1. “Limit yourself to 5 bites.”
Holiday dinners are often synonymous with appetizers.
“I’m sure that if we asked anyone around us: how much weight are we likely to gain during the holiday season? We will be told: 3 lbs, 5 lbs or even 10 lbs,” explains Annie Ferland, nutritionist and founder of the blog Science et Fourchette.
In reality, these figures are greatly overestimated. “If we rely on science, we are talking about a weight gain of 300 to 500 grams on average. It’s the equivalent of a can of legumes, it’s not huge,” she explains.
“If we always count the bites, it’s a pressure that will necessarily come with guilt,” underlines Annie Ferland. In his eyes, limiting yourself or calculating everything creates unnecessary pressure.
Rather, it encourages us to fully savor — both the food and the moments spent with loved ones during the holiday season.
2. “Avoid excess, eat in moderation.”
“This advice doesn’t mean anything,” says the nutritionist. “It’s because it lacks precision. It can be interpreted in any way,” she explains. “What is “avoiding excess”? What is excess for us? For some people, “avoiding excess” can mean a very, very restrictive diet, or even not a healthy diet.”
Eating should remain a positive experience, she says. As soon as we give restrictive advice, it is a sign that we should reconsider our relationship with food. And above all, “by taking the time to savor, we often eat less in the end,” explains Annie Ferland.
3. “Use a small plate.”
This is advice that claims that by serving ourselves on a small plate, we will instinctively eat less.
“Cutting yourself off from these signals using mathematical methods to try to eat less is not validated by science,” explains the nutritionist. “Even the studies on this were retracted because the researcher who did them had engaged in scientific fraud.”
She is referring here to Brian Wansink, the former director of the Food Brand Lab at Cornell University, who saw several of his studies discredited after being implicated in several data manipulation scandals, notably in his studies on eating behavior.
This sensationalist advice may attract attention, but, as Annie Ferland points out, “in reality, it doesn’t work.”
The nutritionist concludes by mentioning that special occasions should not be synonymous with pressure or anxiety. The most important thing about holiday dinners is savoring and enjoying dishes that we sometimes only eat once a year.
