Fall doesn’t just bring with it cooler temperatures, yellowing tree leaves, and the beginning of the busy busiest spending season of the year. It also brings on the beginning of dropped diets and weight gain due to all the comfort food and constant holidays. Between the warm meals inspired by the cold and the delicious foods inspired by the holidays, Americans are stuck in a limbo that has them going back to the gym every New Year’s.
It starts around Halloween, with most families buying a few bags and eating the leftovers the trick-or-treaters don’t get. Then at Thanksgiving they just have to have that extra helping of turkey stuffing and a big piece of mom’s pumpkin pie. Then Christmas provides the last opportunity to pig out on candy canes, eggnog, food at holiday parties, and another feast at mom’s house on Christmas Day. And worst of all, since you know you’re going to be eating a lot of food, you don’t bother keeping yourself in check and you just keep on eating.
To prevent (or at least cut down on) the weight gain starting this fall, you don’t have to deny yourself every treat that someone shoves in your face. Just keep in mind what you’re eating, especially when you’re faced with the following fattening fall foods:
1) Pumpkin Pie... or pumpkin bread/rolls: you’ll be taking in 26 grams of fat per serving.
2) Pot roast: this has a whopping 67 grams of fat, mostly due to it baking in its own fat for hours (unless you get the lean kind).
3) Turkey stuffing: this food is essentially bread mixed with butter, and it carries 10 grams of fat with it so eat it in moderation.
4) Sweet potato casserole: sweet potatoes themselves are high in nutrients. But those nutrients get buried under all that sugar, whole milk, and margarine, making this top out at 32 grams of fat.
5) Mashed potatoes w/gravy: a favorite no matter what time of the year it is, but your body wouldn’t appreciate its 43 fat grams.
6) Pancakes w/maple syrup: the pancakes themselves are fine, but add maple syrup and you’re packing on the fat and the calories. And you still haven’t added butter/margarine.
7) Banana nut bread: the aroma while this is baking in the oven may be sweet, but having the 17 grams of fat from this showing up on your body will put you in a sour mood.
8) Halloween candy: this is a special food, because while many candies have no grams of fat, they can have a lot of calories. Just 2 fun-size Baby Ruth bars contain 260 calories!
Don’t think you’re off the hook with hot drinks either. If you’re getting a drink from a large chain like Starbucks, most of them will provide nutritional information. But try to stick to drinks that don’t have tons of sugar. And be mindful of the role that restaurants and cafes play too. They like to change their menus and add new, fattening items in the fall to get into the spirit of the season as well. Drinking one of their drinks could be like eating a meal (due to all the calories and fat grams), without getting the nutritional value.
