Thanksgiving is fast approaching and the average American will consumes over 4500 calories on this celebratory day….. If you slept through math class that is almost two pounds! If you don’t want to end up looking like a stuffed turkey, here are some things to try: choose healthy options when baking and cooking, exercise and eat wisely!
Try waking up really early Thanksgiving morning and go for a walk or a run. If you have family or guests in town take them along. This is a great time to chat and catch up and also to get the metabolism going. This is also a wonderful opportunity to give your pets some exercise too, dogs and cats can get very sick and fat during the holidays if they are fed human food or find dropped scraps on the floor.
While deciding and preparing what you will cook or bake this year think about healthier options, for example a low fat alternative to mashed potatoes. Instead of using tons of heavy cream and butter, opt for regular milk and low fat/non fat sour cream or a butter substitute. Pay particular attention to this rule when baking. Use brown sugar where allowed and ease up on the cream and butter if possible. Pumpkin pie is lower in calories than Pecan pie and you can serve it with low fat ice cream or frozen yogurt.
Most importantly practice portion control. Make sure you eat breakfast so you aren’t starving by the time Thanksgiving dinner rolls around or you may be rolling home. Start with one small portion of all your favorite foods and enjoy them slowly. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!