It’s the time of the year where everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving. Some are searching the internet for “healthy Thanksgiving recipes” in an attempt to avoid some of the holiday bulge, while others are excited to make their family favorites even if they aren’t healthy. Some people are working on health and fitness goals and want to stay on track during the holidays while others take the season as a time to relax their nutrition habits a bit.
You won’t get any judgement from me either way. Each person has different goals and that’s totally cool with me. So, I’m just going to lay out some healthy Thanksgiving recipes and tips for those who want to incorporate some amount of healthy effort into their Thanksgiving holiday.
Some of these tips and recipes can be incorporated without anyone event noticing a difference, and every little change you make to be a little healthier will make a difference.
Healthy Thanksgiving Tips
✅ TIP 1: Plan Your Treats
Simply decide on your treats BEFORE Thanksgiving. Pick out your favorite things and plan to have them and skip the rest of the bad stuff. Maybe it’s wine or beer, maybe it’s the pumpkin pie, maybe it’s both. That’s up to you, but if you plan which things you’ll have ahead of time, you can enjoy those and skip the rest. Just going in with a mindset of “I’ll try to be good and only have a little of the bad stuff” is a recipe for regret!
✅ TIP 2: Limited Time Only!
Don’t forget that Thanksgiving treats often don’t last just one day unless you make sure they only last one day! We often forget that there will likely be leftovers of the unhealthy stuff too. So, your one day of a few treats can easily turn into a 4 day weekend of unhealthy treats. If that’s not part of your plan, take steps to make sure it only lasts as long as you plan for it to last. Send leftovers home with family (or don’t take any home if the feast isn’t at your house).
✅ TIP 3: Don’t Weigh Yourself on Friday!
Do NOT weigh yourself on Friday morning. If you’re like me, it will send you into a spiral of more pie. That Friday morning weight is not real if you indulged on Thursday, so don’t even step on the scale. Just get back to healthy eating, drink some water, and weigh again on Monday if you want.
✅ TIP 4: Drink Water First!
Drink water often on Thursday. Every time you think about having a glass of wine, a beer, or any other beverage on the holiday, just grab a glass of water first and then have your drink. You’ll drink less.
✅ TIP 5: Load Your Plate For a Win
Load your plate with the healthiest stuff first and THEN put the treats on the plate. Simple.
✅ TIP 6: Don’t Starve and Binge
Don’t starve yourself all day waiting for that big feast. Eat healthy food all day so that you don’t feel so hungry that you need to stuff yourself at the Thanksgiving table.
✅ TIP 7: Get Some Exercise
Do a Turkey Trot, go for a walk, do an intense workout, or get some type of exercise before the big meal.
Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes
More Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes
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So much great info!! And great recipes!!