More healthy tips for Thanksgiving

I have come up with tips to help keep you healthier during Thanksgiving and prevent gaining weight. Some of these tips I found from 10 Tips for a Thinner Thanksgiving article. These suggestions and tips came from an interview with Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, and former president of the American Dietetic Association (ADA). However, some of these ideas I came up with myself.

1)      My first tip is to use real fruits and vegetables instead of the canned stuff. Real fruits and veggies are healthier than the canned items.

2)      Try to use small amounts of butter. In the article from the website it also recommends to use less oil and butter, to use fat-free sour cream and chicken broth, and sugar substitutes.

3)      Eat a small breakfast. According to the article, “While you might think it makes sense to save up calories for the big meal, experts say eating a small meal in the morning can give you more control over your appetite”.

4)      Get some exercise. My family and I have a tradition to go on a family walk together a couple hours after our meal. I think it is a great way to get some exercise for the day and still be with family. The article also includes this in its tips. 'Eat less and exercise more' is the winning formula to prevent weight gain during the holidays," suggests Connie Diekman.

5)      Portion control. It is important to think about how big of servings you are putting on your plate. Some suggestions for the article include surveying the buffet and thinking about reasonable sizes of portions. Another idea from the article is "Don't waste your calories on foods that you can have all year long," suggests Diekman. "Fill your plate with small portions of holiday favorites that only come around once a year so you can enjoy desirable, traditional foods."

6)      Resist going back for more. Try to avoid the temptation of going back for seconds. My family usually has a lot of leftovers that I can enjoy for days after the holiday. If you rather not have the options of have leftovers, you could take your leftovers to a homeless shelter and bless someone with the delicious food you made.

7)      Choose some of the healthiest choices. "White turkey meat, plain vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, defatted gravy, and pumpkin pie tend to be the best bets because they are lower in fat and calories," says Diekman.

If you have any other tips for making Thanksgiving healthier, please let me know because I love to hear what other people do. I hope this was some helpful tips for this upcoming holiday!

 

Thanksgiving-Preparation is key

Now that Halloween has passed, Thanksgiving is coming up. This holiday is just another holiday that revolves around eating. However, this might not be a bad problem if you prepare for it. There are always several healthy foods that serve at Thanksgiving. If you need healthy recipes, you can always Google it. I did and found tons of results for healthy choices to have for this important meal with your family.

The website Eatingwell Recipes I came across has all the traditional Thanksgiving recipes in a healthy way. If you start finding healthy recipes now, you can be ready in time to serve a healthy delicious meal.  Here are some of the healthier options to the traditional dinner:

Pear, Prosciutto & Hazelnut Stuffing: Crisping the prosciutto and toasting the nuts adds a powerful punch of flavor to the stuffing without going overboard on fat.

Cranberry, Cherry & Walnut Marmalade: Fresh cranberries get crunch from walnuts and an infusion of sweetness from dried cherries in this take on a classic marmalade.

Lemon-Garlic Roast Turkey & White-Wine Gravy: The zesty lemon-garlic rub for this turkey gives it amazing flavor. Instead of using a conventional supermarket turkey that's been “enhanced” with added sodium solution, here we brine a natural or organic turkey to keep the meat extra juicy without a lot of extra sodium.

Cider-Glazed Roots with Cinnamon Walnuts: Here we roast a variety of roots with a brown sugar-cider glaze. Make them instead of candied sweet potatoes at your Thanksgiving celebration. If you include red beets, the whole dish will take on a gorgeous ruby hue.

Green Bean Casserole: This healthy revision of green bean casserole skips the canned soup and all the fat and sodium that come with it. Our white sauce with sliced fresh mushrooms, sweet onions and low-fat milk makes a creamy, rich casserole.

There are many different resources for healthy recipes for this holiday. Choosing to make it a healthier meal ahead of time, gives you time to prepare yourself for this meal. I like a lot of these recipes because they include a lot of vegetables, fruit, and nuts. I am most excited to try the green bean casserole because I love it and I want to see how it taste compared to the unhealthy verision. I hope you will consider making healthier dishes this Thanksgiving!

Pregnancy Nutrition

I did a podcast this week on pregnancy nutrition. My focus was on the diet for women who are pregnant. For my podcast, I interviewed my sister who had her first child three months ago.

Here is my podcast:

Podcast Powered By Podbean