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Just in time for the big dinner the University of Michigan Health System has some tips for how to make it through Thanksgiving without adding any weight. Kathy Goldberg, M.S., R.D. and a registered dietitian has some common sense strategies that work.
1. Slow down: "Enjoy your friends, enjoy your family, enjoy the flavors and textures of the food. It will really help you feel fuller faster because it takes time for your brain to register the food that's in your stomach getting into your blood stream," she says.
2. Don't skip meals: Eat breakfast and have a light lunch on Thanksgiving. This will help to stop you from stuffing yourself on high-calorie foods when dinner is served. And this advice applies to the whole year, not just to Thanksgiving, Goldberg notes.
3. Drink lots of water throughout the day: This will help to keep you full without adding calories. And if you want beer, wine, soft drinks, or other beverages that can have high calorie counts, have just one or two and then switch to sparkling water with a dash of fruit juice, Goldberg advises.4. Eat cranberries: Loaded with both flavor and anti-oxidants, cranberries are a very healthy fruit, Goldberg notes. The best versions are fresh and frozen, rather than canned, she says.
5. Dressing, not stuffing: Do not cook stuffing inside the turkey, Goldberg advises. If you stuff the turkey too soon, it may not get to a hot enough temperature to avoid food-borne illnesses, she says. Also, stuffing draws moisture from the turkey, making the meat drier and less tender. When making dressing, use dried-out whole grain English muffins instead of a bag of stuffing mix to add a healthier ingredient to the mix. Other additions can include vegetables or dried fruits, and chicken broth will add more flavor and fewer calories than butter, Goldberg says.
6. Start the meal with vegetables: They're an important part of every meal, and steaming them will keep them in their "most natural state," Goldberg says. Season them with caramelized onions or shallots, lemon zest, or herbs and spices to cut back on sodium usage, she advises.
7. Don't skip the potatoes: They've gotten a bad rap in recent years, but Goldberg says there's no reason to stay away from potatoes-especially when they're prepared healthfully. With sweet potatoes-which are loaded with nutrients and fiber-skip the marshmallow topping in favor of a pecan streusel topping. As for mashed potatoes, use skim milk and low-fat sour cream instead of fatty milks and creams, she says.
8. Meat not skin: Eat turkey, but avoid the skin, which contains most of the fat in the bird. White meat also has less fat than dark meat.
9. Eat a lower-fat dessert: A small serving of dessert is allowed, and can even add more nutrients to your Thanksgiving meal. Try apple crisp instead of a pie with a high-fat crust, and top it with a little scoop of frozen yogurt, Goldberg suggests. Or have a slice of pumpkin pie, which is low in fat and high in the antioxidant beta carotene, she says-just don't eat all of the crust.
All of this is good advice. I would add one more thing to this list. Take a reasonable amount of food on your plate in the first place and don't take seconds. We know the cook was hard at work in the kitchen all day, but don't let anyone bully you into another spoonful of mashed potatoes or another slice of turkey with gravy. You really don't need it. Besides, the best part of Thanksgiving is having leftovers the next day!
For more information, visit these Web sites:
::MFit, the University of Michigan Health System's health promotion division
::Holidays the Healthy Way (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Difficulty level: Easy
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