Staying fit during Thanksgiving is a challenge for many of us, but attending these food-heavy family feasts doesn’t mean you have to gorge until you explode nor do you have to give up having fun in the name of fitness. Here are some simple things you can do to have a healthy Thanksgiving or any holiday celebration.
Prepare a Wholesome Dinner
If you are hosting a holiday dinner, you have the advantage of deciding what healthy foods to cook for you and your guests. Unless you have informed them of the menu ahead of time, keep in mind that your diners may be expecting traditional fixings, so you may not want to plan a meal completely around tofu or seitan.
You can serve a traditional meal but apply some adjustments. For example, you can cook lean turkey breasts instead of the whole bird, eliminating the dark meat. You can use a grain such as quinoa for the stuffing instead of bread, and amp up the sweet potato while cutting out white potato. The Mayo Clinic has a list of healthy recipes you can try, and you can find other recipes at sites such as Epicurious and the Food Network.
Watch What You Put In
Just like in everyday eating, how much you eat is as important as what you eat during holiday meals. Even if you aren’t preparing the dinner, you can still take steps to make sure you eat right. Stick to lean cuts of meats and green veggies, and stay away from high-carb items, such as bread and potato, as well as fatty toppings. Don’t let someone fill your plate for you. Remember that alcohol and other beverages also have an effect; hydrate on water. Have a healthy snack of fruits and nuts before the big dinner, but avoid snacking on unhealthy items while you’re there. Reader’s Digest and the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition websites offer other tips you can follow to avoid overindulging yourself.
If you feel the urge to keep track of what you’re eating, you can download a smart phone app such as the Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal, Daily Burn Tracker, or Weight Watchers Mobile. While we think you should pay more attention to friends and family during a holiday meal, there are plenty of smart phone resources to ensure you aren’t eating more than you can chew.
Even if you want to sample everything or you don’t want to insult your host by being fussy, you can limit your intake. Remember to follow proper eating habits as you would on a normal basis.
Exercise Before and After
You can help offset what you eat by burning up some calories before and after a meal. If you have the time to hit the gym or do some sort of high-intensity activity before you eat, great, but it can also be a brisk walk or jog. After you’ve eaten your share of the feast, go for a walk to aid digestion. If the idea of exercising dampers the spirit of the holiday, then plan an activity that everybody can partake in, like throwing a game before a meal or take a group stroll to a nearby park or do some sightseeing if everybody is visiting from out of town. Keeping yourself active is another great way to keep the pounds down. Check out Livestrong and other exercise websites for more ideas.