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Thanksgiving Day often consists of catching up with family and friends, a smorgasbord of delicious food, and ultimately entering into an annual food coma. If you’re watching your weight and your health or struggle with overeating, Thanksgiving can seem replete with challenges – but fear not! Below are three practical tips to help you navigate this holiday meal with ease and purpose.
1. Prepare ahead of time. Before you even arrive at the meal, identify your Thanksgiving non-negotiables (sweet potato puree, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, etc.). This way, you can approach the buffet with a clear mission and may be less likely to be veer off course. As with anything else in life, Thanksgiving is best with moderation – you can certainly enjoy the foods you most look forward to, but limit it to those foods mostly and eat them in healthy portion sizes.
2. You Do You. There is some data to suggest that our food choices are influenced by how those around us eat. This makes sense as fitting in with the group has evolutionary value. However, if there was ever to a time to make your own food choices, it’s in today’s culture where 70% of Americans are overweight and obese. Bottom line for the buffet line: everyone is on a different journey with a different set of goals. Looking at someone else’s plate to see how you much you should eat (while completely natural) is akin to looking at someone’s bank account statement to decide how you should allocate your money – most likely useless and potentially dangerous!
3. Red light, green light. If at any point during the meal you find yourself starting to feel full, stop eating. Sounds simple enough but, unfortunately, ending a meal sometimes depends on factors other than satiety (fullness). As described in an earlier blog post, experiments using “never ending pasta bowls” show that sometimes we rely on the sight of an empty plate to signal that we should stop eating instead of our body. Also, if we are eating certain foods primarily because of how they taste, we may be less likely to stop when we feel full and continue eating until it’s all gone because the motivator of our behavior is not caloric need. This Thanksgiving, listen to your body and pack up the rest as leftovers for the week!
Ultimately, Thanksgiving – like everyday – is what you make of it. Thanksgiving Day can mean eating to the point of feeling sleepy, but Thanksgiving Day can also mean great conversations and being surrounded by family and friends. In fact, depending on how you look at it, the turkey and stuffing are really just the “sides.”
Appreciation is extended to Ms. Susan Murray for drafting this post. Image designed by Freepik.com.
Dr. Nicole Avena is a research neuroscientist/psychologist and expert in the fields of nutrition, diet and addiction. She has published over 60 scholarly journal articles, as well as several book chapters on topics related to food, addiction, obesity and eating disorders. She recently edited the book, Animal Models of Eating Disorders (Springer/Humana Press, 2013), and she has a book Why Diets Fail (Ten Speed/Crown) that was released January 1, 2014. Her research achievements have been honored by awards from several groups including the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Psychological Association, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Eating Disorders Association. She has appeared on several television programs, including Good Day NY and The Couch.
Website: http://www.drnicoleavena.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrNicoleAvena
