During Thanksgiving dinner the average
American consumes a whopping 2,000 to 3,000 calories. In order to burn those
calories, you would have to walk 20 to 30 miles. Rather than regret your meal,
here’s are some practical strategies to help keep calories within reason.
Walk It Off or Turkey
Morning Trot
Even if you’ve picked the right things at the
meal, take a walk afterward. The fresh air will perk you up, and just ten
minutes is fine for today. But adding ten minutes to your daily walk or fitness
routine throughout the holidays is a good way to ward off weight gain all
winter.
Watch The Booze
Wine is fine in moderation, but it’s helpful
to dilute it with sparkling water. Allowing for two glasses diluted with water,
you can save up to 200 calories. Or go with red wine instead of sugary
cocktails.
Eat Slowly
According to a University of Rhode Island
study, people who eat slowly consume fewer calories than their hurried dinner
companions.
Begin The Day With Breakfast
You might be tempted to save all your
calories for dinner, but skipping breakfast will sabotage your Thanksgiving
resolve. By eating a healthy breakfast prior to sitting down at the
Thanksgiving table, you won’t be too hungry and you’ll be less likely to
overeat.
Have a plan. As the common adage pines, failure
to plan is planning to fail. Don’t just go through the day without any
forethought to what you’re going to eat. Think about it ahead of time and
know what you’ll be putting in your mouth (and body) and what you’ll choose to
walk away from eating.
Eat the turkey. Thankfully (great word, huh?), the
star of the show on this day is a wonderful, healthy, high in protein and
nutrient rich food! Enjoy it! Make that the centerpiece of your
meal. Picture that bird ahead of time and let your mouth water for turkey
& Go light on the turkey (I.e. eat the white meat)
Take a relish tray. If you’re not the host of the
meal, then by all means, be generous and take food with you. Not only can
you share with other family and friends, you’ll have something healthy that you
know you can eat. Fill the tray with fresh, raw veggies, various olives
and pickles, and munch on those.
Provide a green salad. Most Thanksgiving feasts all but ignore lavish, green
salads. Don’t do that. This could be the most healthful and helpful
thing for you on the menu. The excellent source of fiber will help to
make you feel fuller so that you don’t overeat and leave the table feeling like
you just sabotaged all of your weight loss efforts.
Have a green veggie dish. And, NO, I don’t mean green bean casserole loaded with
MSG and trans fats. Here’s an easy and yummy spinach casserole, high in
protein that even picky eaters will enjoy. Feel free to decrease the
grated cheese to lower calories and fat.
Spinach Casserole
Enjoy fresh cranberry relish. Not the jellied, comes in a tin can
kind of cranberry sauce, loaded with high-fructose, destructive, corn
syrup. Here’s a recipe for a simple, raw relish. Feel free to add
stevia or agave nectar for added
sweetness instead of maple syrup.
Cranberry Relish
Avoid the stuffing and the mashed
potatoes. If you don’t want to
leave the table feeling bloated, out of sorts, and ready for a nap, then turn
the other cheek to these two, guaranteed fat-adders. Picture the stuffing
on your hips and the potatoes on your belly, cause that’s where they’ll end
up.
Indulge in sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are a wonderful food and thankfully
(there’s that word again), very plentiful at Thanksgiving time. Enjoy
them baked in their jackets with 1 tbsp of butter and also avoid them smothered
with brown sugar or marshmallows.
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