The festive season is definitely upon us, with summer BBQs, Christmas drinks and parties happening every weekend.  With so much on, it can be hard to avoid over indulging!

So to help you out here are some great, healthy alternatives you can choose over the more unhealthy, traditional foods…It’s fine to enjoy a bit of everything these holidays, but the key things to remember are portion size, choosing healthier options when available and avoiding overeating.

When the meal is self service, a good idea is to go for salad first. If you fill half your plate with salad, then there isn’t enough room left on your plate to over indulge in everything else! Keep active as well - go for a walk after dinner, play some backyard cricket or a game of tennis. Make the most of the longer sunshine hours!

At the BBQ

Sausage (70g)	Swap for	Tegal Ready to Grill Tenderbasted Kebab (55g)
160 Calories 13.3g Fat 513mg Sodium	You'll save 106 Calories 13.2g Fat 312mg Sodium	54 Calories Less than 1 gram of fat 201mg Sodium
Time walking to burn off		Time walking to burn off
42 Minutes		15 Minutes
Garlic Bread (30g piece)	Swap for	Wholemeal dinner roll with 1 tsp of sweet chilli philly
110 Calories 4.5g Fat	You’ll save 10 Calories 3.1g Fat	100 Calories 1.4g Fat
Time walking to burn off		Time walking to burn off
30 Minutes		27 Minutes
Potato Salad (140g)	Swap for	1 small baked potato(138g) with 1 tsp lite sour cream
200 Calories 113.3g Fat 1.3g Fibre 741mg Sodium	You’ll save 40 Calories 8.3g Fat 719mg Sodium	160 Calories 3g Fat 3g Fibre 22mg Sodium
Time walking to burn off		Time walking to burn off
53 Minutes		43 Minutes

Desserts
No one likes saying no to dessert, especially in the celebration season. Most desserts are high in fat and sugar and it can be more challenging to make good choices. I’ve included one recipe that is a healthier alternative to many desserts.  Fruit salad is another good choice. Threading berries onto skewers and drizzling with a little chocolate is also a tasty treat which gives you a small taste of chocolate without overloading in fat and sugar.

Below are some very tasty food swaps that won’t leave you feeling in the least bit deprived...

Pavlova 1 slice (around 125g)	Swap for	Berry Ice-cream pudding 1 slice (around 125g) (recipe below)
395 Calories 18.1g Fat 52g Sugar	You'll save 305 Calories 15.2g Fat 34g Sugar	90 Calories 2.9g Fat 18g Sugar
1 Chocolate Truffle (38g)	Swap for	2 Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
207 Calories 13g Fat 19.8 Sugar	You’ll save 97 Calories 7g Fat 9.5g Sugar	110 Calories 6g Fat 10.3g Sugar

Recipe: Berry Ice-cream Pudding
Makes 10 serves

2L of low fat ice-cream (I used Talley’s guilt free ice cream)
3 cups of mixed frozen berries
60cm square piece of calico and long piece of string

Soften 2L container of low fat ice cream in the microwave. Put into a large bowl and gently mix in 3 cups of mixed frozen berries.  Place bowl in freezer for around 10 minutes or until ice-cream just starts to harden. Line a bowl with large 60cm square piece of calico. Spoon in the softened ice-cream/berry mix and freeze for 10 minutes.

Once the ice cream has firmed up a little, gather the edges of the cloth and tie securely with string, so the string is long enough to hang the pudding. Tie the string to a rung of the freezer shelf and place the bowl beneath to catch any drips. Freeze for minimum of 3 hours. Then you can unwrap and place on a serving plate. No mess and no cold fingers trying to get it out of the bowl!

Nicola Graham

* Calorie information from calorieking.com.au, or derived from nutritional information on packaging