Tips to Avoid the Thanksgiving Day Bloat

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and friends. It should be a day filled with thanks, however for those of us watching our weight, it can be a day filled with stress and anxiety. Food, food and more food … turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and all the pies! These tempting foods can be especially problematic for people who struggle with weight issues and carb cravings…

For some people, a few bites of certain food (i.e. sweet dessert) or going off your “diet” can trigger the urge for more … snowballing into a binge that can last for days. This can be even more problematic if you are going home for the holiday. It is one thing to overeat at one meal, but now you will be faced with leftovers for 3 days! So it will be important that you think ahead as to how you will handle this holiday from both from a practical as well as psychological standpoint.

Calories consumed on Thanksgiving Day … Yikes!

According to the Caloric Control Council, the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone.  Many of these calories come from snacking before and after the meal. While this may sound like a lot – this one day of eating does not have to do serious damage to your weight loss efforts. Here is the math: it takes an extra 3500 calories to promote a one pound gain of fat. Let’s say you are the typical American and consumed 4500 calories on this day. Your caloric needs to maintain your weight are 1800 calories. So eating 4500 calories means that you ate an extra 2700 calories over your maintenance needs. This equals a 3/4 pound weight gain of fat. Not the worst thing in the world! The real problem occurs when you let this one day of overeating open the floodgates to a week of overeating.

Tips to help you feel more in control psychologically:

1. First let me start by saying that I strongly discourage strict dieting on Thanksgiving – I don’t even like to use that word! I believe that it is a day where you should allow yourself to enjoy the food and eat a little extra. This way you won’t feel like you went off your eating plan. That being said, you don’t want to go to the other extreme and think of it as a “free for all!”

2. Try to fit in an exercise session prior to the meal. Even a 30 minute speed walk will help you feel better physically and more in control psychologically.

3. If you will be spending the day with family or good friends, let them know you are trying to eat healthy and ask if you can bring a dish or two to the meal. This way you will know for sure there will be several healthy dishes for you to choose from.

4. Before you have that second piece of pie, remind yourself how bad you will feel physically and mentally after overindulging. Stop and think before eating seconds. Ask yourself if it’s worth it! 

5. If you end up eating a lot more than you planned, don’t beat yourself up. Tell yourself it was one day and get back on track the next day.

6. After the meal, get all problem foods out of the house if possible. Exception – obviously if you are guest in someone’s home, you aren’t going to throw out all the leftovers!

7. For those of you who use the scale, do not weigh yourself for 1-2 days after Thanksgiving. You will likely be retaining water from the extra sodium and carbs. Why upset yourself?

8. If you are going home for the holiday, make sure you plan activities for the day after Thanksgiving as well as the weekend. This will get you out of the house and away from the leftovers.

Stay tuned for my upcoming post on the calorie content of Thanksgiving Day foods and last minute tips to avoid getting stuffed!