6 Tips for a Healthier Thanksgiving

WebMD Feature from “EatingWell”

Easy ways to cut calories and fat without sacrificing flavor in your favorite holiday recipes.

Thanksgiving is all about abundance. Everyone wants to bring their favorite dish, or needs to have both pumpkin and apple pie (with whipped cream on top). With all the rich choices, there’s a distinct chance that Thanksgiving will turn into overindulgence. You’ll be staggering away from the table, barely able to move. But it doesn’t have to be that way! With reasonable portion sizes and healthier dishes that don’t sacrifice flavor, Thanksgiving dinner can still be joyful, delicious and healthy.

1. Add flavor, not fat. Many recipes suggest rubbing the bird with butter before roasting. If you roast a turkey without overcooking, it won’t dry out—there’s no need to rub it with butter beforehand. Skip it and avoid adding extra saturated fat. Try chopped fresh herbs and garlic mixed with a little heart-healthy olive oil instead.

2. Avoid added salt. We’ve found that conventional turkeys (with added salt solution) do stay moister but if you’re watching your sodium intake, avoid them.

3. Skip the skin. A 3-ounce portion of light meat without skin has only 132 calories and 3 grams of fat. With the skin, that jumps to 168 calories and 6 grams of fat. (Dark meat has more calories but also more iron: three ounces of dark meat supplies 15% of the recommended daily intake of iron; white meat has only 8%.)

4. Broth is better. Many traditional stuffing recipes call for butter. Use a bit of chicken broth instead to keep it moist without the added fat or calories.

6. Forgo the butter. The key to tasty gravy is using all the drippings from the roasting pan (with the fat skimmed off). This gives plenty of flavor without the added fat or calories. Forgo added butter, which really bumps up the calories and fat.

The full article is included below, but we wanted to give you the “CliffsNotes” version.

Six Tips to Curb Thanksgiving Calorie Intake:

1. Be in the right“frame of mind”: You have to commit to eating well or you won’t be able to overcome temptations during the holidays. 
2. Don’t go to the table famished: Have a wholesome breakfast and lunch, and eat a light snack an hour before dinner. This could prevent you from overeating.
3. Lighten up on the liquids to cut out those extra calories: Drink lots of water. Replacing sugary beverages with seltzers infused with fresh juices, herbs and spices, iced herbal teas. Reduced your alcohol intake by drinking one glass of non-alcoholic, unsweetened beverage for each alcoholic beverage consumed .
4. Don’t skip your favorite stuffing or side: Taste everything you desire, but watch the portions of high fat and high sugar items
5. Watch your portion sizes: Half your plate of should be filled with sauce-free, steamed, roasted or baked non-starchy veggies. Limit cooked starches to 1 cup, which is about the size of a tennis ball. Your protein should be about 3-6 ounces of lean protein (the size of a deck of cards).
6. Stop when you feel satisfied (not full): Eat slowly and stop when you feel satisfied. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to signal your stomach that you’ve had enough.

Have a healthy, happy Thanksgiving!

-Skinny Gene Family

Source: CBS

FULL ARTICLE:

Thanksgiving dinner is frequently the meal that sends people into a downward spiral of bad eating habits for the holidays.

It’s not easy to make good decisions at the table when you’re surrounded by so many once-a-year, favorite dishes – and that can start you on a course to pack on pounds over these next few weeks.

But your calorie consumption doesn’t have to be so high that you stuff yourself like a turkey!

On “The Early Show on Saturday Morning, dietitian and personal chef Diane Henderiks offered some great tips to help keep your holiday feasting under control and keep you from going overboard on Turkey Day:

I’m not the food police. I completely understand that Thanksgiving is a holiday and it’s a special occasion. People don’t go around eating like this every day of the year, nor should they.

But the truth is that you can easily pack in 3,500 calories in a Thanksgiving dinner, and that equates to one pound. So you can gain a pound in just one meal. Can that pound be worked off? Yes, but nobody wants to do that much work for one dinner.

So what can people do in order to not overeat this Thanksgiving and still enjoy their meal?

I’ve got a lot of great tips to fully enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and the holiday feeding frenzy without feeling guilty or gaining weight.

The first thing that people have to decide is whether they really want to be mindful. If you’re not committed to eating well at Thanksgiving dinner, then you’re just not going to. It’s that simple. People need to be in a motivated mindset. You’ve got to be in the right “frame of mind” to successfully not succumb to temptation during the holidays. Now is the time to either begin or continue being aware of good food choices.

The biggest mistake people make on Thanksgiving Day is that they try to not eat anything beforehand, thinking it will balance out the huge meal that they’re planning on eating for dinner. This is wrong. Don’t go to the table famished! Have a wholesome breakfast and lunch, and eat a light snack an hour before dinner. You are more likely to overeat and make unhealthy choices if you are famished. That snack could consist of some fruit, like an apple or a banana, some unsalted nuts, unsweetened yogurt, a big salad with a light vinaigrette, or even some celery and peanut butter.

My next tip is to lighten up on the liquids. Drink lots of water, and replace sugary beverages with seltzers infused with fresh juices, herbs and spices, iced herbal teas. Cut down on alcohol: Booze can pack some serious calories. If you choose to have a cocktail, drink one glass of non-alcoholic, unsweetened beverage for each alcoholic beverage consumed. Choose wine, spritzers, light beer or spirits mixed with no calorie beverages, as opposed to eggnog, cream drinks etc. Another problem is that what most people think is one serving of wine is actually three, and that can really increase your calorie intake.

Another thing to keep in mind is that deprivation leads to indulgence. Don’t skip your favorite stuffing or side. Taste everything you desire, but watch the portions of high fat and high sugar items.

I like to think of the meal in terms of a dinner plate diagram. When you look at your plate, half of it should be filled with sauce-free, steamed, roasted or baked non-starchy veggies. Then you should have one cup of cooked starches, which is about the size of a tennis ball. Then, your protein should be about 3-6 ounces of lean protein, which is about the size of a deck of cards, or your BlackBerry! How the times have changed!

The last important thing is to be mindful of your stomach and when you get full. I like to call it the satisfaction signal. Listen to your stomach. Eat slowly and stop when you feel satisfied. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to signal your stomach that you’ve had enough. Pay attention to what it feels like to be satisfied and not full.