A 2B Christmas

Some people have asked me how to have a 2B Christmas dinner, so I thought I would write this post. The first thing to remember is that 2B really is a mindset and not a set of rules; however we can follow the principles in order to make the festive season happy and positive, rather than bloated and overfull.

As a recap, the first half of the 2 Bunnies are Water First and Veggies Most. These two things alone, will help you control how much you are eating. Drinking plenty of water means you stay hydrated and are less likely to confuse thirst with hunger. Most people do not drink enough water, so when your body is craving H₂O it will not discriminate between food sources. Additionally, by drinking water before you eat, you start to fill your stomach up, so you can feel full and satisfied without having to pig out on a load of carbs. Veggies most makes sense too, because they are nutritionally dense, and we want to fill up on foods that are good for our body. We can eat a good plateful that is appealing to our eyes, whilst not making us feel heavy and tired afterwards.

At this point, I need to remind you of the Plate-It method, so depending on whether you eat your Christmas dinner at lunchtime or teatime, you may want to alter what is on your plate. Roast potatoes, even when cooked in goose fat, are not inherently bad for you, but depending on the time of day will affect how many you choose to eat.

My plan for Christmas dinner is as follows. We always like to have multiple courses with our Christmas dinner, but it will be spread throughout the day, because nobody wants to eat all this in one sitting!

Starter: Prawn Cocktail

King prawns, on a huge bed of mixed salad, covered in homemade thousand island dressing ‘watered’ down with lemon juice and vinegar. My husband will have bread and butter with his, but I don’t need that eating opportunity.

Main: Turkey with all the trimmings

We’ll be having a cook-from-frozen stuffed turkey crown this year, and my husband wants a half leg of lamb too. We’ll have roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding (I’ll have one of each) with pigs in blankets and sausage meat stuffing. I am having a lazy Christmas this year, so many of the items for Christmas dinner will be preprepared, but if you are making your own stuffing (especially if you are actually using it to stuff the turkey), why not use riced cauliflower instead of half (or more) of the breadcrumbs? I have even seen a bag of frozen cranberry and nut stuffing that has cauliflower rice as it’s base – but is only available across the pond, and not in the UK.

I’ll also do a range of vegetables, from sprouts with bacon, roast root veg, carrot and swede mash, cauliflower cheese, peas and sweetcorn. With a spread like this, there is no excuse whatsoever not to achieve Veggies Most.

Pudding: Option of Christmas Pudding or a Mince Pie with Brandy Cream.

It’s Christmas, so I have no intention of watering down any of this, but I only need a taste of each, rather than a pint of each…

Cheese board: Cheese, crackers and chutneys/jellies and grapes/apples.

I love a good cheese board. I love cheese. In reality, though I’ll plan to have it on Christmas day, I feel full just reading everything I’ve got planned, so this will probably move to Boxing Day. I’ll add another salad with it, so we can still have Veggies Most.

And alcohol. In my house, it wouldn’t be Christmas without any alcohol; but by having Water First, and alternating a glass of wine with a glass of water, means we can enjoy the taste without getting drunk or putting on weight from empty calories.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, enjoying your food and drink xx