Balance and moderation may be the last things you think about during Thanksgiving. But, the fact is, the holidays give us too many opportunities to take a step away from our weight loss and fitness goals. Here are a few simple strategies you can use to minimize the effects of your Thanksgiving feast on your body.
Don’t go to the Thanksgiving dinner hungry. Starving yourself all day before the big meal will send your metabolism for a ride – a SLOW ride. You should eat breakfast and lunch as you normally would on any other day.
Don’t Drink Your Calories. You will get plenty of calories from food during your Thanksgiving feast. Even a couple of sodas or beers can add several hundred calories to your intake and can also reak havoc on your digestive system. Soda and beer can cause gas and bloating and will give you that dreaded stomach bulge you’re trying to avoid!
Eat like a Cow! Did I say that? Yes! What do cows do extremely well? They chew their food! Your body needs some time to realize that it has a job to do after you’ve fed it. Allow time for your digestive enzymes to break down your food and use it for energy.
Balance Your Meals. Thanksgiving dinner is not an all-you-can-eat buffet. Fill your plate primarily with lean protein and vegetables. You can still leave some room for your favorite foods, as long as its minimal.
Go skinless on your turkey. Choosing skinless turkey will slash away a good portion of fat and cholesterol. Save your appetite for the healthier side dishes and desserts.
Make a conscious choice to limit high fat items: high fat food items are found in the creamy or cheese-filled food selections. For instance, mashed potatoes are usually made with butter and milk; green bean casseroles are often prepared with cream of mushroom soup, cheese and milk and topped with fried onions; candied yams are loaded with cream, sugar and marshmallows. If you cannot control the ingredients that go in to a dish, simply limit yourself to a smaller helping size. Moderation can save you hundreds, if not thousands of calories!
Pace yourself throughout the gathering. Thanksgiving Dinner is quite a production in most families. Therefore, we tend to want to honor the host by stuffing ourselves, acknowledging their hard work, well-prepared and delicious meal. Avoid this trap. It is still just a meal.
Research healthy Thanksgiving recipes in advance. They’re all over the Internet! For example, instead of making stuffed turkey sandwiches, make a healthy turkey stew. Just boil a few slices of turkey in water, add bay leafs and a little white wine, and you have a great low-fat turkey stock. Now you can add as many vegetables as you want, and can even include some healthy whole grains if you’re dying for those carbs!
Eat one small meal at a time! Many of us have multiple Thanksgiving meals. we go to grandma’s house for breakfast, then to Uncle Joe’s house for lunch, etc. If you’re locked into multiple eating commitments make sure you treat each meal as a moderate one. Try small amounts of the foods offered at each meal instead of piling it on every time. Most Americans eat about 6,000 calories on Thanksgiving Day! Don’t be a statistic!
Get some exercise! Don’t use the holiday as an excuse to sit on the couch all day. There are hundreds of scheduled turkey trots in the DC Area and most of them allow you to register the same day. Personally, I’m doing the Turkey Burnoff on Saturday the 28th with clients and Friends. It’s at Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg if you’re interested…
If you can’t join us for that one here are some other local area events going on throughout the entire DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia region Turkey Races
If that sounds too overwhelming, just go for a walk or schedule a backyard football game. Made you could invite a few of the Washington Redskins players and have the kids show them a thing or two. I’m sure they could benefit from the advice!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dennys Passeto, CPT
Personal Trainers In Maryland, DC and Northern Virginia
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3 Comments
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