It is estimated that the average American gains about 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and the New Year. If your pants are starting to feel tight then this is a great week to slim down before your New Year’s celebration. Dropping a few pounds between Hannukah and the New Year is not difficult to do, after all you don’t have any big meals or events during this time period, and you are probably getting tired of the rich food you have been eating any ways.
To drop a few pounds over the next couple of weeks don’t bother stepping on the scale. All you need to do is thin out your diet. Use reduced calorie spreads and condiments, eat soups for lunch, and supplement your diet with great salads and low calorie dinners. Also drink about eight glasses of water each day. This will not only help keep you feeling full between meals, but it will also help to cleanse your system.
In addition to eating fewer calories you may also want to reduce the amount of sodium in your diet. You can do this by buying low sodium ingredients, and by not adding extra salt to your foods. If you like the taste of salt but don’t want to add a lot of extra sodium to your foods then try using sea salt. This natural salt has a lot of flavor so you use less of it, and it has less sodium than table salt.
There are a lot of great low fat Jewish recipes and low sodium recipes to choose from, such as autumn vegetable soup, while trying to slim down. Enjoy these simple Jewish recipes while you lose the holiday pounds. See you back here next week when we will talk about menu options for New Year’s Eve celebrations.