CHPS offers class on healthy holiday eating Published Dec. 9, 2010 By Sarah Olaciregui 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. -- Deanne Casey, a registered nurse and Hanscom's civilian health educator with Civilian Health Promotion Services, is offering a class for civilians to learn or be reminded of how to eat healthy during the holidays. The class will take place on Dec. 15 from 11 to 11:30 a.m. at the Health and Wellness Center in Building 1540. "We all know how hard it is to eat healthy during the holidays," said Ms. Casey. "This class will be a helpful reminder on what to look for or what to avoid when going to a holiday dinner." The class, called Healthy Eating for the Holidays, will cover four objectives, including holiday weight trends, 10 tips for healthy holiday eating, healthy food substitutions with holiday favorites and holiday stress relievers. "It's not just the parties, celebrations and festivities that cause us to eat more during the holidays," Ms. Casey said. "Stress and the feeling of always being crunched for time also may cause many people to overeat or pick unhealthy food choices." The session will also go over ways to help people avoid eating too much or not eating the right foods. "Most of traditional holiday meals include foods that are high in fat," said Ms. Casey. "During the class we will talk about some simple baking modifications so you can still have some of your favorites." The class will also do meal comparisons. For example, Ms. Casey will point out the caloric differences between having three ounces of light breast turkey meat as opposed to three ounces of dark turkey meat. The Healthy Eating for the Holidays class is free and open to Department of Defense civilians and active duty military members. To register call Ms. Casey at 781-377-8467 or via e-mail at deanne.casey.ctr@hanscom.af.mil.