People generally think that the Thanksgiving holiday gives them an excuse to consume three times as many calories than they regularly would on a daily basis. The yearly routine usually involves large dinners with large portions, with another dinner, and another one along with some beer and football. Doesn’t this sound relaxing and fun!? Trust me, after this feast, you will feel more miserable after not being able to fit into your jeans for the next few days due to all the bloating. It is simply NOT worth it. Think about it… If you let yourself go now, the odds are that it is all downhill from here and you could say bye-bye to your diet.
After some research, I have collected many tips from health experts about how to end your Thanksgiving holiday without having to unbutton your jeans and slouch on the couch in order for them to fit decently.
1.Eat Little Before the Big Meal
Most people save up their appetite for the large feast, which in theory sounds amazing because you get to savior every bite, right? Wrong. Since you are so hungry waiting for the massive amounts of food, you’re most likely are going to eat more than normal and at a faster pace. Thus, you will not only consume more calories, but also tip over from eating too much. A quick tip is to eat small snacks (ideally ones composed of protein) a couple hours before your meal. The protein will make you feel more full before the meal, so you will most likely eat less and stop eating before you can do some damage (1).
2.Go Herbal or Go Home
Okay, this may sound weird, but try to drink a few cups of green tea on Thanksgiving Day. The water in the tea will fulfill your body’s liquid volume, which is an important factor for suppressing your appetite. Moreover, the green tea is caffeinated meaning that this will naturally boost up your metabolism! (2)
3.Make a Game Plan
Before sitting down at the table, observe what food options are presented to you. Before loading your plate, think about what you’re going to put onto your plate. “Is this particular dish going to make me feel better temporarily or in the long run? Am I going to regret eating this?” Silly questions like these can actually help structure your self-control. If you know that something is going to make you feel horrible afterwards, thinking about the consequences as well as bringing them out of your conscience will make it much easier for you to say no because you will probably feel guilty.
4.Oh, the Consequences can be Brutal!
No one really thinks about how long they actually would have to be in the gym and exercise after eating a meal. Studies have shown that just to burn off something that is advertised as “healthy” such as a 6-inch Double Roast Beef Sub and a Veggie Delite Salad with Fat-Free Italian Dressing, it would take you about 57 minutes of running. A baked potato with chili would take two hours of weight lifting. A Bombay Chicken Salad with a tall cup of café blend coffee would take 93 minutes of non-stop crunches at a moderate pace (3). Now, you may want to rethink taking about taking some seconds…
5.A Trip to the Gym Before Eating Will Make You Think Twice
Think about it. If you were to spend 90 minutes at the gym in the afternoon the day of Thanksgiving, would you want to see all of that hard work go to waste? Well, if you want to get into shape for the summer, I hope that the answer is no. Going to the gym beforehand, could be your motivation to say no at the dinner table. All the calories in the foods on the dinner table are enough to make it seem as if your workout was nothing and it would probably erase some workouts from previous days that week. Why would you want to see all of your hard work go to waste?
Eating right and healthy is nothing but a mental game. The very beginning is always the hardest. Saying no to your favorite sweets and carbs could feel as if you’re an addict going through withdrawal. But even addicts recover and live a better life, and so can you! After the first few rounds of saying no, you will see that the process will become easy and it will not take any mental effort or rationalization for you to say no the next time—you probably will not even think about the guilty pleasure at all, so you won’t even have to say no!
Take all of these tips into consideration during the holidays. Granted most of these tips seem obvious or silly, but it is easier said than done! Have a happy holiday and make smart decisions! ;)