For many of us, the season of office parties, club dinners and end-of-year events poses the biggest diet dilemma of the year: exactly at the time we want to look our slinky, most beautiful best, we're besieged with calorie-laden cocktails and platters of things deep-fried. And the more alcohol we consume, the more chicken wantons we munch down, leaving us looking (and feeling) more stuffed than the turkey. Knowing that conventional dieting around Christmas-time will never work, but at the same time that it sucks when your boep prevents you from rocking that magnificent LBD, someone very clever by the name of Cara Alwill Leyba has come up with the perfect COSMO girl eating plan: The Champagne Diet.
No, don't get excited, it doesn't mean quaffing bubbly for breakfast, lunch and dinner (which is much more fun in theory, anyway) – it's a way of making healthier and smarter food choices, which keep your calorie content down, and allow you to indulge in two flutes of the good stuff per day - without ruining all those retro aerobics classes. The fact is, dry champagne only contains 65 calories per glass, which is much less than your average cocktail, beer or cooler.
And, since it's such a festive, happy drink, making it your tipple of choice during the silly season means that you'll never feel deprived. Plus, it contains more antioxidants than any other form of alcohol (like we needed an excuse...).
| Let Them Eat Salmon |
While the Champagne Diet comprises a healthy daily menu of protein, carbohydrates, fruit and veg, it makes allowances for the fact that, over the holiday season, you're not going to be at home dry-frying a chicken breast, so it teaches you what foods to pick from the buffet table, and which ones you're better off avoiding. So, instead of the cheese samoosas and sausage rolls, go for 'classy' foods like smoked salmon, rare roast beef and crudités with hummous. While the former foods make you feel greasy and bloated, the protein in the 'classy' foods fills you up while giving you a boost of vitamins and minerals. Plus, limiting yourself to two drinks per day means you still get to have fun, but without taxing your liver and waking up with a hangover.
The Champagne Diet Breakfast consists of a high-fibre carbohydrate with some monounsaturated fats (e.g. wholewheat or low-GI bread with low-fat margarine or avocado) Mid-morning snack is one portion of fresh fruit, while lunch comprises fun food such as a pizza with goat’s cheese, roasted red peppers and mushrooms (alternatives would be low-GI bread with thin slices of Prosciutto and a green salad). Dinner includes grilled or smoked fish like salmon or lean, grilled meat with mixed vegetables or a salad. And the other daily snack is, of course, two flutes of dry champagne. |
| A Much Merrier Option |
| How To Use The Champagne Diet |