Weighing In - Holiday Special 2010

by Christina Lawrence, Program Operations Specialist

November 22nd, 2010

Greetings!

We are sending out this holiday newsletter to help you get through this holiday season. This special issue is packed full of help survival tips and tasty recipes. Just remember, Weight management is here to help you stay on track. So don't hesitate to call us or stop on by.

Enjoy and have a merry healthy holiday season!

Christina Lawrence
Program Operations Specialist
Plattsburgh (518) 561-3913
Saranac Lake (518) 891-2455

Holiday Hours

Weight Management, Inc. offices in Plattsburgh and Saranac Lake will be closed on the following dates:

Thursday, November 25th (Thanksgiving) & Friday, November 26th.
Friday, December 24th (Christmas Eve)
Friday, December 31st (New Years Eve)

The office will be open but with limited hours on:

Wednesday November 24

Please call ahead of time if you wish to come in one of these days.

Hope for the Holidays (Hint: It’s “In the Box!”)

Staying on the diet can be especially challenging during this time of year. It’s easy to see how “just one little bite” of a high-calorie treat can lead to another… and another… and another. And before you know it, you could be gaining weight.

The best way to avoid any weight gain this holiday season is to stay full on HMR meal replacements and fruits and vegetables (if they’re on your eating plan) so that you can stay “In the Box.” By doing this, you can:
• Protect the weight you have already lost
• Maintain weight-loss momentum
• Reach your goals faster
• Reduce the chance of eating weight gain foods

Don’t let the holidays get in the way of your weight-loss progress. During this season, keep in mind all of your reasons for wanting to lose weight. Experiencing success on the diet and getting closer to your goals may be the best gift you can get this season.

P.S. If you’re craving something sweet, whip up an ultra-rich HMR 70 Plus Chocolate Pudding, or a filling Black Forest Shake with an HMR Chocolate Shake and frozen cherries.

Featured Recipe

Do you need some inspiration for you holiday meal? Here are a few selections that you and your guest will enjoy. And the great thing about them is that they are healthy for you!

Butternut Squash Risotto

Ingredients:

1 whole Butternut Squash, trimmed, peeled and cut into 1/2 in cubes
1 whole Sweet onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 whole Fresh Fennel Bulb, sliced thin
(to taste) Zest of 1 Orange, minced
1/2 cup Fresh Organge Juice
1/2 cup Fresh Parsley, minced
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Fresh Black Pepper
2 cups Shiitake or Button Mushrroms, sliced
1/2 cup Chicken or Vegetable Broth
4 packages HMR Mushroom Risotto
(to taste) Mint Sprigs (optional garnish)
1 cup Frozen Dark Cherries, thawed
1/2 cup Diet Cranberry Juice
1/2 cup Chicken or Vegetable Broth
3 tablespoons Sherry Vinegar
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
4 packages Splenda
2 teaspoons Cornstarch, dissolved in 2 Tablespoons water

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl toss peeled and cubed butternut squash with onion, sliced fennel, orange zest, orange juice, parsley, salt and pepper.
Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray or use nonstick aluminum foil to line pan. Arrange butter squash mixture on baking sheet in one layer. Spray with nonstick cooking spray and roast in oven for approximately 45 to 60 minutes or until squash is tender.
While squash is roasting, spray a saute pan with nonstick cooking spray and saute mushroom slices for 3 to 5 minutes, adding broth as necessary to finish cooking. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste.
Combine roasted squash and cooked mushrooms with HMR Mushroom Risotto Entrees. Gently mix together and transfer to a large glass casserole dish. Reduce heat in oven to 300 degrees F and heat casserole for an additional 15 minutes. Add additional broth if necessary to keep moist.
To make the cherry sauce start by placing thawed cherries in a saucepan with cranberry juice, broth, vinegars and sweetener. Bring to a low boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain cherries, reserving juice. Place juice back in the same saucepan and bring to a low boil. Whisk in the dissolved cornstarch and allow to simmer until thickened. Add cherries back to sauce and keep warm until ready to serve.
To serve, place a generous mound of butternut squash risotto in center of bowl and drizzle cherry sauce around the perimeter. Garnish with mint sprigs (optional).

Creamy Eggnog

Ingredients:

4-6 oz. Cold Water
1 packet HMR Vanilla Shake Mix
1/8 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/8 teaspoon Rum or Brandy Extract
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
3 Ice Cubes

Instructions:
1. Pour water, shake mix, extracts, and nutmeg into a blender and mix until smooth.
2. Add ice cubes opne at a time umtil thoroughly blended.

Chocolate Raspberry Mousse

Ingredients:

1 package HMR 70 Plus Chocolate Shake
8 Ice Cubes
1 teaspoon Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Mix
6 ounces Diet Raspberry Soda

Instructions:

In a food processor finely crush ice and push it down the sides. Your Ice should look like a snow cone ice.
Add the remaining dry ingredients to the food processor. Then add half of the raspberry soda to the processor, and begin blending together.
Slowly add the rest of the soda when the mix comes together smoothly stop adding liquid and blend until the volume of the mousse has almost doubled.
Garnish with mint leaves and fresh raspberries (optional)

Fore more recipe ideas check out our recipes page on our website. New and delicious recipes are added every week.

more recipes

A Gift to Yourself

The Holiday Season is upon us and along with this comes social parties, family gatherings and the additional holiday stress that comes with the season. All of these added activities force us to trim or scale back our usual routine in order to fit in these extra 'once a year' responsibilities. This maybe excused, if it is understood that it is only a temporary solution. However, this solution usually results in unwanted outcomes. Welcome to the New Year’s resolution!

Just the idea of beginning from scratch is overwhelming and unappealing to many, so why is it that so many of us allow this to happen over the Holidays? Simply put it is the decision to take the easy path that creates long term problems. Yet, this does not necessarily have to be the case in maintaining your daily physical activity. This negotiation of letting a couple of days go by without engaging in some type of physical activity can easily add up to a couple of weeks, to months, and before you know it, you are back at square one. Having to start all over again at getting back into physical condition. The solution is to manage your valuable time. To evaluate and prioritize both your daily activities as well as those seasonal traditions. Whatever those choices may be, maintain some level of physical activity. Make a conscious decision to set aside time to be deliberately active. Make it non-negotiable with your other seasonal activities. You will be the winner. You will find that you are able to do more, your energy level, mood, and self esteem will all be up. You will have more self control and decreasing those extra cravings for cookies and other things you know you should not be eating. Not only is a long-term commitment to physical activity beneficialy healthy, it is also Mother Nature’s key to anti-aging. Who doesn’t like the sound of that!

As this season brings on new challenges not only to personal schedules, but also to nature’s schedule (shorter periods of day light). You are afforded a wonderful opportunity to be creative and change your physical activities! Such simple alternatives like walking around the mall, try going snow shoeing or sledding with family and friends. Walking around the neighborhood and enjoy and admire the creative Holiday decorations on your neighbor's homes. Shovel your neighbor's sidewalks is a great way to keep active, burn calories, and it also makes a great gift.

The truth is this time of year can pack on a lot of challenges and extra stress, why add to that stress? Set definite non-negotiable times to create new and invigorating strategies. So that by the first of the year you are starting out on the path to success, not joining the ranks of so many who are having to undue the damage caused by holiday weight gain with the elusive New Year’s resolution.

Quick Tip
Top 5 Tips for Holiday Party Survival

Having a solid eating plan before going to your event is critical. Use these “to do” HMR® strategies to get through your events with minimal calorie damage:

1. Have one (or more!) HMR Shakes and/or Entrees before you leave home. You’ll arrive at the party feeling full to help avoid a high calorie evening.
2. Take along a BeneFit® Bar (or two!) to eat during dessert. The calorie savings could be HUGE.
3. Call your host ahead of time to find out what’s being served, and offer to bring a vegetable or fruit platter or a giant salad. (Offer to bring a low-calorie salad dressing, too.)
4. Double or triple an entree recipe form the HMR Recipe Book to serve to guests.
5. Get in extra physical activity the day of the event. You’ll be more likely to make healthier food choices.

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