Winter and Holiday Eating with Dietitian Maxine Smith

Podcast Transcript

Nada Youssef:  There's so much health advice floating around online, among friends but who can you really trust? Trust the experts. Listen to the world's brightest medical minds, our very own Cleveland Clinic experts. We ask them real questions; tough and intimate health questions. And we get real answers, all originally recorded live.

Hello and welcome to the Health Essentials Podcast brought to you by Cleveland Clinic. I'm your host, Nada Youssef. If you're looking for easy ways to improve you and your family's health this winter season, this podcast is for you. We will be discussing what foods nourish the body and mind during this cold winter season. Here to help us get smarter about seasonal eating is Maxine Smith. She's a registered dietician in Cleveland Clinic's Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute. Welcome, Maxine.

Maxine Smith:  Good to be here, Nada.

Nada Youssef:  Thank you. Thanks so much for being here again. And for our viewers and listeners, please remember this is for informational purposes only and it's not intended to replace your own physician's advice.

Okay, Maxine. So what does eating seasonally mean and why is it so important?

Maxine Smith:  When I first think about seasonal eating, I think what foods are available at any particular time of the year. At this time of the year, we're thinking about what's available after possibly a frost. What is hardy? What can survive a frost? But it really means so much more than that because seasons also are related to different lifestyles. For example, over the holidays or the winter months, kids might be home from college. You might have visitors so you might have larger family gatherings that are going to affect how you eat. It also affected by culture and ethnicity. So seasonal eating for me being from Eastern European descent, might be more preserved foods, more fermented foods like sauerkraut, more pork or meat that are more readily available not raising animals. Whereas, somebody from a Mediterranean area, it may mean more seafood on special occasions. So we need to take that definition of just what's available and put it in a broader context.

Also, because of packaging and transportation advances, we have so much available to us now which might not have been available at one point of time but has affected our cultures and tradition.

Nada Youssef:  So taking that and applying it to the winter season, what foods should we be looking to buy?

Maxine Smith:  There are some great nutrient powerhouses out there right now. And it's interesting because many of the foods that are hardy and can survive a frost are loaded with nutrients, possibly because they've had to be survivors themselves against the ravages of weather and insects and so forth that they can transfer those same properties to us. Many of these foods are packed with different nutrients and you're going to be looking at many of the root vegetables, whether it's carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, some different bulb vegetables, also greens. Many greens are very versatile so you'll have greens that are available really early in the planting season to an extended planting season. Many of the cruciferous vegetable that have the peppery taste to them, a strong sulfur taste in some cases, such as Brussels sprouts and cabbage, red cabbage, broccoli.

All of these are nutritional powerhouses too, offering vitamins such as A and B which are great for immunity, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, all these things. Also, a transfer to heart health, brain health, bone health, all the different plant nutrients. Looking for colors such as in beets, you get things like anthocyanin. So many of these plant nutrients are defined by these colorful compounds that you can find in some of these foods.

Nada Youssef:  Sounds delicious. Now obviously soup is a winner staple. Many of us resort to store-bought cans. So can you give us maybe some tips on how to make soup from scratch that's satisfying and contains winter vegetables?

Maxine Smith:  That's a great way to get in all these nutrients. I like to think of it as taking that summer salad or the summer bowl with all the different vegetables and making a soup out of them. Whereas, a cold salad might not be very enticing in the winter, a nice hot bowl of soup may be. And some soups have also shown to be therapeutic as far as helping to alleviate cold symptoms and act as a decongestant and whatnot. And yes, homemade soup and store-bought soup... Once you make your own, there's no going back. You could make it so much more nutritious. You have so much more control over how much sodium you put in there. You can really enhance it with lots of the anti-inflammatory herbs and spices also that are warm and southing for the palate in this season.

And it really is so simple. You can take shortcuts, yes. But you can make a very simple broth by just poaching a couple pieces of chicken. You can take a couple chicken breasts, poach it in water, and you have a basic broth. Now, to make a really good soup, you want to caramelize some of those vegetables. So what's referred to as Mirepoix in French... Or it seems like French. Or some people will call it a version of the Holy Trinity. So you have your onions, you have your carrots, and you have your celery, and you chop it up finely. And you want those to cook on a very low temperature for quite a long time until the sweetness comes out. So you want those to caramelize and that's going to add so much flavor to that base. And then, after that is caramelized, add the garlic. You don't want to add the garlic too soon because burnt garlic can ruin that entire dish. So it only takes a couple minutes for that to happen.

And then, you want to add all your herbs. You want to cook those just a little bit until you can smell the fragrance in them because when they're cooked in a little bit of fat, you can put these vegetables and herbs and a little bit of olive oil instead of butter or avocado oil to make it healthier. And when you're cooking those herbs in that oil, it's going to bring out the depth and the flavor of those herbs rather than throwing them in there later.

Tomatoes, especially for meat soups, would be the next addition. And again, if you cook those for a period of time, they're going to caramelize and that sweetness is going to come out. And then, as far as the meat, you can go from anything from chicken to fish to lean beef, lamb. Really it's up to you what you put in there. And it really doesn't take long for that to cook. You can make a soup in half an hour to 45 minutes.

Crock pots are great over a longer period of time. Some people even choose to make their own bone broth using a crock pot, if you want a more gelatigenous, rich, thick broth. And you could always take the shortcuts too and buy the either frozen or store-bought broth. One thing you want to make sure is get the broth, not the stock for soups. For the longest time, I didn't know the difference. But a broth is a more well-rounded flavor substance. Whereas, a stock that's good for soups, you can even just drink it as it is. But a stock is more a something that you would use as a foundation for a sauce or a gravy that would go well with meat.

Nada Youssef:  Excellent. And during the winter season and with many people still working from home and even maybe kids doing school from home now, crock pot or slow cooker seems the way to go. And a lot of times, we'll just put our vegetables there, we'll sit all day, it'll simmer, we'll smell it. What I'm wondering, it does not lose its nutritious benefits cooking in the slower cooker for a long time? This still keeps it nice and healthy and nutritious for us?

Maxine Smith:  Yes, it absolutely does. And actually, low temperature cooking retains many of the nutrients. And some nutrients are definitely lost in fluid but the advantage of soup is that we're recapturing those because we're not tossing out the fluid. And the other thing to add to that too is some type of whole grain. So this could be quinoa or it could be whole wheat cous cous. It could be brown rice, whatever it might be, a whole wheat noodle or an edamame noodle. Now sometimes if you put these right in the soup, they can take over the soup and before you know it, you have this extremely thick more like stew consistency. So sometimes making those on the side and then adding those as desired at the end is an option.

Beans are another great nutrient that you can add to the soup and it would add some protein, some fiber, and it could also add some thickness. Now if you were using a dry bean, you would need to soak those first overnight so they're soft and then cook them first, especially if you add something after. I've made that mistake. I've thrown them into the soup with some tomatoes and they stay hard. So yeah, that you want to consider. Lentils have the advantage that you don't have to soak them first. So lentils are a legume you can just take and toss right in there.

Nada Youssef:  Good. Sounds good. So soup and chili even sounds perfect for this kind of weather. So during these gray cold months our bodies are lacking a lot of Vitamin D, especially living in Cleveland, Ohio, and the sunshine that goes with it. Are there any special good mood foods or foods that maybe contain Vitamin D that we should consider this season?

Maxine Smith:  Vitamin D is found in few and far between foods. The most abundant source is in the sunshine. So in leu of going to the beach, there are a few foods that we can get Vitamin D from. Fish are one of the most abundant sources but not any fish. It's going to be the fatty, cold water fishes which make sense because Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. Some of these fishes are the same that are rich in the Omega Three fats which you may have heard about it that are also good for brain health and heart health, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, sea bass, trout. And one of my new favorites is barramundi which is an Australian fish.

Other sources are going to be Vitamin D-fortified dairy products. Milk is a very good source of Vitamin D. Cheese on the other hand, is not going to contain much Vitamin D. Some mushrooms are being created under UV lights where they're designed to be rich in Vitamin D. Again, those might be a little bit hard to find at this point in time.

Nada Youssef:  That's very interesting about the mushrooms. I didn't know about that fact. Can we talk a little bit about the fatty fishes. We don't live next to an ocean. What is the best way to get our fish? And also, you hear about salmon there's wild-caught versus farm-raised, what that means, and what we should strive for getting.

Maxine Smith:  Yes. So there are a few options. Many grocery stores will ship in fish on a regular basis so that's an important thing to ask is, "How often do you ship in your fish?" Whether it's from Florida or the Coast of Alaska or even overseas, some stores may be shipping in fish almost every day of the week. So ask them, "What did you get in today?" because you went a fish that is fresh, that doesn't have an odor, for the best quality and taste.

Another option is to get flash-frozen fish that is vacuum-sealed. Vacuum-sealed in individual packaging is highly nutritious and because of advanced packaging techniques, it seals in the flavor and the moisture and prevents crystals forming which can really deteriorate the fish. The nice thing about the individually portioned fish is that you can easily thaw them by just putting them in a big bowl of cool water. In say, 20 minutes or so, the fish can be defrosted and ready to cook.

Nada Youssef:  Great. And then should we go for the wild-caught or the farm-raised and what is the difference?

Maxine Smith:  Well if you have a choice and the availability, definitely go with the wild-caught fish. The main difference is going to come down to the feed. Wild fish, of course, is going to be naturally fed, eating the smaller fishes and other microorganisms which can contribute to a more nutritious fish, less inflammatory fish, more Omega Threes. And that fish is getting more activity. It's going to typically be lower in saturated fat.

When you get a farm-raised fish, the quality is going to depend on its feed. The feed may, even though it's getting better and techniques are getting better, it may have some pro-inflammatory compounds in that feed. And they tend to be fattier. You think of a marbleized steak as being fatty. Have you ever looked at some of the, say, salmon in the store, it has that same marbleized look. Whereas, a wild fish, you're not going to see that marbleized fat in there. So not only can red meat be high in saturated fat which isn't good for your heart, but even a well-marbleized salmon can be the same.

And then there's, of course, environmental concerns and how many of these fishes are escaping outside of the farmed community? And how is this feed that's going into the water affecting other wild fish? So there are environmental concerns as well.

Nada Youssef:  Great. Now we know people tend to gain some weight in the fall and winter holidays but dieting during this time can be very, very tough, especially with a lot of good food around. What do you suggest? What diet is ideal for this time of year?

Maxine Smith:  I would suggest an MDD diet. MDD. I bet you never heard of that one.

Maxine Smith:  So I would say, Minimized Damage Diet or, more seriously, Maintain Daily Diet. So this is not the time to radically transform your diet. You want to be in a relatively low stress situation time, a time period when you're going to make radical changes. And even making radical changes period, I would not suggest unless you're setting yourself up for failure. But probably if you think about it... What good habits have I developed throughout the year? Maybe I have introduced more vegetables into my diet. Maybe I have cut out snacking between meals or at night. So how can I maintain these good habits during this time that I've developed? It's like decorating a Christmas tree. I have this foundation that I've established and then I'm going to add a couple of ornaments or a couple accoutrements to that, but in small doses and for a temporary amount of time.

So rather than looking at transforming things, how can I maintain what I've done? I heard some wise person say, "It could took take months to establish a new habit. How long does it take to rekindle those old fires of old habits? About two days." And I can't say whether that's an exact time frame but I think we could all testify to the point that it does not take long to revert to old habits.

Nada Youssef:  That's very true. Okay. Well, speaking of habits, there will be a lot of cooking happening this holiday season. How do we reclaim our kitchen, make sure we're serving healthy choices, sticking to our habits with our family and our friends all around us?

Maxine Smith:  Yes. So first of all, controlling the environment is extremely important. So what you have available, what you have in front of you on the counter visually, is going to have a great impact on what we choose. We don't want to overestimate willpower. That will only take us so far. It is compromised by stresses of the season. It's compromised by sleep deprivation which might be an obstacle at this time. Pressures of family members and food pressures on all these other things. So if we keep that base but I was referring to that you have established as a foundation and that's a good place to start.

As far as trying to make them healthier, controlling the environment, there's different ways to do that. And I like to think of PIE just as an acronym. P would stand for there's different ways to make food either healthier.... You have to think of what your goals are. Healthier. Cut calories. Your goal may not be to lose weight in the long run. It may be just to maintain a healthy weight. But maybe your cholesterol was high and you're trying to avoid taking a cholesterol pill so you want to keep the fat content down, not the calorie content. Or rather, the saturated fat content or the animal fat content down. And you're not so concerned about calories. And if you have diabetes, you might be more concerned about the sugar content of foods over the holidays. So you want to establish your goal to begin with. That will then dictate some of those decisions that you make in the kitchen.

But the PIE, there's different ways you can intervene to make foods healthier or lower in calories. So P for portions. So you can slice that pie in six pieces or you can slice that pie in 10 pieces, having a smaller sliver of it and eat mindfully. That could be very satisfying. The I is for ingredients. So are there ingredients that I can change? How can I decrease the sugar content? How can I decrease the animal fat content? It could be decreasing that ingredient altogether or substituting it with another alternative such as avocado oil for butter in a recipe or some stevia or monk fruit for some of the sugar in that product.

I is just change everything about it. Sometimes making those substitutions isn't going to cut it. You're still going to want the original versions. So just thinking of something totally different and what are some of those foods that you already have around that are healthy and how can you make them a little special? Such as, okay, I don't want to eat the apple pie because of the sugar so I am going to make a crock pot baked apple and put a little bit if cinnamon and nutmeg and some spices on there and maybe just a dash of brown sugar. Instead of ice cream or something like that you'd put on, put a little dollop of Greek yogurt and then some toasted, crumbled walnuts on top. I'm getting very hungry talking about that. So that's something just totally different but may give you that same sense of warmth and comfort and spiciness that you're craving.

Nada Youssef:  Now I've been hearing a lot about mindful eating. It's become quite popular. Can you tell us, what is mindful eating and how to incorporate mindful eating this holiday?

Maxine Smith:  Yes. I'm passionate about it because so many times we focus on the why we eat, what we eat, when we eat, but we don't really think about the why we eat or the how we eat. And it can be a truly transforming practice so that you can really savor and appreciate foods even more but in small quantities. So many people tell me, "Oh, no. I'm going to the dietician. I like to eat. I like food." And I said, "I do too. That would really be a bummer if yes, I was going to tell you... Yes, don't eat delicious food."

So mindful eating is a way to actually enjoy our foods more but don't have the regret and the guilt and the negative ramifications afterwards. The thing is that mindful eating focuses on some practices of mindfulness which is an ancient practice which has been applied to many things today. But it's really being in the moment so tuning out distractions, focusing on our food in this case with the intent... So it's an intent to identify the different sensory qualities of that food and savor it. It's a non-judgmental in its approach so it's not labeling foods as good or bad so you're not inflicting shame upon yourself. And you're also thinking about the cost and benefits of the food choice; how you're going to feel when you eat this food. Is it going to be an energy-giving food or energy-draining food? So I can do the things that I enjoy either in the short term or the long term.

But the time to practice is not at that holiday dinner. Because it is a practice and just like exercising your muscles to build that skill for that sporting event, it's something that you can practice over time and it can make a significant difference then when you are put in a position of more pressure and stress and distraction.

Nada Youssef:  Excellent. And I will try to incorporate mindful eating in my next big meals because I find that eating fast seems to not be mindful and to maybe slow down and chew it and taste it before just getting to the bottom of the bowl and it makes me eat more so that was very good information.

Maxine Smith:  Yes. And that's a good point. And I don't know if you've ever cooked a big meal, say a Thanksgiving meal for a big crowd, and by the team you sit down, do you want to eat it? Often, no because you smelled it, you touched it, you explored the textures, all these other aspects. And essentially, you've been fulfilled by that. So it is a good way to extract the benefits without the calories.

Nada Youssef:  So moving on to drinks, can you share some of your tips for holiday drinks that are delicious, nutritious, and definitely keeping us still healthy?

Maxine Smith:  Yes, drinks are a very important thing because they can really pack in a lot of calories, they can have a lot of alcohol, that can give us undesired affects such as zapping our energy or giving us poor judgment. And the thing about drinks is, our body doesn't register the calories like they do solid food and also when we're standing, which we're often doing when we're having a drink, our bodies don't register that we've consumed the calories that we've actually consumed also. And you may want to save the calories for that piece of special pie that somebody made rather than drinking those calories.

So thinking of very simple beverages so having a sparkling flavored water might be an option with a twist of lime or lemon. If you do add some alcohol, measure it out because just a pour, we tend to overestimate how much we're consuming. If you wanted to add a little calories but some nutrition to a drink and you're considering an alcoholic drink, it might be something like a Bloody Mary made... And if you're watching your salt, maybe even using a low sodium tomato juice. So you're actually getting some nutrients out of there at the same time. Or it could be a screwdriver that is made with some diluted orange juice where you're diluting it with some sparkling water and adding a bit of fizz to it.

When you get into some of sugary drinks, when you're talking about margaritas and daiquiris, you're getting into a lot of calories. And the same thing with creamy drinks. If you're having a shot of alcohol versus a shot of Bailey's which is creamy, you're talking about a lot more calories.

Even things like coffee drinks can add a tremendous amount of calories. So if you're picking up a pumpkin latte, for example, and you have in there literally five plus shots of sugary syrup, you've exceeded your sugar allotment for the entire day. And then you add the sweetened whipped cream to it, you pack on even more calories. You can slash that by going to a smaller size or you can, again, change the ingredients altogether. So you can skip the whip, go with an almond milk, and maybe reduce the shots of the syrup to two instead of the five that may be in there. And you've even significantly slashed calories even more by about 50%. If you're just passing time and you want something warm to get you through the day, you may even want to consider just a chai tea bag with some whipped almond milk in there instead of a sugary chai tea latte which may sound healthy but really packs on the calories.

In addition to some of the beverages I mentioned, there are some that can actually be therapeutic because they are made from anti-inflammatory components or that they can have pain-alleviating qualities. One of my favorites is making a warm golden milk and you can find many recipes online for this. The basic ingredient is turmeric. So turmeric. I add ginger to mine, cinnamon, cardamom which is my favorite spice. And it's important to add a little bit of ground pepper so the pepper will help with the absorption of the turmeric. I make up a big batch of this so it's all ready. And you can add it to a warm milk. You can add it to a milk substitute such as almond milk if you're trying to keep the calories down, unsweetened almond milk. Whisking in a little bit of fat, even a teaspoon of avocado oil... It might sound gross but it actually makes it creamy and it helps with the absorption of the turmeric. It's a very soothing evening, pre-bedtime drink.

There are also teas. I keep them on hand for somebody who has a sore throat in the winter that are made from licorice or made from slipper elm. So these components of the teas can have a soothing effect on the throat or can alleviate pain whether it's a throat coat tea or a licorice tea. Chai teas have things like cloves and ginger which also have immune-enhancing and anti-inflammatory properties.

Another favorite is I keep these mulling spices which have beautiful star anise and cloves and nutmeg and cinnamon, all these great spices on hand. And you can simmer those in teas. You can simmer those in apple cider. If you're having an alcoholic drink in a dry red wine, along with some fruits such as oranges or other citrus seasonal fruits. Not only do they add to the comfort but appeal because of the warmth but they're also therapeutic at the same time.

Nada Youssef:  That's great. And I know you mentioned a little bit about alcohol in there and that was going to be my next question because most likely, inevitable, alcohol will be in the upcoming holiday gatherings. What I think I heard you say is instead of doing a pre-made alcoholic drink, it's better to start it from scratch so you know what you're putting in there, how much alcohol, what kind of alcohol, and things of that nature to be responsible when drinking.

Maxine Smith:  Yes. Yes. As people, I think to some extent, are getting away from beverages that have alcohol in there to begin with because there are people that need to avoid alcohol whatsoever. So being aware, even making your own drink, so that you have an increase of awareness of what's going in there. There's a big difference between one and two shots, particularly for a smaller woman where weight is going to play into a factor as to how you're metabolizing the alcohol. Drinking with food can curve the effect of alcohol because it's going to slow down the absorption of the alcohol so that's another consideration. Beer and a lot of these craft that are very trendy can be like eating a Snickers bar truly. You can have an ultra lite beer for 60 calories or you could have some higher calorie IPA for about 230 calories. Saving those couple hundred calories, even 200 calories in one day is equivalent to a half a pound of weight gain in a week. And when you consider the entire holiday season, these small changes can make a difference.

A glass of dry wine is only about 800 calories also so that could be another good choice, especially if it's set... You want to consider also the rate at which you drink. Whereas, if you're sipping on a glass of wine, it can last throughout a meal. Another tip is to interject a non-alcoholic drink in between drinking. You may even start out with a sparkling glass of water. You may have one glass of wine. Have another glass of sparkling water. Maybe end your dinner with a cup of tea or decaffeinated coffee. And then maybe consider another glass of wine later in the evening. So disperse, delay are a couple techniques to minimize the alcohol.

Nada Youssef:  And holiday season seems to be a really hectic time for shopping. Can you tell us some grocery shopping tips and tricks for this holiday season?

Maxine Smith:  Well, it can absolutely be hectic and especially with limitations in stores and lines. You really want to strategize, find out what those busiest hours are, information available on Google and quite often, they'll show you when the busiest hours are. So planning that accordingly and just really going with a list. And I say this over and over: Do not go hungry because everything in the store is going to look appealing. And the billions of dollars they spend on marketing food products. So you want to go with some defense and prepared for that so go with your list. Try to avoid buying large quantities of things. If you are buying one of those accessories for a special occasion or a meal, buy a small amount of that quantity of food. For example, if you're making a cookie with dark chocolate chips, don't buy the giant bag at the wholesale store because those extra... We know what's going to happen with those. They're too easy just to hop in your mouth. So keeping a clean food environment as much as possible is important.

End caps are going to be filled with tempting foods, maybe less healthy foods and even ones that will sound healthy. Doesn't pumpkin sound like a healthy vegetable for everybody? Or dark chocolate? Well, yes, a small amount of dark chocolate can be healthy but many of the dark chocolates out there aren't more than 50% chocolate. They really don't have much chocolate at all and they have a lot of sugar in them. Something might be made with sweet potatoes which, again, sounds pretty healthy but when you examine the ingredients and sugar content, it's more sugar than sweet potatoes. So you want to be like a PI going into the store. Again, the time to practice is not in the moment of panic. But practice label reading.

There's a great app called Fooducate where you just... It has a very good visual display. It's won awards for one of the best apps and even kids can use it, where you scan food items with a barcode. It brings up a picture and it will rate it from an A to an F which is a really quick way to determine the food's health value based on an algorithm that considers many different factors. It makes label reading easy. And not only that, it will give you foods that rate higher on the scale.

So you're not necessarily looking for the optimal diet. It just doesn't exist out there. But how can I make this a bit healthier and a continuum?

Nada Youssef: Great. Now if we're trying as family and friends to make healthier choices this season, how can we support each other? And the part two to this question, what is the best way to make our friends and our family respect our food choices?

Maxine Smith: Yes, that can be probably one of the number one challenges because of all the different family dynamics. I think the best place to start is to actually just ask that question. So many people have different needs right now. My 88 year old mother continuously will say, "I remember the day when I would serve a ham and potato salad and everybody would be happy." But because of advances in nutrition, people have more specific requests, specific needs whether they need to be watching their salt, their cholesterol, gluten free, whatever it may be. I could go on and on. So we need to be respectful of that.

Also, people's religious beliefs are going to affect their food choices; their cultural beliefs. So it's important to ask other people about their food preferences and not impose our own values upon them. It's also important to set boundaries, healthy boundaries. Only you have control of what you put into your body and that's something that needs to be respected. So letting other people know if you have special needs or a special plan that you're following is important.

And it's important to pose it in a positive way also because there's a big difference between saying that, "Oh, yes. I'm making these food choices because I feel so much more energetic and I'm going to sleep well tonight so I can play tag football tomorrow with the kids." Versus, "Yes. I have to eat this for me." Then you're the Debbie downer and everybody is going to, actually, with all good intentions want to try to make you feel better and maybe deter you actually from your goal in doing so by saying, "Oh, it just doesn't matter this time. Go ahead. Eat what you want." So the way you present yourself to others in those food decisions is going to make a big difference.

Also, on the part of the host, don't be a control freak. So allow people to participate, to delegate even to other people to give them the opportunity to bring the foods that are consistent with how they eat. On the guest portion, offer to bring something and find out what they're having so you can make it work with their theme. For example, if everything seems to be rich and fatty in the appetizer area, you can offer to bring a vegetable tray and some cold shrimp or something to offset all the cheesy, rich appetizers.

Filling your plate up to is really important so if people see you participating in the meal, they're going to leave you alone to a great extent. So fill your plate up with a lot of vegetables, so foods that don't have a lot of calories, and just take a small amount of other foods. And don't use this as a time to be dogmatic and try to convert the world as far as your healthy eating habits. You may choose to please somebody by taking a small amount of a dish that they take pride in and having a couple of mindful tastes of that and relaying your great pleasure in savoring that small amount of food.

Prepare yourself with ways out. "Boy, my eyes are just bigger than my stomach. This was great food. And I will so much more appreciate it tomorrow. Can I please take the rest of this home?" Some people are not food wasters and it's a great insult to leave food on the plat. So think of your audience, who you're going to be around, and some ways out if you wanted to stay, that can be lifesavers. Or, "I have to go to this other event so I have to be cautious and just really just enjoy a little bit of these scrumptious foods." So prepare yourself ahead of time.

Nada Youssef:  Great. And we cannot talk about the holiday season without talking about New Years. So for those thinking about a New Year's resolution, starting the New Year, what do you say to them? So many resolutions fall short. How do we stay on track?

Maxine Smith:  Yes. First of all, don't punish yourself and shame yourself for maybe some of the negative decisions you made during the holiday season because too many people do that. "Oh, boy. I gained five pounds. I ate all this sugar. Shame on me. Shame on me." And that's not going to get you very far. That's just going to get you in the vicious cycle of defeat. So make a decision to start off fresh. A good way to think about it is not to set a weight goal. Weight is going to be an outcome of healthy behaviors.

So determine how you could eat healthier. What is something that is a realistic change that I can make? And focus on the positive. So it might be, "All right, I really haven't been eating as many vegetables as I want. They've been replaced by some of these heavier winter foods so I'm going to aim to have a good portion of vegetables at both lunch and dinner five days a week." That's something that could be a very realistic goal, a positive goal, non-derivational goal that's manageable.

Also think of skills that you may want to develop. Perhaps you are a meat-eater and you think about, well, why? This has just been tradition. Or I hear it all the time, "My wife doesn't want to smell up the house with fish." Or, "I just don't know how to cook fish. Whenever I make it, it comes out dry and nasty." So it might be learning a new skill. "I'm going to take a cooking class and learn some cooking techniques so I can make good fish." Or, "I'm going to look up a YouTube recipe and follow this chef once a week and make a new fish recipe for the next month." So focusing on developing skills and practicing those skills and reinforcing them in an incremental manner, a strategic manner is the best way to reach your ultimate goal of eating healthier, weight loss, or whatever it may be.

Nada Youssef:  Sure. Great. Well, Maxine, it's been very informative. Thank you again for being here with us today. Is there anything you'd like to conclude with?

Maxine Smith:  Yes. Don't be too tough on yourself this holiday season. It can be tough especially this season with all the changes of maybe doing things differently. So continue some of those traditions which can bring both comfort, it can be soothing, connect you with a past. But also don't be afraid to think outside of the box. What is purely tradition just for tradition's sake? What can I tweak a little bit to make it a bit healthier and create a new experience and new tradition?

Nada Youssef:  Thank you. Thank you so much, Maxine, for this interview. And for our viewers and listeners, if you'd like to schedule an appointment with a Cleveland Clinic Registered Dietician, you can call 216-444-3046. And to listen to more podcasts with our Cleveland Clinic experts, you can visit clevelandclinic.org/hepodcast or subscribe wherever you get your own podcasts. And for more help, tips, news, and information, make sure you follow us on Cleveland Clinic Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you so much for tuning in.