Festive season: one Rebel Day is not a Rebel month

Christmas markets in Vienna, iftar with the family, Deepavali open houses, the reunion dinner. Festive food is about people, and you should enjoy it. Here's how to do that without spending January repairing it.

The short version

Best: The feast itself, eaten slowly: protein and vegetables first, the sweets after.
OK: One or two pieces of festive sweets, straight after a meal.
Never: Grazing the cookie tin all week, sweet drinks, "sugar-free" goodies with sweeteners.
When: The real feast days are Rebel Days. The days in between are normal days.
Our take: In Ramadan, your fast comes first and replaces ours. The rest of the year, pick your feasts and enjoy them properly.

The one rule: feast days, not a feast season

Christmas is a day or two. The Christmas season starts with the first market stall in November. Chinese New Year has a reunion dinner, and then fifteen days of visiting. Deepavali and Hari Raya come with weeks of open houses and tins of cookies at every door.

So pick the days that matter: Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, the reunion dinner, Deepavali itself, Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Those are your Rebel Days. Everything around them is a normal day, with your usual eating window and dessert after a meal, not a tin on the sofa.

What the festive weeks do to your body

Less than you fear, more than you'd like. In a US study of 195 adults, people gained on average 0.37 kg over the holiday weeks, and didn't lose it again by spring or the following autumn.¹ A review of later studies found adults consistently gained around 0.4 to 0.9 kg over the season.² Half a kilo sounds like nothing. Add it up over ten years of Decembers and it's the slow creep most people blame on age.

The good news: it's easy to stop. In a UK trial with 272 adults, people who weighed themselves regularly over Christmas and got simple tips ended up about 0.5 kg lighter than a group who got a healthy-living leaflet.³ Paying attention works.

Buffets are the other trap. A review of 39 studies found that people eat more when a meal offers more variety.⁴ Your stomach gets bored of one taste, not of food in general. Twelve dishes at an open house means twelve fresh starts.

And alcohol: it's everywhere in December, and the WHO is clear there's no safe level.⁵ If you drink, our alcohol guide has the rules: with food, never on an empty stomach, never during a fast.

Festive food, traffic-light style

Food	Why	Verdict
Roast turkey or chicken, grilled fish, tandoori meat	Protein, fills you up	Go for it
Steamboat with vegetables, fresh fish, tofu	Skip the processed balls and the sweet sauces	Go for it
Mandarin oranges, fresh fruit, salads	The festive food nobody overeats	Go for it
Dates at iftar	One to three, with water	Yes
Rendang, curries, ketupat, roast potatoes	Fine with the meal, smaller portions	Sometimes
Pineapple tarts, love letters, festive cookies	About 55 to 90 kcal each, and they add up fast⁶⁷	One or two
Murukku, ladoo, burfi, gulab jamun	Fried or sugar-heavy; on the day, after the meal	One or two
Lebkuchen, Vanillekipferl, Stollen, log cake	Sugar and butter; on the day, after the meal	One or two
Bak kwa	About 370 kcal a slice, and it's processed meat⁶⁸	A small piece, if any
Glühwein, Punsch, eggnog	Sugar plus alcohol	Avoid
Rose syrup, bandung, sweet packet drinks, soft drinks	Liquid sugar	Never
"Sugar-free" cookies and sweetened goodies	Sweeteners are on our never list	Never

The step-down plan: four weeks around the festival

Two weeks before: put your Rebel Days in the calendar. Decide which days are the feasts. Write them down. Everything else is a normal day.
One week before: hide the tins. Gifted cookies go in a cupboard, not on the table. One or two pieces, after a meal, and the lid goes back on.
Festival week: feast, then close the kitchen. Enjoy the feast days fully. The day after is a fasting day (or a lightest-food day), then back to your eating window.
The week after: clear the leftovers. Freeze, share or give away what's left. Weigh yourself twice that week. That simple check is what worked in the Christmas trial.³

Ramadan: iftar, dates and what comes after

Fasting in Ramadan is an act of worship, and we treat it that way. During Ramadan, the religious fast replaces Healthen's fasting rules. Your eating window becomes the time between iftar and suhoor, and we add no fasting of our own on top: no extra fasting days, no Rebel Day fasting. Our full article on religious fasting covers the rules and the safety side.

Many Muslims break the fast with dates and water, following the practice of the Prophet.⁹ That's a gentle start. The trouble usually comes later in the evening: fried snacks, kuih, syrup drinks and the Ramadan bazaar. Studies have found people eat more sweets and drink more sugary drinks in Ramadan than the rest of the year,¹⁰ and the small weight loss many see during the month mostly comes back within weeks.¹¹

Iftar: break the fast the way your family and tradition do. Then a proper meal: protein, vegetables, rice or bread. Sweets after the meal, small.
The evening: water, not syrup. Spread it over the evening, not all at once.
Suhoor: protein, wholegrains, fruit and water to carry you through the day.
Hari Raya Aidilfitri: that's your Rebel Day. After a month of fasting, the day after is a light-food day, not one of our fasting days. Whether you keep voluntary fasts in Shawwal is between you and your faith community.

If you have diabetes, talk to your doctor before Ramadan, not during it. International guidelines exist for people with diabetes who choose to fast.¹²

Christmas, Deepavali and Chinese New Year

Christmas is a Christian feast, and for many families also a family one. If you keep Advent or the Orthodox Nativity fast, the religious practice comes first, as with any faith fast. Then Christmas Eve or Christmas Day is the feast. The weeks of markets, office parties and cookie plates are not.

Deepavali, the Hindu festival of lights, is about family, visiting and sharing sweets. Singapore's Health Promotion Board suggests two or three pieces of each kind of cookie at most, and fewer when you visit several households.⁷ If you keep a fast or a vegetarian period around the festival, the same rule as Ramadan applies: your tradition's fast comes first, and we don't add ours.

Chinese New Year starts with the reunion dinner: that's the Rebel Day. Then come the visits, the mandarin oranges and the goodie tins. A pineapple tart has about 80 to 90 kcal, a love letter about 56, and a slice of bak kwa about 370.⁶⁷ Take the mandarins. For lo hei, toss for luck, and go easy on the sweet sauce and the crackers.

Travel and hotel buffets

One plate, protein and vegetables first, then sit down. Walk the buffet before you pick, so you don't take a bit of everything. On flights, stick to your eating window where you can, and drink water.

"It's the holidays, calories don't count." Your body doesn't check the calendar. The feast days barely matter. The six weeks of "it's the holidays" around them do.¹

"I'll fast it off in January." The holiday gain tends to stay.¹ Stopping it is easier than undoing it.

"Refusing food at an open house is rude." Take a small plate, eat slowly, praise the cook, and accept the drink. Hosts remember that you came, not how many tarts you ate.

Eat, forget

Eat

The main feast, protein and vegetables first
Roast, grilled or steamed meat and fish
Steamboat with vegetables and fresh fish
Mandarin oranges and fresh fruit
Dates and water at iftar
Lentil soup, salads, dhal
One or two festive sweets, after the meal
Water, unsweetened tea, black coffee

Forget it

Grazing cookie tins between meals
Bak kwa as a snack
Rose syrup, bandung, packet drinks, soft drinks
Glühwein, Punsch and sweet cocktails
"Sugar-free" or "diet" goodies
Second rounds at the buffet
Leftover sweets in January

Eat it where you live

Singapore and Southeast Asia

Hari Raya and Deepavali open houses: small plate, eat slowly, water in your hand
Chinese New Year: mandarins over pineapple tarts, bak kwa cut small
Ramadan bazaars: pick one thing, not one of everything
Christmas buffets: carvery and salads, then one dessert

Austria, Germany, Switzerland

Christmas markets: roasted chestnuts or a hot tea, skip the Glühwein and the Lebkuchen hearts
Cookie plates: two Vanillekipferl after dinner, then close the tin
Weihnachtsgans or Karpfen: the protein is fine, go easy on the dumplings
Silvester raclette or fondue: more vegetables, smaller cheese portions

Can't say no to the cookie tin?

Eat a proper meal before you go visiting
One piece per house, not one of each kind
Hold a glass of water or unsweetened tea
Take a mandarin when the tin comes round
Give gifted tins away after the festival

Still a no: grazing between meals, sweet drinks, sweetener goodies, and alcohol on an empty stomach or during a fast.

Allergies and intolerances

Festive food is full of the EU's 14 mandatory allergens.¹³ Homemade goodies have no label, so ask.

Food	EU allergen	Swap
Pineapple tarts, love letters, Stollen, Lebkuchen	Cereals containing gluten, eggs, milk	Mandarins, fresh fruit
Vanillekipferl, burfi, nut cookies	Tree nuts, milk	Dates (no nuts)
Satay sauce, some kueh	Peanuts	Grilled meat with lime and chilli
Murukku, sesame biscuits, yu sheng dressing	Sesame	Plain roasted chestnuts or fruit
Bak kwa, soy-glazed dishes	Soy	Roast chicken
Yu sheng, Christmas carp, prawn dishes	Fish, crustaceans	Chicken or tofu (if soy is fine)
Gulab jamun, eggnog, cream desserts	Milk, eggs	Fruit

Talk to your doctor first if you…

have diabetes and plan to fast in Ramadan or another religious fast, especially on insulin, sulfonylureas or SGLT2 drugs
are pregnant or breastfeeding and plan to fast
have kidney disease or heart disease
take medication that doesn't mix with alcohol
have an eating disorder or a history of one

How the festive season fits into your plan

Tell Healthen me which festivals you celebrate and which tradition you follow. Your feast days become Rebel Days: eat the feast, and the next day the kitchen is closed (or, if Healthen me has screened you out of fasting, it's a lightest-food day). The days between are normal days with your usual eating window.

In Ramadan, the religious fast replaces our fasting rules. Your eating window runs from iftar to suhoor, with no extra fasting from us on top. Hari Raya is your Rebel Day, followed by a light-food day.

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition or take medication, talk to your doctor before fasting or changing how you eat.

Sources

Yanovski JA et al. A prospective study of holiday weight gain. New England Journal of Medicine 2000;342(12):861–867. doi.org/10.1056/NEJM200003233421206
Díaz-Zavala RG, Castro-Cantú MF, Valencia ME et al. Effect of the holiday season on weight gain: a narrative review. Journal of Obesity 2017;2017:2085136. doi.org/10.1155/2017/2085136
Mason F, Farley A, Pallan M, Sitch A, Easter C, Daley AJ. Effectiveness of a brief behavioural intervention to prevent weight gain over the Christmas holiday period: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2018;363:k4867. doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k4867
Raynor HA, Epstein LH. Dietary variety, energy regulation, and obesity. Psychological Bulletin 2001;127(3):325–341. doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.3.325
World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health, January 2023. who.int
Health Promotion Board Singapore, HealthHub. Healthy Christmas and Chinese New Year food. healthhub.sg
Health Promotion Board Singapore, HealthHub. Choosing healthy Hari Raya food and Deepavali snacks. healthhub.sg
International Agency for Research on Cancer. IARC Monographs evaluate consumption of red meat and processed meat, press release No. 240, 26 October 2015. iarc.who.int
Sunan Abi Dawud 2356, Book of Fasting, chapter on what to break the fast with (narrated by Anas ibn Malik). sunnah.com/abudawud:2356
Trabelsi K et al. Religious fasting and its impacts on individual, public, and planetary health: fasting as a "religious health asset" for a healthier, more equitable, and sustainable society. Frontiers in Nutrition 2022;9:1036496. doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2022.1036496
Fernando HA, Zibellini J, Harris RA, Seimon RV, Sainsbury A. Effect of Ramadan fasting on weight and body composition in healthy non-athlete adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrients 2019;11(2):478. doi.org/10.3390/nu11020478
Hassanein M et al. Diabetes and Ramadan: practical guidelines 2021. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice 2022;185:109185. doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2021.109185
Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers, Annex II (the 14 allergens). eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/oj

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