Tips for a healthier Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday that should be associated with giving thanks, being grateful, and celebrating with people you love. Feeling gratitude 🙏🏼 is proven to help increase happiness. When you wake up, I encourage you to think of three things you’re grateful for. Think about how lucky you are to be healthy. Our culture tends to focus more on the food being served on Thanksgiving, rather than the true meaning of the day, and this can lead to overindulging and poor eating habits. Your mindset around food is everything. If you have a negative mindset going into the day, where you are convinced you are going to overeat, have an "all or nothing" mentality and thoughts of "I deserve to eat all of this indulgent food" (especially during the holidays) then you probably will end the day feeling terrible and pack on the pounds over the holiday season. 

This type of thinking leaves you feeling:

• Bloated

• Tired & Lethargic

• Nauseous

• Guilty about binging on delicious food

• Anxiety from the "all or nothing" mentality

• A lack of self-control

• Regretful

This year I encourage you to change your outlook on the day. Instead of focusing on eating as much brie, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, pie, cake, and ice cream as you can, change your mindset. Instead of having cheat days, I encourage my clients to indulge strategically. Food is meant to be nourishment and provide nutrients for our bodies, but also bring joy and satisfaction. Our bodies need the vitamins, minerals, protein, healthy fat and carbohydrates that it provides. You can choose each day exactly what you are putting in your mouth and whether it helps or hurts your body. Instead of a having an all or nothing mentality on Thanksgiving, I encourage you to eat foods that will nourish your body and make you feel good, and balance them with foods you only eat on Thanksgiving. Having a small portion of each of your favorite indulgences will leave you feeling satisfied but still have room for dessert! Forgo any foods that don’t bring you joy.

I encourage you to change your mindset around other lifestyle habits as well. To set yourself up for a healthy, happy Thanksgiving, try the following:

1.) Sleep In - sleep is crucial for managing your mood, immune system and hunger hormones. Treat yourself to an extra hour - reminder this can be in the form of going to bed earlier, not just sleeping later!

2.) Get Moving - work out, take a run or walk, do a spin class, do an online yoga class. Exercise gets your digestion moving, decreases stress & boosts immunity…all things we could use this holiday

3.) Hydrate! Drink lots of water throughout the day, including while drinking wine or cocktails. This will help your liver clear out any toxins.

4.) Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can. Eating raw fruits & vegetables helps prime your digestion with the right enzymes for digesting heavier meats, dairy & carbohydrates later on. Make sure to have some fruit in the morning for Vitamin C & try to have some Carrots, Cucumbers, Celery or Grapes with your appetizers. Their fiber helps fill you up and you get a higher volume of food for less calories.

5.) Meditate, do yoga or take deep breaths. Breathing is a proven hack to turn off your stress response. Stress activates the sympathetic nervous system which shuts off bodily functions aka proper digestion. Did you burn the turkey? Leave the Green beans on too long? Deep belly breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system which activates our rest and digest systems. This will ensure you fully digest the food you’re eating and reduce chances of any stomach discomfort/upset.

By doing these things, you can avoid the negative side effects of overeating and still enjoy all the delicious Thanksgiving foods. And don’t forget to ENJOY eating! Being mindful while eating and actually thinking about the food you’re ingesting leads to better digestion and increased satiety. Staying aligned with your long-term health goals during the holidays is definitely doable and if you need any help I am here! Eating healthy and indulging strategically is how I developed my own sustainable lifestyle and how I help my clients to confidently build theirs. Sign up for your Complimentary 30 Minute Health Consultation here!