Today is November 27, 2019
Including today, there are 35 days left in this decade.
If you eat three meals/day that is 105 meals.
Now let’s look at the meals that often make us overeat:
Thanksgiving: 1 meal
Christmas Eve/Day: 2 meals
Hanukkah: 2 meals
New Year’s Eve/Day: 2 meals
Random Parties: 5 meals (maybe)
Total Potential Holiday Meals: 12 meals
Many people “give up” around the holidays and say they will wait until the New Year- in this case new decade as well- to make amends. But if you really think about it, why “give up” on the work you’ve been doing to improve your health because of 12 meals out of 105?! Doesn’t it make more sense to tweak those 12 meals to keep them in check? Of course, you can give yourself a little leeway, but is it really worth it to overdo it? I think not!
If you keep it all in perspective, keep exercising and follow last year’s guidelines (summarized below for easy access), I think you will find this holiday can keep all of its magic without the weight gain.
10 things you can do to stay healthy this holiday without compromising the fun and food of Thanksgiving
- Break a sweat with a good workout Thanksgiving morning
- Start a family & friends Planksgiving challenge: One week of planks starting the day after Thanksgiving, increasing the duration of the hold by 15 seconds each day (each person can have a different starting point if need be)
- Drink lots of water leading up to and after your Thanksgiving meal
- Eat with your stomach, not with your head- we often think we “need” much more food than we really do
- Eat “half” your plate: bring a tupperware, make your “ideal” plate, and then move half into the tupperware to enjoy the following day
- Chew slowly: the first place we are meant to break down food is in the mouth, but most people miss this very important part of digestion by chewing too quickly and swallowing whole chunks of food (side note- this also increases intestinal gas)
- Put your fork down in between each bite- this helps slow down the overall speed at which you eat, which also helps the above tidbit
- Savor your food- smell it, taste it and savor the experience
- Choose your favorite dessert, not one of each, and indulge in that
- Give Thanks- don’t neglect to take the time to be thankful for the food, family and/or friends surrounding you