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From coach Rachel Hibbs – Head Nutrition Coach

It’s some people’s absolute favorite week this week … Thanksgiving week!

It’s full of family time, fun games, and of course, lots of delicious food. While this is awesome for some, it can cause some pretty hefty food anxiety for others. The goal of this post is to give you some top tips to help alleviate and relieve some of that anxiety, and make sure that you’re feeling good the week AFTER Thanksgiving week.

Before we get into that, remember, what you do most of the time matters far more than what you do some of the time. You don’t need to worry about one day of eating more than usual ruining your progress as long as you are consistently eating within your goals/values on the other days. The good news – Thanksgiving is only once a year, so it’s barely even a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of 365 days!

The holiday season is all about celebrating, togetherness, and indulging!!! It shouldn’t be stressful or filled with anxiety about hitting your macros and being perfect. I don’t want anyone to feel guilty or shameful about their food choices on these special days. A good nutrition program should complement your life; not control it. It should allow you to enjoy the holidays and other special events. Eating more food than you usually do is bound to happen, and that’s OKAY.

All I want you to do is set up a plan and some realistic expectations of yourself for Thanksgiving day. And do your best to stick to that plan and make the best choices for YOU. Easy peasy! If you don’t want to track for one or two days (tops). That’s fine with me! If you choose to track and hit your macros. I’m fine with that too. I want you to choose what will make you happy!

Make a realistic plan and have some general guidelines. (For example- one dessert and one glass of wine.) Ambiguity in dieting is asking for a disaster so a general plan is helpful here.

Bank some calories. Start your day with a really nutritious breakfast while budgeting for some extra calories in the afternoon. Plan ahead by saving those extra carbs and fats for the big meal. (please note that I did not say starve yourself all day… my go to breakfast on a day like this is a large egg white omelet with veggies and side of berries, lunch could be chicken breast and side of steamed veggies)

Watch your portion sizes and instead of wasting calories on foods that you can have at any time of the year, pick items that are truly special and unique to the season (or that you just enjoy more), like your grandmother’s candied yams or your daughter’s first batch of cookies. Be picky about your indulgences!!!

Eat SLOW, savor the experience, appreciate the flavors, and listen to your body. If you are satisfied or full, then stop eating. Take a look at the hunger scale attached below. Do your best to stay out of those red and orange zones! A few good ways to slow yourself down is to set down your fork in between bites, take sips of water occasionally, make meaningful conversation with the people you are with, take some extra chews. 

Stay well hydrated. Drink LOTS and LOTS of water.

Beware of booze! Not only does alcohol add unnecessary calories to your diet, but getting boozy has another effect on us, too. Drinking too much can make us lose our inhibitions around food and start eating irresponsibly.

Get in your normal workouts and stay active. Maybe go for a walk after you eat! This is my favorite activity after the big meal. It makes me feel so much better! We’ve made it a tradition that we all go walk to the park as a family after our meal and it makes me feel so much better. 

Get some extra sleep! Hopefully you have some time off from work and can catch up on your rest.

Enjoy yourself within reason and get right back on track the next day. One holiDAY does not need to turn into a week of higher calories and indulgences. 

Get rid of the foods ASAP from your home- Before guests leave you with half-full platters of food, have some Tupperware at the ready. Load up containers for friends and family to hand out as they leave. If you are leaving your mom’s house like me, you can kindly decline leftovers. 

You will likely see an uptick on the scale after a big meal like this. People mistake weight gain on the scale for fat gain. But the increase you see on the scale after a day of heavy eating is actually due to a combination of increases in glycogen, water, sodium, and carrying more food in your stomach. It’s VERY hard to gain actual body fat from one day of eating more than usual… if not impossible so do not let the scale discourage you. Enjoy Thanksgiving with your loved ones and  get back on track the day after. Because, do you remember how much your weight fluctuated last Thanksgiving? I highly doubt it! But I bet you do remember where you were, who you were with, and how much you enjoyed spending time with friends and family. 

Have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!