Staying Healthy & Avoiding Weight Gain This Thanksgiving
For many of us, Thanksgiving kicks off a season of gaining weight that culminates in New Year resolutions. Here is our survival guide to staying healthy and avoiding weight gain this Thanksgiving.
If your holidays will pour on stress along with the gravy, you may need some tips on how to avoid Thanksgiving weight gain. It’s easy to gain weight over Thanksgiving. Between the decadent food and the family dynamics, the holidays create the perfect recipe for weight gain. But, the holidays can be joyous! You don’t have to struggle with feelings of guilt or be stressed that you may venture from your healthy lifestyle. We’re serving up a few experts tips on how to avoid that Thanksgiving weight gain and stay healthy.
Essential Tips on How to Avoid Thanksgiving Weight Gain and Stay Healthy
Keep moving. Even if it’s a short walk, the more you move the better you’ll feel.
Failing to plan is planning to fail - So, plan ahead. Bring a healthy dish to the party, or eat a healthy snack before you go.
Avoid grazing. Instead of snacking at a buffet, serve yourself a portion to feel satisfied.
Skip the seconds. Portion control can help prevent feeling bloated after a holiday meal.
Veg-out. Choose mostly vegetables, then enjoy some of the less healthy holiday food.
Drink up. Fill your glass with water often to avoid drinking your calories.
Focus on connections. There’s no better time to connect with loved ones.
Manage your stress. Breath, Meditate, Relax. Chronically high cortisol levels may cause weight gain.
Be accepting. You will not eat perfectly at holiday meals, and that’s okay.
Feel proud. You’re conscious of, and improving, your eating and exercise behaviors.
Your Holiday Weight Loss Survival Guide
Pass the gravy, please! The best way to avoid weight gain this Thanksgiving is to not let your hunger get the better of you. “Nutritional science indicates that the key to long-term weight control is an eating pattern that gives you the most satisfaction, or satiety, for the least number of calories,” says Cindy Almeida, Holistic Clinical Nutritional Counselor at the Center for Integrative Healing & Wellness in Carefree, Arizona. “Most weight loss strategies and fad diets do just the opposite and are non-sustainable.” Focusing on whole foods such as vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole grains, instead of traditional American highly-processed packaged diet foods, can help prevent uncontrollable hunger and promote weight loss. Applying this strategy to Thanksgiving can help you avoid weight gain.
Thanksgiving Stress and Weight Gain
It is important to use strategies that keep your stress levels low. It’s ironic that the season of being thankful can be a time that so many of us dread and get stressed out: Traveling through packed airports, having conversations about conflicting politics over family meals, working hard to not fall into old habits. Prolonged stress leads to elevated cortisol levels which can promote weight gain.
One of the best ways to reduce stress and feel great is to get moving! When you exercise your mood elevates and serotonin (the happy hormone) levels increase. According to a recent research study, a good option this Thanksgiving may be to go for a walk outside. Researchers in this study found that experiences in nature beneficially influenced the level of stress hormone cortisol. Simply getting outside produced about a 20% drop in cortisol levels. The greatest effect occurred when adults got between 20 to 30 minutes of exposure to nature.
Take a “nature pill” - This Thanksgiving schedule in a half-hour walk outside! It may help you reduce stress. Plus, being physically active is always part of a healthy lifestyle.
It’s OK to ‘SLip” during Thanksgiving
When events are food-centric, filled with the types of foods that are irresistible (salty, fatty, sweet), it can be hard to avoid eating more than you planned. Utilizing strategies can help with controlling holiday binges, such as taking a time-out to give yourself a pep talk.
During the Holiday Season, it is important to distinguish between a slip (lapse) and a relapse (abandonment of goals and return to uncontrolled behavior). Keeping this in mind can greatly improve your chances of staying on track and achieving your healthy lifestyle goals.
What Not to Eat at Thanksgiving
There are many foods served at Thanksgiving - from bacon wrapped smokies, buttery mashed potatoes with gravy, to whipped cream topped pumpkin pie - that are not part of your healthy lifestyle. Enjoy one…one. Savor it, and own the experience. Try not to eat multiple meals filled with unhealthy food choices - that’s one of the best strategies to avoid Thanksgiving weight gain. Then, move onto healthier food choices. If you are worried a healthy option won’t be there, offer to bring a healthy item to the festivities.
The Best Way to Lose Weight After Thanksgiving
Come stay at the Center for Integrative Healing & Wellness after Thanksgiving! Come for a retreat to reset and recharge. An uplifting, supportive and mindful environment, located at the Civana Resort and Spa, is the perfect way to restart your healthy ways (diet, exercise and mindset), escape the cold, and get a jump-start on your New Years resolutions.