By Meghan Streit and Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

You’re not likely to gain ten pounds over the holidays, but if you don’t get back on track toward healthier nutrition choices, that weight could catch up with you over the next few months.

Christine Haglund, registered dietitian at Seabrook in Tinton Falls, and Kelly Corcoran, dining services manager at the community’s Princeton Restaurant, offer their top nutrition tips to help you stay focused and healthy as you enter the New Year.

Choose nutrient-dense foods
“One of the smartest choices you can make is to pay attention to your serving  size,” Haglund says. “Choose foods that have a high nutritional value per calorie, and you’ll find you don’t need to eat as much. You’ll be fuller faster.”

Nutrient-dense foods include fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Corcoran says that the Princeton, one of three restaurants at Seabrook, has incorporated these choices into its daily menus.

“We’ve switched to whole wheat bread instead of white, included more fruits, and added a wider variety of fat-free salad dressings,” she says.

Get five a day
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPyramid—the new food guide pyramid—recommends adding two servings of fruits or vegetables to your meals.

Haglund suggests adding a salad to your lunch, and Corcoran recommends filling up your plate at least halfway with vegetables before anything else.

“Choose fruit for dessert instead of cake,” Haglund says. But, she warns, “Don’t use it to top a huge bowl of ice cream!”

Don’t forget dairy
While ice cream is a form of dairy, it’s not the most nutritious way to get it. But that doesn’t mean you should leave dairy out of your diet. New studies show that dairy can help you lose weight.