Thanksgiving weekend is just around the corner. You may be looking forward to your traditional Thanksgiving meal or you may be dreading all the business and stress involved in it all. Regardless there different ways you can approach Thanksgiving weekend to prevent you from overindulging, reduce stress and enjoy the company of friends and family.
- ACCEPTANCE. Accept that you are going to overindulge. But that does not mean that the whole weekend needs to be a write off. Prioritize what you want to overindulge in…in other words pick your poison. Depriving yourself of the things you love and enjoy often causes us to overindulge in other ways. For example, if you love pumpkin pie, then have it! Then hold back on drinking the wine or having an extra serving of stuffing. Think about the calories you eat in a day like the amount of money in your bank account. You do not want to go in overdraft. Prioritize where you want the calories to go to prevent yourself from going into overdraft.
- PREPARE. Look for healthy alternatives either in completely new recipes or by making substitutions to your current recipes. Some examples include; coconut oil instead of butter, coconut milk instead of cream, broth or coconut oil in mashed potatoes, more vegetables in your stuffing, oil based dressings instead of cream based, broth based soup instead of a cream based soup. Another important substitution to make is with white sugar. Substituting your white sugar with raw cane sugar, raw honey, xylitol or stevia leaf will reduce the likelihood of your body to store sugar as fat. Also, support yourself. Digestive enzymes are a great way to support your digestive function to lessen gas, bloating and the heaviness that accompanies eating larger, heavier meals.
- ENJOY. Focus more on spending time with family rather than focusing on the food. Take time to give thanks for your relationships and your health. If possible, do a potluck instead of a formal sit down meal to share the workload and give more opportunity for quality time. Go for walks together. The weather this weekend is supposed to be beautiful. Take advantage and go for a walk after you eat. Your body will thank you for it.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Dr. Deanna Walker