Most people have little to no understanding of nutrition or nutrient timing. This lack of understanding often shows up in the form of a huge holiday-themed gasronomic orgy of saturated fats, refined sugars, quick carbs and excess of all kinds.
When I was growing up, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday, because I had a bottomless appetite. On that wonderful, magical day I was allowed to eat as much as I wanted.
All day I would starve myself to make sure I had enough room in my belly for the big feast. Food issues, anyone?
As dinnertime came around I grew giddy with anticipation and salivation. Turkey. Homemade cranberry sauce. Sweet potatoes covered in crusty, gooey marshmallows. Regular potatoes with rich, dark gravy. Stuffing with little pieces of chopped celery and an amazing savory aroma rich with sage and thyme.
then there are the fifty thousand pies my mom makes. Apple, Strawberry rhubarb, and Pumpkin are my faves, but she will always make a random pecan or mincemeat pie to go along with them. There are always multiples of each variety. And freshly whipped cream to go on them.
My mom makes the best pies. Ever.
You can see how easy it is to pig out, right?
I bet you might feel the same way around your family and the food they make.
According to a 2006 article by the American Council on Exercise, the typical thanksgiving dinner has roughly 3,500 calories in it. Plus 229 grams of fat. Combine that with the snacking and all the tasty beverages you can drink (beer has as much as 250 calories per bottle), that adds up to an estimated 4,500 by the end of the day.
Here are some strategies to make it through the holiday without devastating what you have worked for:
- Eat well in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. It you "save up" calories you send your metabolism into a famine mode, which will slow your calorie burn to a crawl. Choose high-protein foods and eat lots of veggies. and eat within your normal calorie range.
- Eat breakfast and lunch. Resist the urge to make room in your stomach. In fact, you want to take up as much space with healthy Items as you can, so you will choose smaller portions of rich, sugar-fatty-fat foods.
- Eat something every 2-3 hours. Something besides pie.
- Bring a vegetable to dinner. If you are going somewhere where you can't control what other people put in the food, the next best thing you can do is bring something that is not going to plug your arteries.
- Pick the one dessert you HAVE to have. Avoid loading up your dessert plate. If anyone asks you why you aren't eating what they made, tell them you are allergic to nasty things. Other people's feelings are not your responsibility. Aunt what's-her-face can go cry into her ambrosia. Don't eat it if you don't dig it.
- Work out that morning. There is something called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC for short. It means that after you exercise, your metabolism is in high gear for hours afterward. Take advantage of that extra burn for the holiday.
- Play outside. Organize a family football game, or take your family on a walk. There are lots of clever ways to spend quality time and sneak in some extra calorie burning without seeming better-than-you-big-fat-slobs.
- Don't drink your calories. Most sodas have about 100 calories per 8 oz. besides that they are pure crap. As I mentioned earlier, beer has up to 250 calorie per bottle. In addition, alcohol lowers inhibitions, which can lead to bad food choices. If you really want to have a drink, have one at the end of the day, after all the food is gone.
If you do happen to pig out at the dinner table here are some things you can do:
- Get in a workout. Use some of those calories as fuel.
- Cut calories for several days afterward. Think of your calorie budget as a weekly allowance. Estimate your total weekly allowance by multiplying your daily calorie target by 7. then subtract the 4,500 calories you ate Thanksgiving day from that number. Divide the remainder by 6. This is your calorie allotment until next Thursday.
That's all I've got.
We are taught to think of others around the holidays. Do that. But also think of yourself.
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