By Jamie Dougherty – Part #4 of the JamieLiving 5-Part Holiday Survival Guide

Catch up:
Part 1 – Buffer Your Beverages,
Part 2 – Eat By Numbers
Part 3 – Join the One Plate Club

We all know it is devastatingly rude to show up to a soiree empty-handed.  You arrive with a bottle of wine or 6-pack to share, knowing alcohol is super easy and always appreciated.  However, to savor the holidays and save your waistline this year, forget the bloating beverages and BYOD!  (AKA, bring your own dish.)

Today’s holiday survival tip is a personal favorite of mine as it brings you straight into the lion’s den of all things food.  That’s right… the kitchen!  For those of you afraid of the “k” word, don’t be.  It’s actually a very lovely place where tasty things happen.  There is even a warming device called an oven, which makes the room particularly nice on cold winter nights.

How can bringing your own dish save you this holiday season?  Let me count the ways:

#1- BYOD allows you to know exactly what’s in your food and enjoy it without worry or guilt.

#2- You look like a cooking goddess which makes you happy, the guests happy and turns you into a domestic diva for the evening.  (And she is a lady everyone wants to know!)

#3- It gets you into the holiday spirit of giving which allows you to forget the other holiday spirit of drinking and stuffing yourself.

If you are now racking your brain trying to think of what to bring to your holiday shin-dig, don’t worry.  This amazing digital cookbook has got you covered!  (Seriously, if I was stranded on a desert island and could only bring one holiday cookbook, this is absolutely the one I would bring.)

In the comments let me know your thoughts on BYOD, how it works for you and what your favorite party-pleasing dish is.  Come on ladies, sharing is caring! (And it feels good too.)

Jamie G. Dougherty, founder of JamieLiving.com, gives women the secrets to feel amazing in their bodies and create the balance they crave between their busy schedules and eating well. Jamie believes that though kale and brown rice are good foods to put on your plate, until we truly learn HOW to eat rather than just WHAT to eat we will continue to be carb-craving, super-frazzled, stress-out ladies.

By Jamie Dougherty – Part #3 of the JamieLiving 5-Part Holiday Survival Guide

See Part 1 – Buffer Your Beverages
And Part 2 – Eat By Numbers

Remember the other week when you mowed through your first plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and peas just to hit the buffet for a second round?  The first plate was simply the gateway to plate number two, the serving you were actually going to taste, right?  If you are a habitual second-helping sister, this is the tip that will change your life forever.

Part 3: Become a member of the One Plate Club.

One Plate Club members take their singular plate, fill it with bits of each tasty holiday dish and then enjoy each morsel to the fullest.  They say yes to stuffing, yes to turkey, and a big freakin’ YES to dessert… but only once.

Rather than pick and graze which makes it impossible for you to know how much you are eating, have a small plate/napkin for appetizers, a plate for dinner and a very small plate/napkin for dessert.  Nothing goes into your mouth than does not first go on to a plate.  (This is key to portion control.)  Each plate then gets filled only once which allows you to taste everything while keeping track of your food and avoiding what often turns into a seven-course meal.  Eating only one plate also encourages you to sit and savor because it is a sad state of affairs when you blow through your food and then have to watch everyone else finish theirs.  No FUN!

In the comments let me know your thoughts on the One Plate Club and how it works for you.  Come on ladies, sharing is caring! (And it feels good too.)

Jamie G. Dougherty, founder of JamieLiving.com, gives women the secrets to feel amazing in their bodies and create the balance they crave between their busy schedules and eating well. Jamie believes that though kale and brown rice are good foods to put on your plate, until we truly learn HOW to eat rather than just WHAT to eat we will continue to be carb-craving, super-frazzled, stress-out ladies.

By Jamie Dougherty

The holidays are a fantastic time of year filled with friends, family, and the nostalgic foods that bring us together. It can also be a stressful time for the same reasons… too many friends, too much family, and most notably, too much food! By the time January rolls around we are tired, lethargic, and usually in a complete food coma. But not this year, ladies.  Enter the Jamie Living 5-Part Holiday Survival Guide! The next month and half is all about how YOU can both savor and survive the holidays while simultaneously saving your waistline.  Ah, yeah!

Step #1 – Get your water buffer on!

Simply put, being at a party means having a drink in your hand.  There is no way around it as the second you arrive the host asks, “So, what can I get you?” and you certainly don’t want to be the party-pooper who meekly says, “Oh, nothing.”  The key to losing weight by accident during the holidays (yes, it is possible) is to buffer each alcoholic drink with water.  Enjoy a glass of wine or cocktail, then have a sparkling water with lime.  (It actually looks just like a vodka tonic so no one will know the difference.)  If you get sick of that, mix it up and go for a cup of hot tea or sparkling water with a splash of cranberry.  The goal is to make you feel both included in the party without drinking too much, then eating too much and waking up the next morning feeling lousy, tired and totally guilt-ridden.

Sounds good, right?  Just FYI, each step of The Holiday Survival guide builds upon the next and the water buffer is truly the gateway to staying on track with each upcoming recommendation.  Master this one and you will be set, no joke!

In the comments let me know your tricks for not getting too tipsy during the holidays.  Come on ladies, sharing is caring! (And it feels good too.)

Jamie G. Dougherty, founder of JamieLiving.com, gives women the secrets to feel amazing in their bodies and create the balance they crave between their busy schedules and eating well. Jamie believes that though kale and brown rice are good foods to put on your plate, until we truly learn HOW to eat rather than just WHAT to eat we will continue to be carb-craving, super-frazzled, stress-out ladies. If you ever feel hungry, stuck and unsatisfied with your food be sure to visit Jamie’s website to get her FREE 5-Step Guide to Fabulous.  Seriously ladies, get ready for Jamie to rock your world!

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By Sarah Jenks

Most women can finish a meal in 7 minutes or less. Though this may seem like a talent of efficiency, it is actually the direct cause of most women’s weight gain.

When we rush through our meals, we don’t give our bodies a chance to taste, smell and enjoy our meal. And when we don’t enjoy our meal, our digestion power decreases, our metabolism lowers and we are left unsatisfied by our meal. Makes sense right?

And when we’re not satisfied, we just want to keep eating and eating.

So, I want you to start putting your fork down in between every bite. Even if you eat like crap this holiday season, gift yourself this one habit.

I promise that you will enjoy your food more, eat less, and lose weight.

Give it a shot, and I’d love to here how it’s working out for you in the comments below.

Sarah Jenks, founder of theBreathtakingBride.com, helps women fall in love with their bodies and lose weight through exploring the emotional reasons of why we eat. Sarah believes that you can talk about the benefits of broccoli until you are blue in the face, but real change won’t happen until we pull back the veil of fad diets and calorie counting to reveal the true cause of our over eating. Feeling lost about weight loss? Visit her website to download her free guide: “What to do if you feel fat, hopeless and ready to give up.”

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Yum!

One of the women in our office has an organic, nutritionally minded jewelry designer cousin who loves to cook (what a tough break, right?) Sam’s cousin, Paige, is working to change the perception of nutritionally conscious food as virtuous but boring. Sam says she whips up delicious, healthy, and interesting meals nearly every day. As a result, Paige’s 3-year-old puts up no objection to tofu and brussels sprouts, which is no mean feat—I love the salty crunch of a roasted brussel sprout now, but until age 16 I considered it a violent declaration of my parents’ hatred for me whenever they tried to serve it.

Sam particularly loves Paige’s method of roasting vegetables. Paige and Sam nicely agreed to share one of their favorite recipes, so if you’re searching for a great holiday side dish, look no further!

Roasted sweet potatoes with hazelnuts

4 sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and roughly cut in cubes
1/2 cup shelled and chopped hazelnuts (for nut–free households, substitute diced apples or pears for the crunch factor)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and quarter sweet potatoes and place face up on a baking sheet. Add the chopped hazelnuts. Drizzle olive oil and toss everything with wooden spoon. Pour on the maple syrup and toss again until evenly distributed. Roast in oven for 35 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft. Serve.

Check out Paige’s cooking blog, The INgredients, for more recipes and insight! If you try this recipe, leave a comment and let us know how it was–or share your own healthy recipe.