Thanksgiving Can Be Healthy For You

It’s November, and this time of year is notorious for overindulgent holiday eating. However, the holidays need not be an excuse to overindulge in unhealthy foods and to stop exercising. In the general matters of your health, those two factors combined place you at risk for weight gain, diabetes and heart disease. That does not have to be the case this Thanksgiving or Holiday Season.

This time of year is especially important to maintaining a consistent workout routine. Having company need not be an excuse to dismiss yourself from your already in place exercise program. Your health is as important to you as paying the bills, brushing your teeth, getting to work, having your nails manicured and going to the grocery store. Why not invite your company to partake in a walk, run or workout with you? If they decline, stick to the appointment you made with yourself to stay healthy, only decrease the time (notice I did not say “skip your workout”) if they are unable to fill their time with something else. Maintaining your workout routine will allow you to sustain your energy during their visit, keep your pre-holiday body intact and steal some “quiet time” away from your company.

The exercises you performed have now freed you to enjoy the foods on the dinner table. Not just any dinner table either, but the Thanksgiving Feast Table. On this table lies temptation that will stress the elastic of your sweatpants at your ankles given the chance. There is turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and pecans to name a few. However, you don’t necessarily need to feel guilty over consuming this feast. Not only because you held your commitment to exercise until this day, but also because these foods have healthy nutrient value on their own. You just need to know what to put on your plate and how much.

*Turkey can be one of the leanest meats. For example, a 3-ounce serving of skinless, white turkey meat has 25 grams of fat and less than a gram of saturated fat. Turkey is also a good source of an amino acid called arginine, which your body uses to make new protein and nitric oxide, the substance that relaxes and opens the arteries. Keep in mind, not all turkey is equal. Dark meat has more saturated fat than white meat. You should also avoid the skin, which is loaded with unhealthy fats.

Cranberries are another healthy Thanksgiving food. They are packed with dozens of different antioxidants. It is best if you can make your own cranberry sauce from whole cranberries. It will be tastier and contain less sugar than canned cranberry sauce.

You are also likely to have sweet potatoes, which are an excellent source of fiber, potassium, beta carotene and vitamins A and C.

Even your dessert can offer health benefits. Pumpkin is low in fat and calories (before it is made into a pie of course) and is a good source of potassium and other vitamins. Pecans are a good source of heart-healthy fats.

While many of these traditional Thanksgiving foods are healthy on their own, they lose that health advantage when they are mixed with cream, sugar, butter and eggs.

Do not forget to take that post-meal walk.

*Source: Harvard Health Publications

~Exercise Your Passion For Life!