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Holiday meals CAN be a part of a healthy diet

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Thanksgiving is coming up this week (if you’re American), and December (and all of the various holidays therein) is right around the corner.

I came across this article: Here’s Your Reminder to Eat Whatever the Hell You Want on Thanksgiving and thought it was worth sharing.

They make the same point I want to: attention to (and moderation in) your everyday diet is what creates and sustains a healthy diet. A big holiday meal absolutely can be a part of a healthy eating pattern.

That said, there are a few strategies and approaches to help you enjoy the holiday on the day it happens, and not use it as an excuse to stop paying attention to your diet:

  1. Unless you’re a star meal-prepper, maybe skip the endless leftovers. One day of pumpkin pie is fine. 4+ days because “you don’t want to waste it” is probably not going to fit into your daily eating budget on a calorie deficit.

  2. Eat the stuff you actually want. Do you actually like the green-bean casserole thing? There’s no law saying you have to eat it just because it’s thanksgiving. If you like it, sure, but if you’re just eating because it’s there? Skip it. Being mindful about what choices you’re making for yourself is just as valuable a skill as staying within a calorie budget. Pay attention to your satiety signals. Eating just for the sake of eating doesn’t help you celebrate a holiday.

  3. Plan something active. Go for a “turkey trot” (a walk/run) around your neighborhood with your family in between dinner and dessert. Have a family football game, corn hole tournament, or potato sack race. Losers do the dishes, obviously.

  4. Make a plan for the day after thanksgiving: include your normal, daily foods in your big shopping trip leading up to the holiday. Make it easy for yourself to have some yogurt for breakfast (or whatever you normally eat) the next day. Keep your routines going.

  5. Enjoy your holiday: no one ever gained 50 pounds in one day— or lost them, either!

submitted by /u/koopzegels
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/z0tw4t/holiday_meals_can_be_a_part_of_a_healthy_diet/

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