thanksgiving 2010: portions

It seems that once Thanksgiving rolls around, it is non-stop eating, treats and parties for the next month. Which, as you can imagine adds up to a lot of extra calories and a few extra pounds for most of America. But this doesn’t have to be the case and I think the best way to prevent holiday weight-gain is to use our old favorite – portion control! Time to dig out those portion plates from Camp! (And of course, Dan would like to remind us that staying active is equally important this time of year 🙂 )

Being mindful of portions allows us to have stuffing and eat our pie too. Of course we will eat a little more than usual on Thanksgiving and that is fine! But, Friday is back to normal eating and activity levels. Don’t feel like you’ve blown everything by eating too much on Thursday and say, “It’s too late now, I’ve already eaten too much and gained weight so it doesn’t matter if I eat more today.” That’s not how weight gain works and that’s certainly not the attitude to have.

Like you learned at Camp, look at your plate and divide it into portions:

• 1/4 plate for protein: fill this section with white meat turkey
• 1/4 plate for starches: this is the section that might be a little hard because it is a fairly small – it includes, stuffing, potatoes, bread, etc. (decide on what your favorites are and stick with those instead of sampling everything!)
• 1/2 plate for fruits/vegetables: round out your plate with leafy salads, sautéed vegetables, fruit salads, etc.
• small plate for appetizers: it’s thanksgiving after all 🙂
• small plate for dessert: chose a small pieces of pumpkin pie and a dollop of whipped cream

This should leave you pleasantly full, without being so full (like a 8-10 on hunger-fullness scale) that you feel sick.

Before you go back for seconds, take some time to really decide if you are hungry. If it’s not hunger and just something that you want, maybe your host will let you take another serving home with you.

Why not start Friday off with a quick workout that doesn’t require any equipment (no excuses for not being at home 🙂 hehe ) and a healthy breakfast of oatmeal or 2 eggs and a piece of whole grain toast.

Happy Thanksgiving!

from Dan, Tut, Karen and Emily