18 Ways to Eat Healthy During the Holidays

Are you one of the many Americans who gains weight between Thanksgiving and Christmas? How can we indulge on our favorite foods without gaining weight? (and needing to buy bigger clothes after the season ends)

The Thanksgiving season is a wonderful time to enjoy our families, our friends, and good food. I always enjoy this time of year because I love turkey (and rarely take the time to make it), cookies, and the flavors of this season. Like many individuals I know, the holiday season is also about unbuttoning that top button of your pants to the party or Thanksgiving dinner because you know you’ll overindulge.

Holiday Eating Tips:

1. Eat breakfast or a light meal before the party. Good choices include fruit, cereal and milk, high fiber granola bar, 1/2 of a sandwich (like a turkey sandwich) or yogurt. It will help you to minimize the binge eating for your holiday meal or party.
2. Stand or sit far away from the snacks/hors d’oeuvres so you don’t indulge on these foods.
3. Scope out the main dishes and create a plan of attack. My husband does this when he goes to buffets too. You don’t want to be confronted with a bunch of plates being cycled by you, and not know whether that’s the last of the items you’ll like.
4. See what looks good and take only a small portion. You don’t need to pile up the potatoes until you know if you’ll like them. Also, you’ll get to try more items if you’re sampling smaller quantities.
5. Wait 10 minutes before asking for a second helping. It’s so easy to just engorge on food when it’s right in front of you, but force yourself to wait and let your body begin digesting.
6. Listen to your gut. You need to be in-tune with your body and know when it’s full.
7. Drink non-caloric beverages (like diet soda, iced or hot tea with a non-caloric sweetener, or water).
8. Drink more so you’ll feel more full. It’s better to have a stomach half-full with water than completely full with cranberry sauce, right?
9. If you want to have alcohol, have only 1 glass. Choose red wine if possible.
10. Fill ¼ of your plate with the vegetable (if this is an option at the holiday party). You want to steer clear of loading up on starches (potatoes, breads, stuffing) because you won’t get a balanced meal.
11. Steer clear of turkey skin. I know, it’s so tasty, but it’s also very fatty, and you know where that fat goes, right? On you!
12. Opt for white meat rather than dark meat. The dark meat is juicier and tastier, but also much more fatty.
13. Eat 1 plate of food.
14. Savor each bite.
15. Talk during the meal. Not only will you enjoy the food, but you’ll enjoy the company! Isn’t that what the holidays are all about?
16. When it comes time for dessert, have 1 slice of 1 type of pie. If you’re like our family, you will have a wide selection of cakes and pies for dessert. As your host allows, you can always take a slice of a different dessert home for later. Or, like I do, you can have a SMALL (1/16 of the pie) slice of apple pie for dessert and save the cookies for dinner.
17. Get your family together for a walk around the block. Or, round up the kids and men and play some football. Make it an activity that can be a tradition (even if Thanksgiving isn’t at the same house every year) for years to come.
18. If you are traveling for the holidays, take some healthy snacks with you for the journey (who knows if you’ll be stuck in traffic and be hungry!). Good examples include: grapes, apples, bananas, baked chips (like Baked Lays), peanut butter and crackers, popcorn, carrots or celery, or even sandwiches (peanut butter and jelly, turkey).

Since Thanksgiving and other holidays are much like going to a buffet, I recommend checking out my tips for eating at a buffet article for some more ideas.

How do I enjoy Thanksgiving? I eat high fiber cereal for breakfast before we head to my husband’s relative’s home. Although they usually have ham, turkey, corn, green beans, meatballs, chicken, pickled eggs, rolls….I usually have about 3 ounces of turkey, but then have a spoonful of any other food I want to eat for that meal. I only get 1 plate, and I make sure to get salad with no dressing (I don’t like dressings or condiments). I then might have a small piece of dessert afterwards, or I will save it for a snack about 2-3 hours later. Hopefully this year, like last year, we will go for a walk around the block our nieces.

Don’t forget about food safety and keeping those hot foods hot and cold foods cold!! See my post on food safety for more information.

Happy Eating, Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays!

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