Prof Lauri Wright USF - Healthy Eating During the Holidays

It's no secret that the holidays involve a lot of eating. That can also mean picking up a pound or two -- literally. Lauri Wright is a registered dietitian and nutritionist. She's an associate professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of South Florida in Tampa and she joins Gordon Byrd to talk about healthy holiday meals.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird Beyond the News. It's no secret that the
holidays often involved a lot of eating, a lot of
special meals. That can also mean picking up a pound
or two over the season literally. Lorii Wright is a
registered dietitian and nutritionist. She's also an Associate professor of
nutrition and dietetics at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

(00:21):
And we're going to talk about healthy eating and staying
healthy during the holidays. Lori right, welcome, Thank you, Gordon.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
It's a pleasure to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Well, what are we looking at as far as the
effects of holiday eating as far as weight gain and
on health when we come out of the season compared
to when we enter it.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
On average, Americans gain one to two pounds during the
holiday season. That might not seem like a lot, but
the problem is that most people don't lose that weight
after the holidays, and so one to two pounds accumulates
every year and really adds up after several years, and

(01:03):
that can contribute to the risk for chronic disease.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
We associate the time period from Thanksgiving to New Year's
with lots of special meals, dinners, get together's, office parties,
and with those a lot of fatty, sugary or carbie foods.
How do you address that? How do you handle it
and navigate all that in a healthy way.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Yeah, you know, it's not only the high calorie foods
that are traditional with our holidays, but then it's the
irregular schedules, it's stress. People are too busy to do
their normal activities. So it really is kind of the
perfect storm for weight creep, and so I'd really encourage
people to adapt the mindset of balance, not restriction. We

(01:53):
still want to enjoy the holiday, our favorite holiday foods,
but we want to eat them in a way that
supports overall health.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
One of the ideas that you suggest is, of course,
a lot of people are going to be cooking their
own special meals for Christmas and other holidays, and one
idea you suggest is parents cooking with children and try
to find ways to incorporate talk about that and also
other ways to incorporate the messages about healthy eating and
physical activity in the season, especially when you have so

(02:25):
many kids who are home from school and taking part
in holiday events.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
I really think that parents serve as the first nutrition teachers,
and holidays are wonderful time to involve kids in food literacy,
understanding where food comes from and how meals are assembled.
They don't just appear on the front porch from a

(02:52):
meal delivery service. Cooking with kids also it is a
great way to teach them mass skills when you're measuring
out different recipes, motor skill development for age appropriate tasks
like doing some cutting or mixing. But I think for

(03:13):
me most importantly, it's about that connection. I still have
fond memories of making a traditional holiday dessert with my grandmother,
and even when we were not together as I grew older,
I would still call her when I was making that
same dessert and connect with her. So I think it's

(03:34):
a great way for those family connections too.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Any other advice you would offer to kind of get
us through the holidays in a healthy way.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Sure, when we think about, you know, enjoying your favorite foods,
but first look at the portions you don't you can
get a taste of those different foods without going overboard
on the portion. So if you're doing, you know, really
being aware of the portion that you're taking and then

(04:10):
prioritize your favorites. Just because there are three different starchy
you know, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing. You don't have
to take all of them, take your favorite. You know,
I love sweet potatoes, not a fan of stuffing, so
I'm going to prioritize the sweet potatoes so I get

(04:31):
that and then watch the portion too. Another tip that
I recommend is pairing protein with your foods, so making
sure you have that that slice of turkey or even
maybe the hard boiled egg, because protein helps stabilize your
blood sugar and keeps you feeling full longer, so it'll

(04:56):
help protect you from over eating later on or right.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
He is an Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at
the University of South Florida and Tampa, a registered dietitian
and nutrition is talking about healthy eating and healthy moving
around during the holidays. Lorie Wright, thank you very much
for joining us on Beyond the News.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Thank you, Gordon