4 Simple Tips for a Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner Experience (388 hits)
BY: Dr. Renee Matthews - 26 Nov '14 | Lifestyle Black and Married With Kids.com A Positive Image of Marriage & Family
This week we celebrate Thanksgiving. I know many of us look forward to eating Thanksgiving Dinner. On Thursday there will be lots of dishes and delicious food on the table. But there will also be lots of calories, fat and other unhealthy things that come with this meal. I want you to enjoy your meal and your family but I also do not want you to undo 11 months of hard work all in one day. Thanksgiving dinner can be good to you and good for you as well. Hopefully my tips for the holiday will help you maintain or even lose weight this Thanksgiving. 1.WORKOUT I know I am looking forward to working out with my family during this holiday while we are all together. This is a great time for you to go to the gym together, play a recreational sport together, or take walks together (weather permitting). This is a great way to combat the extra calories that may be consumed during the holiday. 2.EAT Please do not starve yourself all day so you can eat more at dinner. That will backfire quickly. Eat a healthy breakfast and lunch with fiber. Heres a little secret, fiber has been known to prevent the body from absorbing fat. Fiber is also important in preventing colon cancer. It is good to have 25-35 grams of fiber a day. If you decide to be a little indulgent at dinner the fiber, can help you to not do as much damage. 3.DRINK Drink water with your meal. I suggest you drink 8oz before you eat. This will help you to not eat as much because you will feel full sooner. 4.TASTE Instead of getting a huge portion of everything, get a smaller plate and eat a little bit of everything and then no seconds. Remember you can always have leftovers and sometimes those are better than the actual meal.
I hope that these tips will help you to enjoy Thanksgiving this year with your loved ones. There are lots of recipes out there that can help you make the same Thanksgiving Day treats, but a healthier version. You may also want to have your children help you and use this time to teach them about nutrition, as well as start a new tradition.
BMWK: Do you have plans to serve healthier version of Thanksgiving food?
About the author
Dr. Renee Matthews wrote 6 articles on this blog.
Dr. Renee Matthews has appeared on television shows such as "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and TVOne's "NewsOne Now" where she discussed different health topics. She started her media career with her own radio show on ReachMD, a programming source for health professionals. In addition Dr. Renee has been a feature-medical correspondent on Sirius XM's "Sway in the Morning." Dr. Renee earned her undergraduate degree in 1999 and her Medical Doctorate in 2005. She spent the early part of her medical career as an educator for numerous hospitals and attending staff on cord blood.