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The Thanksgiving Holiday Does Not Mean You Have to Gain Weight 2

In addition to smart choices and portion control, we can also substitute certain ingredients for more healthy ones. Try adding extra spices to your meals so you don’t have to add much butter or gravy.

You can also substitute skim milk to desserts and low-sodium chicken broth to gravy and mashed potatoes to add flavor without all the fat. You can also try alternate cooking methods like not stuffing the bird, and letting the fat drip off the turkey, or steaming veggies, and not coating them in butter, in order to make the meal healthier.

Never skip lunch on Thanksgiving, even if you’re eating early. If you’re really hungry when you go to eat, you’ll end up eating a lot more, even factoring in the extra lunch calories.

Just remember to eat a sensible lunch, and not overeat before the big meal. You can also cut your portions on fatty foods by adding a healthy option to the beginning of the meal, like a non-cream based soup, and a salad, both high in liquid and good at helping you feel full.

Many of us do pretty well when it comes to keeping our portions small at Thanksgiving, but depending on how many options there are at your meal, all those small choices can add up to a lot of calories.

Instead of taking a little of everything, pick the things you want the most to eat, and take a sensible portion of each of them. You’ll eat fewer calories, and you’ll probably feel more satisfied because you got to eat all of your favorite foods.

In addition to eating less during the big event, why not go for a walk or do another physical activity after the meal. This will help get your digestive system revved up to deal with the extra calories and burn them off faster.

Or, if the weather is not so great, try an active indoor game like charades so the whole family can join in and bond at the same time.

With a little planning and effort, and mindfulness when you eat, and about what you cook, you can keep your waistline slim this Thanksgiving holiday.

The Thanksgiving Holiday Does Not Mean You Have to Gain Weight 2

In addition to smart choices and portion control, we can also substitute certain ingredients for more healthy ones. Try adding extra spices to your meals so you don’t have to add much butter or gravy.

You can also substitute skim milk to desserts and low-sodium chicken broth to gravy and mashed potatoes to add flavor without all the fat. You can also try alternate cooking methods like not stuffing the bird, and letting the fat drip off the turkey, or steaming veggies, and not coating them in butter, in order to make the meal healthier.

Never skip lunch on Thanksgiving, even if you’re eating early. If you’re really hungry when you go to eat, you’ll end up eating a lot more, even factoring in the extra lunch calories.

Just remember to eat a sensible lunch, and not overeat before the big meal. You can also cut your portions on fatty foods by adding a healthy option to the beginning of the meal, like a non-cream based soup, and a salad, both high in liquid and good at helping you feel full.

Many of us do pretty well when it comes to keeping our portions small at Thanksgiving, but depending on how many options there are at your meal, all those small choices can add up to a lot of calories.

Instead of taking a little of everything, pick the things you want the most to eat, and take a sensible portion of each of them. You’ll eat fewer calories, and you’ll probably feel more satisfied because you got to eat all of your favorite foods.

In addition to eating less during the big event, why not go for a walk or do another physical activity after the meal. This will help get your digestive system revved up to deal with the extra calories and burn them off faster.

Or, if the weather is not so great, try an active indoor game like charades so the whole family can join in and bond at the same time.

With a little planning and effort, and mindfulness when you eat, and about what you cook, you can keep your waistline slim this Thanksgiving holiday.

We all know that Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to relax and spend time with family and friends.

Many of us also unfortunately know it is a great way to pack on the pounds.

While Thanksgiving has become associated with stuffing ourselves, there ARE ways to help curb your eating and give yourself a positive start to the holiday season.

Here are some tips for cutting back this year, so you don’t end up paying for the one holiday for weeks afterwards.

Not eating too much on Thanksgiving can actually start before the big day. The stress of making travel arrangements, buying supplies, and coordinating get-togethers can cause you to start eating more before Thanksgiving day even arrives.

Remember to take time to de-stress, relax, and take some time for yourself during the month of November. This is also a good philosophy to keep through the rest of the holiday season as well. (And make sure you don’t go to town on the Halloween candy at the end of October either!)

One simple way to keep from gaining weight at Thanksgiving is to make small meal changes and substitutions while cooking. This doesn’t mean you need to go buy a tofurkey. White meat turkey is a wonderful lean protein with only one gram of fat per ounce. Compare that with dark meat turkey, at 3 grams of fat per ounce.

If that doesn’t sound like much, well, it would be fine if most of us only ate one ounce of meat, but the fact is, if we even ate only 4 ounces, that is the difference between 4 grams of fat and 12. If we had 8 ounces of meat, that would be he difference between 8 grams and a whopping 24 grams of fat.

Turkey Enchiladas

You can fix turkey enchiladas just like you would chicken enchiladas with your favorite sauce, tortillas and cheese. Just shred the white and dark meat turkey, (aiming for thw white because it has 3 times less fat) and heat it with some cheese and enchilada sauce. Spoon the mixture on flour or corn tortillas and roll them up.

Place the tortilla rolls in a greased baking dish and top with more enchilada sauce and plenty of low-fat cheese. Then bake them up until the cheese is nice and bubbly. They are a great way to use turkey in something that has a completely different flavor.

We love the 75% reduced fat Cabot Sharp Cheddar, great flavor and works well in recipes, but with a lot less fat and calories.

Turkey Wraps

Tired of turkey sandwiches? Use a tortilla instead. Pile on lettuce, raw veggies and plenty of turkey. Top with some ranch dressing and roll it up for a portable lunch or snack.

Another fun idea is to mix shredded turkey with a little mayonnaise, some chopped apple, grapes and a few walnuts for a turkey salad wrap.

Again, keep in mind that the white meat has a lot less fat than the dark meat turkey.

Turkey Salad

Make a gorgeous, colorful salad, using all the vegetables you can find in the store. Add sliced turkey to the top and add your favorite salad dressing.

Or make a turkey Caesar salad with romaine lettuce, turkey, parmesan cheese, croutons and Caesar dressing.

You can also make traditional turkey salad as you would chicken salad, but beware of the mayonaisse, which can pile on the calories to an otherwise not too fattening few slices of white meat turkey.

Turkey Chili

Shred your leftover turkey and cook it along with beans, tomatoes and your favorite chili seasonings. Of course you can also toss in any leftover veggies like corn or green beans, and cook them right along with the rest of the chili ingredients. Serve with cornbread for a hearty treat.

The main thing to keep in mind is not to allow your turkey to hang around for too many day in the fridge. If you know your family tend not to like leftovers, just freeze the turkey, and use it later in the month, in any one of these great recipes.

After a big Thanksgiving meal, many people end up with quite a bit of extra turkey. Nibbling on leftovers is fine, but here are some additional healthy ways to use that leftover turkey, so one day of eating excess does not turn into several days of stuffing yourself with stuffing.

First of all, if you are watching your weight, make sure you serve lots of veggies, and eat only the white meat.

Secondly, make sure, if you have guests over, to send the lion’s share of the leftovers home with THEM, so you are not tempted to overeat for several more meals.

But, having said that, if you have cooked a sumptuous turkey breast, it is good lean protein you can enjoy. Here are some ideas:

Sandwiches

This is our family favorite. Simply slather mayonnaise on your favorite bread and add turkey. Enjoy! Of course, you can make this sandwich fancier by using toasted garlic bread, or adding some seasonings to the mayonnaise.

You can quickly whip up some gourmet style mayo by adding some of the packaged ranch dressing mix to it.

Instead of regular old sliced bread, make turkey sandwiches with fresh Italian bread, hogies, wraps, or ciabata bread for a different taste.

Open Faced Turkey Sandwich

Start with some really good toast. Rub a little garlic or butter on it if you’d like. Then, lay slices of turkey on it and cover with gravy. Heat up some left over stuffing and stick it in the toaster oven or your regular oven to give it a nice little crust and dinner is ready.

Turkey and Rice Soup

If you cooked a whole turkey, use the leftover bones from the turkey and throw them in a large stock pot. Cover them with plenty of water and add some onion, celery, carrot and salt and pepper. Bring it to a boil and boil for about 45 min.

Strain out the liquid, return it to the pot, add some rice and leftover pieces of turkey. Add any vegetables you like as well and cook until the rice and veggies are tender. Then eat some, and freeze the rest-remember that the dark meat has 3 times more fat per ounce than white meat turkey.

Avoiding Thanksgiving Stress 3

Coping with the Relatives and even your own family and friends

We have a lot of different people in our family, but you probably recognize the control freaks, know it alls, the lazy ones who sit on their butts and want to be waited on hand and foot, and the nosy ones.

As we said in our previous article, don’t be afraid to delegate tasks, dishes to donate, and chores to perform. Have aprons on hand so they can’t have any exuce to duck out of the work.

Peeling potatoes, cleaning shrimp, shelling peas or tipping and topping green beans are all things even men can do, and can even do in front of the TV!

For the control freaks and know alls, let them work out their perfectionism by setting the table, or helping with the coats when the guests arrive, or the dishes and other items that the guests will be bringing, but don’t let them cook in the same kitchen with you!

As for the nosy ones, you can pretty much predict the kind of embarrassing personal questions they are going to ask. So, be prepared.

Practice in advance how you’ll answer those questions. If you know you’ll get questions about weight gain or your husband’s lost job, or how long you have been dating your current partner, and is it ’serious’, prepare yourself in advance with answers.

If you still feel uneasy about the event, tackle it with a friend, or hang out with a likeminded family member.

Or have a secret signal with your confidant for “help” so they know to come rescue you.

Or better still, get them to talk about themselves! Most people love that anyway!

Hopefully, your family, friends and relatives will contribute to a happy holiday, not a stressful one, but just in case, we hope you find these stress-free holiday tips useful!