Prepare your belly for holiday warfare

The most popular New Year’s resolutions each year, according to polls, relate to diet, exercise and weight loss. It makes sense that people would resolve to turn the ship around after finding themselves at the end of the holiday season. Alas, by the time New Year’s Day rolls around, the damage has already been done. Losing weight is a lot harder than avoiding it in the first place.

That’s why now, rather than January, is the time to craft a plan that will help you navigate the treacherous temptations of the holiday food table. Here are some thoughts on the subject, followed by a recipe for massaged kale salad that’s guaranteed to leave your belly happy and full of fiber.

1. Treat your stomach space as the most valuable of real estate, like Victorians treated virginity. Don’t just give it away to the first hors d’oeuvres tray that floats by. It’s easy to surrender to filling your belly with whatever’s within arm’s reach, but if there’s nothing good to eat, then don’t eat. Take a breather. Something more worthy of your belly will be around soon enough.
2. The day after a feast, wait until lunchtime to eat breakfast. Some people worry that skipping breakfast leads to more eating later in the day to compensate, which can supposedly cause weight gain. But the most recent evidence suggests that response is rare. In any case, during the holidays you already know you’re going to eat more later in the day, so skipping breakfast to compensate for the gluttony to come makes sense. And after a night of feasting, you might just sleep in until lunchtime anyway.
3. Up the activity. I don’t mean to imply that you can exercise away the excess — unless you’re an endurance athlete, your workouts probably won’t compensate for the level of gluttony typical of the holidays. But exercise is always good for you and will help you build some discipline that you can put to work at the holiday trough. And if you’re skipping breakfast, you have that time slot available …
4. Pre-party with green plant fiber. If you show up with something in your belly, you won’t be that guy crowding the food table before its time to eat. Arriving at a lavish buffet with fiber in your belly has other benefits, too. Greens are generally digestive aids that will help move along all the custard puffs, pumpkin pies and cookies that might tempt you. So, start the evening with bowl or two of this massaged kale salad — and maybe bring some to the potluck if you think the other guests might want some tasty fiber in their lives.

The action of squeezing the leaves in salt and lemon juice softens them, almost like a light sauté would. Just remember that, like many salads, this one isn’t low in calories. But at least the calories come from fat, which, like fiber, sates the belly and takes the edge off of hunger.

Massaged kale salad

Use your hands to knead the kale with salt and lemon or lime juice. This breaks down the cell walls, leaving the kale soft, pliable and easier to eat. My kale of choice is the long and narrow-leafed lacinato kale, which also goes by the names dinosaur kale, black kale and Tuscan kale. Curly kale is another good option.

Serves four

• 6 cups kale, center ribs removed,
• chopped crosswise into 1/2-inch slices
• 4 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• One clove garlic, pressed (garlic lovers can multiply as necessary)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or crumbled feta

Place the kale, salt and lime or lemon juice in a large mixing bowl. Squeeze handfuls of kale as hard as you can, over and over, for about a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, toss together and serve.