A healthy approach to Thanksgiving (with pie!)
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If your Thanksgiving table looks anything like ours, it's loaded with temptations.
Why it matters: Food is central to many of our holiday celebrations, which can make maintaining your health goals a challenge this time of year.
Driving the news: Steven Lalevich, a registered dietitian for Healthy IU, has some tips for how to approach the holiday season with health and celebration in mind.
👪 Don't focus solely on food
- Rather than thinking about what you'll spend the day eating, Lalevich suggests focusing on other aspects of the season, like quality time with friends and family.
- This could be a great opportunity to start new holiday traditions that have nothing to do with food, like a Thanksgiving morning fun run, post-meal "fart walk," or family game night.
⌚ Limit when you're eating
- Often, people overdo it before they even sit down for the big meal.
- Try to avoid grazing throughout the day, and only eat during actual mealtimes.
🥦 Focus on nutrient-dense dishes
- When it comes time to fill your plate, Lalevich says to focus on foods that have some nutritional benefit.
- Go for larger servings of non-starchy vegetables, before you add the mashed potatoes and gravy.
Yes, but: Don't feel like you have to skip dessert!
- "A lot of desserts, if we can have something that includes fruit, can have a lot of good nutrition — even things like pumpkin pie and sweet potato dishes," he said.
⚖️ Set realistic expectations
- Give yourself some grace this holiday season and set an achievable goal, such as maintaining your current weight.
- The average person gains 1 to 2 pounds every year from young adulthood through middle age, and in many cases, that weight gain can be traced back to the holidays. So weight maintenance, rather than weight loss, is a healthy and realistic goal.
The bottom line: "There is a big difference between having a handful of holiday meals and kind of going off the rails every day for two months," Lalevich said.