According to sparklepeople.com, the average American consumes 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day! Most of are not able to burn this off with exercise and excess calories are converted to fat. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. So how can you prevent Thanksgiving from turning into a diet disaster? Keep reading to find out some tips.
One of the main things you can do is plan ahead. Sparkle.com offers some helpful tips in their Thanksgiving survival guide. Some examples of these tips are replacing sugar with Splenda or another no calorie sweetener. This can save over 750 calories. You can also use whole wheat flour, skim milk and egg substitute in your cooking to save calories as well.
The Mayoclinic.com features some great low fat recipes that you might want to try. All of the recipes include nutritional information which makes it easy to keep track of your calorie and fat intake. Some examples of low calorie soups are pumpkin, chick pea and carrot. For side dishes, there is honey glazed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and roasted bananas. For the main dish, you can try cranberry stuffing or make a brown sugar sauce for the turkey. Don’t forget warm chocolate soufflé and caramelized pear bread pudding for dessert.
It’s hard to avoid giving into some type of temptation, but as long as you don’t go overboard you should be fine. Here are some tips for surviving thanksgiving at someone else’s house:
1. Load up on raw vegetables and lean protein like turkey before heading for the cornbread dressing or sweet potato casserole.
2. Drink lots of water which will fill you up and help you avoid going back for a second helping.
3. If you can’t resist dessert, have a small piece of your favorite treat. This will help you to not feel deprived and not destroy your diet.
For more information, visit http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=324
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/thanksgiving-recipes/NU00643
Happy Thanksgiving!!
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