How to Have a Healthy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a great time to get together with family and friends over a table of delicious food. Unfortunately, with so much food, it’s tempting and easy to go overboard, and all healthy habits go out the window. However, you don’t have to get overly stuffed this Thanksgiving or sabotage your diet. Following some healthy Thanksgiving tips can help you have a guilt-free feast this holiday season by helping you make good choices.

During the holidays, those little extras can add up, and so can the pounds. Consider these helpful, healthy Thanksgiving tips to help prevent you from loosening another notch on your belt.

Stay Hydrated– Your body’s hunger signals may not be going off because you are hungry, but because you aren’t hydrated enough. A lack of hydration can cause ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates hunger, to rise. When your body is flooded with a higher amount of ghrelin, you can wind up eating more than you planned. So stay hydrated and drink water throughout the day to help keep your hunger at bay.

Eat a Good Breakfast– While you may be tempted to skip all meals before Thanksgiving dinner to “save” your calories, this method can have the opposite effect and make you eat way more than you wanted to. So if you want to avoid overfilling your plate during Thanksgiving dinner, make sure you eat a good breakfast that day and don’t skip any meals. Keep your meals healthy and full of fiber and protein. By doing so, you stand a better chance of remaining level-headed when loading your plate.

Get Your Body Moving– Aim to get your body moving on Thanksgiving. If not once, but twice. Starting off the day with a morning workout is an excellent way to increase your energy levels and metabolism for the day. Avoiding the couch and opting to go for a walk after dinner is a great way to burn calories and help stimulate your digestive system.

Watch Your Positioning– Watch where you place yourself during Thanksgiving to help avoid temptation. If you see a dish on the table that you know is going to be tempting, save yourself the torture and don’t place yourself in front of it or sit next to it. If you know you cannot resist desserts and want to avoid them entirely, go hit the dance floor or see if the host needs a helping hand cleaning up. This method also is excellent works well when you are trying to avoid the leftovers, which can make you go back for more than you initially wanted.

Aim for Healthier Substitutes– If you are the host and cook this Thanksgiving, aim for healthier substitutes for dinner and dessert. Aim to use GMO-free, organic, free-range products, and only go for high-quality ingredients. While the better ingredients often come with a higher price tag, the better quality food is more likely to fill you up and keep you fuller for longer. Plus, the likelihood of feeling sick is reduced, and best of all, that means dinner and dessert can become more guilt-free, allowing you to concentrate on spending time with loved ones.