Tomorrow is the sweetest holiday of the year - Fat Thursday. Our nutritionist, Dr Małgorzata Słoma-Krześlak from the Department of Dietetics at the Medical University of Silesia, advises how to eat doughnuts with your head and why it is worth abandoning your diet on that day with a smile.
- Let's remember that Fat Thursday should be an occasion for a joyful celebration that does not undermine our health or well-being. Adopting moderation, consciously savouring food and maintaining a healthy approach to diet and physical activity will allow us to enjoy this day without feeling guilty or risking falling into a 'vicious cycle of weight loss', advises nutritionist Dr Słoma-Krześlak.
Our expert advises:
- reject the perception of exercise as a punishment
Instead of searching Google for the answer to how much exercise it takes to burn off the calories from your doughnuts, remember that physical activity should not be a punishment for eating. Treating exercise as an obligation for dietary 'transgressions' often leads to negative emotions and an unhealthy cycle of restriction and over-eating. A good idea would be to buy a doughnut and enjoy it while walking - such activity will reduce the post-meal rise in glucose and insulin, meaning we will ultimately have less of an urge to eat another portion of sweets and bring us closer to achieving the health-promoting (7500) number of steps per day.
- a healthy approach to dieting
If you decide to compensate for eating doughnuts by taking extra exercise or having a smaller evening meal, let it be a conscious and fear-free decision. It is important that it is a unique situation based on concern for your own health and not the result of guilt.
- moderation is the key
The basis is moderation. If you crave doughnuts, eat one or two, savour them and don't let one day negatively affect your healthy habits. Enjoy a good quality doughnut with a good (preferably black) coffee, add some fresh fruit (e.g. raspberries) and protein (Icelandic yoghurt or another 'high protein' type product to your meal to increase its nutritional value and the feeling of satiety, which will prevent large fluctuations in glycaemia (blood sugar levels) and thus reduce the need to eat more doughnuts.
- a healthy relationship with food
If the sight of doughnuts makes it difficult for you to control yourself, it is worth considering your relationship with food. Problems with appetite control can be indicative of deeper eating issues, so considering support from a specialist may be key.
Discover the recipe for dietary but oh-so-delicious doughnuts!
Ingredients:
- 1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you can use a mixture of whole wheat flour and e.g. oat flour)
- 1/2 cup plant milk (e.g. almond milk, oat milk)
- 1/4 cup natural sweetener (e.g. xylitol, erythritol)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Optional for decoration:
- Natural icing (erythritol-based)
- Melted dark chocolate
- Fruit, e.g. strawberries, raspberries
- Coconut shavings, nuts
How to make.
Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, mix the flour, sweetener, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg (or egg substitute), milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the ingredients are combined.
Forming the doughnuts: if you have a doughnut mould, pour the dough into the mould, filling each compartment to about 3/4 of the height. If you don't have a mold, you can use a regular spoon to spoon the dough onto a baking tray lined with paper, forming round shapes with a hole in the centre.
Baking: Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 15-20 minutes, or until the doughnuts are browned and springy to the touch.
Decorating: Once the doughnuts have baked and cooled slightly, they can be decorated as desired, e.g. by pouring melted chocolate or natural icing over them and then sprinkling with the ingredients of your choice.
Enjoy!
