Have a Healthy Happy Thanksgiving

It’s difficult to worry too much about food at Thanksgiving; as this traditionally has been a day of food excess (when else would you have more than one vegetable dish at a setting?). Most people gain 1-2 pounds over Thanksgiving, and most of it caused by an increase in fat intake. All those delicious veggie dishes come laden with fattening sauces, coatings, and added ingredients. Turkey, like any fowl, has all the fat directly under the skin. Mashed potatoes, even sweet potatoes are made with heavy creams and other goodies made especially for our grand feast. Last, but not least, are the delicious, but fattening, desserts. The smells alone on Thanksgiving are enough to put a few pounds on all of us. What is a person to do? Is there any hope? Or should we just give in to the inevitable, and maybe exercise more than we usually do?

Exercise is good; but you would have to exercise for almost 24 hours straight to eliminate the extra 3000 calories (or more) you have absorbed. Don’t give up hope though; there are several things you can do which will help (and allow you to still enjoy the quality of feasting with friends and family).

• Eat slowly: This part is a must. People, who eat quickly, as if they were on the verge of starvation unless they stuffed themselves with 3000 calories in 5 minutes, do not realize when they are full. They will eat past the point of fullness, and then feel sick for hours afterwards (we’ve all been to that place, if we have lived long enough). Remember, it takes 20 minutes for your brain to register what your stomach knows: that it is full. By eating slowly, you can help your body do what it does best (and aid digestion, and eliminate that bloated, full feeling afterwards).

• Don’t skip meals. This adage is true any day of the year, but particularly at Thanksgiving. This is one day you don’t want to get to the table ravenous. You will definitely eat too much with that approach. Instead, have your usual breakfast, and maybe even a light snack prior to the arrival of dinner.

• Drink fluids, especially water. It used to be customary to always have a glass of water with your meal. That custom seems to have gone by the way side (who of us can remember special water glasses at a Holiday meal?). We need to revive this tradition, and if no room for the water glass, perhaps we could get smaller plates to accommodate this need (smaller plates would also lend themselves to portion control).

Many other steps exist which can help us get through Thanksgiving without feeling and acting as a ‘porker’; but allowing us the luxury of imbibing all the tasty morsels the day has to offer. We can give thanks, not only for our food, but the common sense actions we have taken to maintain our health. Happy Thanksgiving!