Dont be a Bear this Winter

How to warm up with comfort food without getting fat

It’s getting cold, it’s getting dark and that healthy salad just doesn’t seem to touch the sides. If it feels like the weather is controlling your appetite, to a certain extent it is. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is usually characterised by winter depression. Symptoms can include fatigue, withdrawal and an increase in appetite. Here’s the catch, according to an article from The School of Psychology at the University of Tasmania, seasonal affective disorder may be similar to hibernation. Could it be that unexplained triggers in our environment are trying to make us fat? Some scientists blame it on falling Vitamin D levels, some on our pre-programmed survival genes. Whatever the cause, you don’t want to peel off the thermals and baggy sweatshirt in spring to find that you’re as big as a bear. You can survive winter with out turning into a fatty. When the winter blues strike and you reach out for the warming food of winter, making a better choice will save you hundreds of calories.

Hot Drinks

Instead of a Café hot chocolate, try a Jarrah low fat chocolate drink. Some hot chocolate drinks contain more than 300 calories but the Jarrah drink, at less than 60 calories, is just as tasty and won’t go straight to your hips.

Chocolate

Instead of a king sized bar of milk chocolate, buy yourself some 85% cocoa dark chocolate and have a few squares. You'll be less inclined to eat as much of a good quality chocolate because it’s firmer and less sweet. Organic raw chocolate is loaded with healthy antioxidants.

Hot Chips and a Burger

If you’re gagging for a burger and chips, make your own. Oven bake potato wedges with the skin on. Grill lean mince patties or light chicken breasts. Add beetroot, lettuce and tomato, pesto and low fat dressing. Home made burgers are much tastier and healthier than the bought version and made in the time it would take you to drive to and from the takeaway shop!

Potato Bake and Pasta

Fancy some filling carbs? Instead of digging into creamy, cheesy pasta, throw a potato in the microwave until it’s cooked. Jacket potatoes or sweet potatoes make really healthy meals when topped with baked beans or tuna and a light sprinkle of grated tasty cheese.

Nachos

Lower the fat and calories and swap the corn chips for pita crisps. Use lean mince, chopped onion, chilli sauce and a can of kidney beans, simmer gently then pour over pita crisps and top with a sprinkle of grated tasty cheese.

Curry and Rice

Swap the coconut cream for a can of Carnation Creamy Coconut flavoured milk and you'll save lots of calories without tasting the difference. Bulk out the dish with pumpkin. Pumpkin is loaded with fibre and won’t break the calorie bank.

Chips

Swap your chips for rice crackers, here’s why. 100 grams (a whole packet) of salt and vinegar rice crackers delivers 409 calories, 6.8 grams of fat and 833 mgs of salt. The same size serving of my favourite potato chips delivers more than 1000 calories, more than 60 grams of fat and 1680 mg of sodium! So as a substitute for regular chips, rice crackers win hands down.

Pudding

Instead of bread and butter pudding and ice cream, treat your family to homemade apple crumble topped with low fat custard. Use canned apple or stew your own, add cinnamon and mixed spice to tastes. Serve warm with a crunchy organic muesli topping. Making custard with trim milk and sweeten with stevia, (a natural sweetener).