Thanksgiving is just a few days and the holidays are a difficult time of year to keep up with our health and fitness goals. No fret! In this article we will share with you some of tips you can use to make sure you can enjoy yourself and stay on track.

Cheat meals aren’t bad:

Don’t think of indulging yourself this holiday as a bad thing. The holidays are a time to enjoy your family and friends and spending it together, what’s more joining together at the dinner table should not be a time to feel any guilt. In another article we shared with our readers that cheat meals have been proven to help those who are trying to lose weight or eat healthier. Incorporating a “cheat meal” once or twice a month can help you feel better about your goals and keep you from feeling like you’re depriving yourself and in turn binging. Remember the key is that you keep it a cheat meal and NOT a cheat day. So if you decide to eat dessert as your treat, keep your dinner plate full of greens and healthy foods or keep your portions very small throughout the meal and skip the seconds! The best way to approach this concept is to plan ahead. Planning what you are going to you are more likely to stick to it. It can also help by letting your family or friends aware of your plan and to help keep you accountable.

 

Eat small and slow.

 

Holiday dinners are exciting and delicious, if you are trying to keep healthy or on a diet, as stated earlier, make sure to serve yourself small portions if you want to indulge on a cheat meal, and what’s more make sure you eat slowly and really enjoy your food this can also be known as “mindful eating”. Maintaining your weight is just one benefit to mindful eating. Some benefits of this practice is: 

 

Better digestion -eating slow and chewing thoroughly signals your brain to start digestion therefore giving it an easier time to break down the food properly. 

Increased satisfaction - When we eat slowly, we take the time to really taste and enjoy our food therefore feel more satiated afterwards!

Feel fuller - like stated previously, slowly eating helps our brain have time to receive signals to start digestion therefore helping our bodies feel full when we’ve had enough. If we eat too quickly our brain has to catch up and in turn we can overeat. 

 

 

Do some fun physical activities

 

It’s the holidays! Take the day to do something fun with your family and friends. Play football (or any sport), take a stroll around the neighbourhood or have a dance-off with holiday music! Create a family/friends tradition like a scavenger hunt! The possibilities are endless! 

 

Make it your own

 

If you are having troubles with what you can eat and really want to stay healthy, you could find some like-minded friends and family and create your own healthy holiday dinner! Just because you want to eat healthy doesn’t mean it can’t be delicious too! Have fun with it!