Festive eating without the guilt: Why moderation beats deprivation

With the festive season in full swing, experts are urging people to approach holiday eating with balance and moderation.

Dietician Omy Naidoo says skipping meals before large festive dinners can backfire, often leading to overeating later.

Instead, he recommends maintaining regular meals with protein and vegetables to keep portions manageable.

Naidoo emphasises that occasional indulgence is normal, but maintaining an overall balance throughout the season is key.

"I think the way to stick to your eating plan would be to be kind to yourself, don't aim for perfection, but rather aim for some sort of balance. You enjoy the favourites that you like, even if they are not the healthiest, but try to balance this also with regular meals.

"Meals can have vegetables, can have protein in it and then whatever you are doing or indulging in when it comes to calories, can you couple it with some movements or walk on the beach, walk in the park.

"We need to remember that one meal never ruins your health. It is what you do most of the days that matter.

"We simplistically always talk about something called a plate model, and if you visualise it, half your plate would be your vegetables and salad. Remember that potatoes are not a vegetable, it’s a starch. A quarter of your plate would be your protein, the chicken, meat, fish, beans, and then another quarter of your plate would be your starch, your bread, rice, pasta, potato. And then another caveat to that is when we look at the protein, the more plant-based protein you have, the lower calorie intake, the more high fibre starch you have, the longer that meal keeps you full so you end up not overeating."

For people with emotional or psychological relationships with food, Naidoo emphasises that careful planning and setting boundaries can prevent the festive period from undoing progress made over the year.

His simple mantra: enjoy food, but always in moderation.

To listen to Omy Naidoo in conversation with CapeTalk's Sara-Jayne Makwala King, click the audio below: