Usually thanksgiving dinner ends with the proclamation: “I’m not eating for a week!” It hurts to get up, you can taste pumpkin pie in your mouth for days and you swear that you won’t eat turkey for another whole year.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s no reason you can’t enjoy your meal, but there are ways to feast the night away without being bloated for the next 72 hours. Here, our guide to the ins and outs of eating right on thanksgiving.
Do splurge on salad
This is one part of your meal that you can go crazy with. Feel free to take seconds, thirds and fourths. If you’re still feeling hungry after your first plate of food, reach for the salad bowl instead of another heap of potatoes and ladleful of gravy. There is nothing regrettable about filling up on a delicious and nutritious salad.
Don’t fill up on appetizers
Even though pigs in a blanket and bruschetta are delicious (and sometimes the best part of the meal), their small size can lead to you eating enough of them to be an entire meal. Don’t overstuff before you even sit down for dinner and then force some more turkey and pumpkin pie in on top of that! Pace yourself on the appetizers so you’re not searching for a corner to unbutton your jeans in before the real meal even starts.
Do eat sweet potatoes instead of mashed potatoes
They taste just as good (if not better) and have far less carbs. Try other healthy options like taking the whole-wheat rolls instead of the white rolls, or substituting vegetables for your stuffing. If you’re the host, try cooking with less oil and skipping the butter to keep your dishes delicious and with half the fat. No one said healthy food can’t taste good too.
Do drink water with your meal
Water keeps you hydrated, fills some space in your stomach and doesn’t have the calories of drinking alcohol with your dinner. Plus, if you drink water and save on the calories from drinking alcohol, maybe you can treat yourself to that extra piece of pie!
Don’t starve yourself all day in anticipation of a big dinner
Whoever said that you should not eat all day to save room for dinner was just plain wrong. Eat a healthy breakfast and lunch; you’re less likely to overeat if you have your hunger under control.
