Five Tips To Avoid Weight Gain This Thanksgiving

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” – Henry David Thoreau

The holidays are a beautiful time for F-words: feasts, family, and fun.

This is also a period for an E-word: expanding waistlines.

If you’re wanting to avoid food comas and weight gain, try these five Thanksgiving tips:

1. Eat Breakfast

Starvation only leads to overeating. And that leads to digestive distress, weight gain, fatigue. Is that really how you want to spend your holiday? If not, then have a proper breakfast. Something like two eggs with toast and a side of avocado is a terrific start.

2. Hydrate

Dehydration is often confused for hunger and fatigue. And if you’re starving all day while waiting for the big feast, you will get dehydrated. And your fatigue will be exacerbated.

Among all the nutrients needed to support digestion, one of them is water. Yep, it’s a nutrient. Drink plenty of it so that your digestive juices will flow and help you stay both comfortable and energized.

3. Appreciate the story behind your meal (for goodness sake!).

When we appreciate our food, we become satisfied emotionally and mentally. This is important for handling cravings and boredom eating.

Your food is truly a miracle. It took years to arrive on your plate. Soil had to be cultivated. Farmers had to be trained. Seeds had to be nurtured into plants. Crops were harvested and rotated between seasons. Human hands touched your food at every stage, from soil to seed, to harvest, to grocery stores, and finally, to your kitchen.

Numerous, miraculous steps synchronized in order to bring your foods to fruition. Water had to arrive. Temperatures had to promote growth. Soils needed nutrients and microbes.

Your car needed gas to get you to the store for your grub. Your refrigerator needed power to keep it cold. Your stove needed flame to prepare it. Skilled hands needed knowledge of cooking that was cultivated over countless ages.The people who grew and prepared your food bring ancient insights into the modern kitchen, as knowledge is passed on through generations that can still be seen today.

How many blessings can be found just in the sequence of events listed here? And, this is just the beginning of blessings to count up.

4. Learn to eat like the French.

The French are famous for luxuriating over their meals, enjoying every morsel. Take a little time to appreciate your food at a new depth this year. Appreciate the cook by eating a little slower. Add some French to your approach by really savoring what’s available.

Having a thanksgiving dinner is pretty stellar. In fact, having food at any time we want it on any given day is a miracle. When people on earth are still starving in our modern era, we still forget how blessed we are to have food on demand.

A Thanksgiving meal takes several hours of preparation. Wolfing it down in 15 minutes is like having sex and rushing to the orgasm!  For goodness sake, savor the journey already.

 

5. Chew, Chew, Chew.

This seems to be the most common underlying issue with eating too much and digestive problems. Chewing is a simple way to curb overeating. It’s also valuable to help you slow down and improve digestion. Most people tell me that they gobble their food down in just a few bites. And then we wonder why we’re overeating, gaining weight, and experiencing indigestion. 

Eating slowly allows you to connect with your body’s signals of hunger and fullness. By chewing, you’re less likely to eat past the point of comfortable fullness. And you’re less likely to belch up your garlic seasonings. (Your family will give thanks for this!)

Why are we rushing? It’s out of habit, usually. Chew, chew, chew so that you can savor the flavor. And appreciate the moment more fully.

Chew your food until it is unrecognizable. If you’re unsure of this, have your neighbor check it for you. ;0)

How to know if you’re chewing enough? One rule of thumb is that you won’t need to “chase it down” with any liquids if you’re chewing well. Yes, I’m serious. =)

What are your thoughts?

  • Which of the above suggestions will you implement this year?
  • What makes you grateful this Thanksgiving?

Please share your answer with me in the comments below!

Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble! Gobble!

Frances

 

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *