14 Tips for a Healthy Thanksgiving

photo by ccyhan

There’s a lot of talk about giving thanks lately, but let’s be honest. For most people, Thanksgiving is about food. (If you think your relatives travel hours just to see you, you’re fooling yourself. Someone’s got to tell you.) Here’s a testament to the fact: People slave away for days prepping side dishes, buying a turkey, and baking pies. Others (ahem, The Man) spend the week leading up to the holiday—and I quote—“stretching the stomach so there’s more room for turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pie.” However you look at Thanksgiving, the holiday in some way revolves around the dinner table.

For the health-conscious, the holiday is one big, flashing-in-red-lights temptation. The midget devil on your shoulder’s working overtime: Try the mashed potatoes—you don’t eat them often. What’s turkey without gravy? Sweet potatoes are healthy, especially in casserole form. Take another roll … you don’t have to butter it. Forget salad, you can have that any time you like. Don’t even get me started on dessert.

And the angel on your other shoulder? Yep, she’s got the day off.

You can always cook your own Thanksgiving meal, invite the family to your place, and hope grandpa doesn’t crack any is-this-turkey-or-cardboard jokes. (Just kidding. There are plenty of delicious, healthy turkey day recipes out there. If you’re able to do some of the cooking or bring a few of your own dishes, more power to you.) But if you’re visiting relatives who insist on cooking the meal solo, you’ll have to get creative—and disciplined—with your eating. The average person eats 4,000 calories during a Thanksgiving meal. And, yes, you read that right: double the daily recommended amount of calories for adults in one meal.

Read on for 14 tips on avoiding overeating—and next-day bloat.

1. Don’t arrive hungry. Show up to a party ravenous, and you’ll probably make a beeline for the chips and dip. It sounds smart to save all of your calories for mealtime by starving yourself throughout the day. But, let’s be honest, it only works against you. Have a solid breakfast—I’m thinking oatmeal or eggs—then eat a snack (or lunch, if your Thanksgiving dinner actually starts after dusk) before you head to the party.

2. Fill up your (small) plate. Instead of grazing on hors d’oeuvres till dinner, fill a small plate with food and consider its contents your allotted appetizers. You get bonus points if you designate more space for veggies than less-healthy fare.

3. Move around. Plant yourself next to the food table and you can be sure you’ll eat a full day’s worth of calories before the main course is served. Instead, load a plate with appetizers, then mingle. Focus on conversation and catching up with family and friends—not stuffing your face.

4. Focus on your own plate. Jealousy breeds contempt—and that can lead to overeating. So what if your rail-thin cousin can eat half of a pecan pie without bloating to Kirstie Allie size? If you focus on how much other people are able to eat, you’ll be more likely to give in to your cravings. (As in: She gets to, so why can’t I?) Likewise, don’t harp on other people about their food choices. Your uncle has high cholesterol but drowns his buttery mashed potatoes in fatty gravy. Bite your tongue; holidays aren’t the time to lecture.

5. Start smart. Eat a salad before you dig in to your main course and you’ll be less likely to lick your plate clean. Or pick a broth-based soup, which can fill you up and leave less room for more sinful foods.

6. Go easy on the booze. What’s a holiday without Aunt Mary swigging a bottle of wine then incoherently rambling about the good ’ol days? I’m not saying you have to be a teetotaler this Thanksgiving, but consider two things: One, alcohol is high in calories, and even lighter options like wine can add up when you drink half a bottle. Two, alcohol will make you hungry and less likely to realize you’re already full. Consider yourself warned.

7. Play favorites. Have you been craving potatoes since September? Consider forfeiting some other item—say, dinner rolls or another carb-heavy dish—so you can enjoy your favorite. I’d rather eat sweet potatoes than cranberry sauce, so I make a trade-off that prevents me from eating two sugary sides. Even The Man picks and chooses. Of course, he trades veggies for an extra spoonful of whipped potatoes and swaps salad for stuffing. But that’s another story…

8. Be patient. It’s hard to wait for dessert. In my opinion, ending a meal with something sweet is non-negotiable. But if you rush to dessert right after dinner, you won’t give your brain enough time to signal your stomach that it’s full. Or so I hear. I have yet to put dessert on hold long enough to find out.

9. Don’t restrict yourself. Tell a kid he can play in any room of the house except for the one that houses all of your really expensive, irreplaceable, one-of-kind artwork and guess what? That is where he wants to play. It’s the forbidden fruit. For grown-ups, banned foods are like forbidden rooms/movies/insert really cool thing you wanted as a kid here. If I swear not to eat dessert (and, yes, I’m still fixating on dessert), chances are I’ll crack by the end of the night then swallow an entire apple pie whole. I could do it, too. Don’t dare me.

10. Hold the sauce. And dressing. And gravy. And dip. Skip the toppings, which are usually loaded with fat. Substitute oil and vinegar for creamy salad dressing. Or, dip your fork into a creamy dressing before taking a bite instead of soaking your lettuce in the stuff. Hold the gravy—turkey and mashed potatoes are just as good without it, I swear. And try crunching on chips plain or with salsa instead of dip.

11. Work up a sweat. I don’t know about you, but I’m less likely to eat like a frat boy when I’ve just exercised. It has something to do with not wanting to undo all of the hard work I just did at the gym. If you get that feeling, try doing a brief workout Thanksgiving day. If you can’t squeeze one in before the masses descend on your house, take a midday walk with other overstuffed guests. Even a short bout of exercise helps.

12. Clear your conscience. Here’s what happens the day after Thanksgiving: You’re bloated. You feel fat. You wonder how you let yourself eat so much. You hate yourself. You wish sweatpants were like jeans, and that you could wear them for the rest of your life. You feel guilty for eating so much. You figure, what the heck, might as well load up some more. See? Feeling guilty about holiday eating can launch an endless cycle of self-hate and binge eating. The morning after, acknowledge you ate like other humans who celebrate Thanksgiving once a year. Give yourself a pass, then vow to eat healthier from now on. Or until Christmas.

13. Eat like a kid. Ever notice how kids don’t stuff themselves silly at holiday get-togethers? They’ll eat what they like—and what they hate, if Mom’s watching—then go off and play the rest of the day. Copy their strategy: Eat what you like, not everything available. Eat until you’re full, then stop. Focus on conversation more than polishing off everything on your plate.

14. Say “who cares?” Thanksgiving is one day out of the year, so if you eat 3,000 or 4,000 calories that day, your body isn’t going to morph in to a pudgy version of itself. Just make sure you get back to conscious healthy eating the following day. And log a few miles at the mall. You burn extra calories if you fight another shopper for the last 70 percent off sweater in your size.

What’s your philosophy on holiday eating? Do you plan to splurge? Or will you pick healthy options?