you and praising the hostess, you will not offend anyone. In the end, she could really stand in the kitchen until three in the morning, and friends will still come to you for tea.
Italians don't put all the dishes on the table at once. They bring them in turn. First, aperitifs and salads, then something denser (pasta), then meat, then dessert.
In this case, guests have the opportunity to always ask for supplements if they liked the dish very much, or stop eating. Usually putting all the dishes on the table at once seems to indicate that you hope that it will all be eaten. Some guests are just embarrassed to refuse, even if they didn't like it very much. They will continue to eat so as not to offend the owner.
Don't hang out in front of endless TV New Year's shows. During the New Year holidays, so many films and entertainment shows are shown that you can sit in front of the TV all the holidays without getting up. And if you combine this with constant feasts and meals in front of this very TV (while watching TV, a person eats 40% more), then you are provided with extra kg.
Holidays are not a reason to postpone your workouts (many sports clubs have weekends only on January 1). Go to visit friends, walk around the New Year's city together, skate and sledge, weather permitting. And if not, then in any city there is an indoor skating rink that works 11 months a year or a rollerdrome and go-karts in large shopping centers.
New Year's holidays are a great occasion to see your friends, visit relatives, have a delicious meal and generally have a good time. Keep yourself in hand and, just in case, remember that one piece of cake costs about four km of running at an average pace of 5.5 minutes per km ;)
