Enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner without adding guilt to the menu

Who doesn’t love Thanksgiving?  All those delicious foods to eat.  What are some tips to enjoy the Thanksgiving
feast and leftovers without adding those extra pounds?  Not easy since food is so plentiful and so
tasty.  Not a day to be on a diet but a
day we can enjoy every bite but not gain a lot as a result.  A couple of years ago I blogged about enjoying
a guilt-free Thanksgiving.  How can you
make some slight modifications in your Thanksgiving feast and still enjoy a tasty
meal? What are some suggestions for enjoying all the food but not tip the
scales days later?

Consumer Reports wrote an article:  “Good to the Last Gobble” in which they
outlined how many calories Americans eat at the Thanksgiving feast.  They cite the Calorie Control Council (who
knew there was such a Council?) that says we consume 4,500 calories or more at
our Thanksgiving feast.  That is a lot of
calories for one meal, especially since our daily calorie
intake should be between 1600 – 2000 for adult women and 2000 – 2400 for
adult men.  (If you are active, you can
take in more calories during the day. 
Check out the chart
at “Estimated Calorie Requirements”). 
Consumer Reports suggest a meal with all the sides and dessert racks up
about 1700 calories.  How did all these calories
add up in their Thanksgiving feast?

Food	Calories
Sweet potatoes, candied 4 ounces	187
Green Bean Casserole ½ cup	227
Cranberry Sauce ¼ cup	102
Turkey 3.5 ounces, white meat	177
Stuffing ½ cup	195
Mashed potatoes 1 cup	237
Gravy  ¼ c.	25
Cornbread 3×3 inch piece	198
Pumpkin pie 1/8 of 9 inch	280
Red wine 5 ounces	125
Total Calories	1753

Enjoy the typical Thanksgiving meal with everything and the
calories are well under the 4500 some people feast on.  At our house, we modify recipes to be a
little less in calories but not less in taste. 
My husband makes the pumpkin pie from scratch.  He uses Low fat 2% Evaporated milk in place
of whole evaporated milk.  He cuts the
sugar slightly from the recommended ¾ cup to ½ cup.  No cuts in the spices or other ingredients and
the pie is quite tasty.  He also makes
the cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries. 
He cuts the sugar from the 1 cup recommended amount to ¾ cup.  A little tangier but the taste of the
cranberries is even better.  I make a
sweet potato casserole with a recipe from Southern Living.  I alter the recipe slightly reducing the
butter a bit (but using real butter) and cutting back some on the sugar.  No cuts though on the marshmallows or crusty
Corn Flake topping.  My daughter makes an
awesome pecan pie
with a recipe from Cooking Light.  Some
oatmeal is used for thickening and it cuts back on some of the corn syrup.  The pie is delicious – not low calorie but
less calories than it would have with each serving providing about 311 calories.  A good thing since WebMD notes that a slice
of the traditional pecan pie
with whipped cream can top 800 calories.  

 

Evaporated Lowfat 2% Milk works well for pumpkin pies

Some other
suggestions to enjoy your day, eat all the delicious food, but not tip the
scales for days afterward: 

• Taste everything – but watch how much – smaller
  servings of some entries
• Save room for seconds – yes, if there is a food
  you really like, take a small 1st serving, then enjoy a second
  serving if you like
• Exercise – Thanksgiving morning go for a walk or
  enjoy some type of exercise.  Then after
  you eat – walk again or be sure to add in some exercise Friday morning.
• Skip foods you don’t really like – no reason to
  add in a lot of calories for a food you don’t really enjoy
• Do other things beside eating – some families go
  for a family walk after the meal, some families put a puzzle together or play a
  board game
• Clear the table – put away the food and pack a
  lot of leftovers for guests to take with them

Try some substitutions
and other suggestions:

• Instead of mashed potatoes served roasted baby
  potatoes
• Cranberry sauce – use as a relish not a main
  dish, and cut back a little on the sugar as noted above
• Eat breakfast – don’t skip meals on Thanksgiving
  day or you may find yourself snacking all day long
• Don’t forget the water – stay hydrated
• Pete Thomas of the Biggest Loser recommends:  “You probably won’t lose weight during the
  holidays, but with careful planning you can avoid gaining weight.”
• Eat those veggies – usually lower in calories
  and fills you up

The main advice on Thanksgiving – Enjoy Every BITE, enjoy your meal and enjoy the day!  Happy
Thanksgiving

Oatmeal Pecan Pie from Cooking Light

Sources:  article,
calorie
intake, chart,
calories,
pie,  other
suggestions,  substitutions,
suggestions  Image sources:  thanksgiving
meal, milk
, pecan
pie

 

source https://betterweightloss.info/enjoy-your-thanksgiving-dinner-without-adding-guilt-to-the-menu/