5 Tips for a Healthy and Fit Thanksgiving

You Can Have Your Turkey (and Stuffing) – and Your Fitness, Too!

Welcome to the winter holiday season – the most challenging season of all for those of us who are working on our nutrition and overall fitness!

Between short, colder days and your great aunt's incredible Thanksgiving stuffing, it's really no wonder so many of us struggle with our health and fitness plans this time of the year.

But there is hope, and a lot of it. You don't have to choose between severely limiting your enjoyment of Thanksgiving (not to mention the holiday treats to follow) or giving up your fitness and nutrition plans until January.

There is a better way – a way to have your turkey (and your great aunt's stuffing) and to maintain the progress on your health and fitness that you've worked so hard to achieve up to now.

To kick the holiday season off right for your body and your taste buds, here are five tips to help you have your Thanksgiving dinner and maintain your waistline, too:

1. Exercise before -- and after: If you're a Better Living Fitness Center member, come on in for Full Body Fit at 5:30 this Wednesday and either the 9:30 am Cardio and Core (if you want to get up early) or our 12:30 pm Full Body Fit class on Friday. But don't stop there! Even a brisk walk before you sit down to that heavy, groaning Thanksgiving table will leave you feeling less full and groaning after you eat. Click here for our fitness class schedule.
2. Eat breakfast: It might be tempting to “save up” your appetite for Thanksgiving dinner, but hitting the table extra hungry will make it much harder to avoid overeating. Instead, have a good-sized breakfast tomorrow morning to keep your metabolism higher throughout the day – but not just any breakfast. Go with a higher-protein, low carb start to your day: for example, Egg Beaters with onions and peppers (maybe with a bit of low fat cheese), and a side of a low-glycemic fruit like berries.
3. Use smaller serving spoons: Thanksgiving dinner isn't a normal meal –
   
   it's more like a buffet, because there are so many wonderful foods to choose from. By using smaller serving spoons you can still have a taste of everything, without taking a full-size portion of each yummy thing you want to try.
4.  Take your time: On average, Americans spend five hours preparing Thanksgiving dinner – and only thirteen minutes eating it! Eating quickly is a sure way to overeat. On the other hand, taking our time doesn't just allow us to know when we're getting close to having enough – it also gives us space to savor the special Thanksgiving textures and flavors. Besides, doesn't it make sense to bring up the average time we spend eating the meal when our loved ones spend so much time making it for us?
5. Try on a new family tradition: Thanksgiving may be America's big eating holiday, but that doesn't mean dinner needs to be the only focus of the day! If the people you're celebrating the holiday with are open to the idea, try to
   
   schedule something fun in addition to your dinner. Take a walk together in a nearby park, play some touch football, or even bring out the board games or a deck of cards for awhile. Physical activities are obviously best from the perspective of your overall health and fitness, but anything fun that distracts people from the constant temptation to eat (and eat, and eat…) will help.

Thanksgiving is just the first holiday of an entire season that encourages us to fill our plates and overfill our bellies. The good news, though, is that you don't have to choose between feeling left out or rooting through your closet for your old pair of “fat pants.” Add a few extra exercise sessions, enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and the season's other tasty foods in moderation, and you'll be in great shape to start reaching for even bigger health and fitness goals come January!

...and remember, the entire staff at Better Living is here for you. Contact us today for whatever support you might want to help you get through the holidays with your health and fitness intact, from nutrition counseling to personal training sessions. We're here to help!

Here's wishing you and yours a happy, healthy, and love-filled Thanksgiving day!


Photos courtesy churl, Peter Barker, and Nathan Rupert via Flickr