I just returned from “Early Thanksgiving”, a pre-holiday holiday that my family agreed upon years ago to spare ourselves the nightmare of holiday travel. Since we all live flying distance from one another, we thought this was a stroke of genius. From a travel standpoint it is. From a dietary standpoint it could easily mean two turkeys in as many weeks – yikes! So how does one keep one’s figure from expanding when facing not one but two caloric extravaganzas? I will share with you my method of avoiding holiday dietary chaos and the ensuing 5-10lb weight gain we can no longer ignore come January.
Unfortunately Thanksgiving is rarely but one big meal. If you are getting together with friends and family, especially if you or they have traveled, every moment is a celebratory opportunity punctuated by scrumptious food. This is a real mine field if you are trying to maintain your weight (forget weight loss here, it’s too tall of an order!). What you need to do is implement a strategy for yourself and stick to until all of the holiday merriment is over. Here is mine:
On turkey day, most importantly, I am sure to have a good solid breakfast that will carry me through to the early afternoon. This consists of fat, protein and a little carbohydrate. My breakfast of choice under these circumstances is two eggs cooked in a little (about 2 tsp) butter, olive oil or bacon fat, ½ cup sautéed spinach (cooked in same pan right after eggs), a piece or two of bacon (optional) and a fresh piece of fruit. I also have some decaf with about 1 tsp half & half. This breakfast is hearty and comes in at just under 500 calories.
The purpose of such a meal is to keep my blood sugar steady until around 2pm. This way I skip lunch and at 2 pm will have a light snack also consisting of fat, protein and carb. These snacks should be no heavier than 200 calories but should still be “real” food. So I might have ½ cup full fat yogurt and a small piece of fruit or an apple and 1 TB peanut butter or a slice of real, full fat cheese and 10 grapes. Again, the idea here is to keep the blood sugar steady. If I go too long without food, my blood sugar will plummet and I will become cranky, ravenous and full of cravings – a situation that will throw my weight maintenance plan out the window. Even blood sugar is the key.
Usually holiday dinners take place on the early side so my little snack will easily get me to a 5 or 6 pm meal. Until now I have consumed 700 calories. My weight maintenance calories are 1500 per day. This leaves me with around 800 calories for my Thanksgiving dinner which translates into a pretty big meal. I could have one full dinner plate with two palm-sized. ¼ inch thick turkey slices (about 6 oz), 3 TB gravy, 1/3 cup stuffing, ¼ cup cranberry sauce, ½ cup green vegetable, ½ cup sweet potato and two 4oz glasses of wine. That is a big dinner. I will not feel deprived; on the contrary, I will be pretty full and stop right there. I don’t usually have dessert, so I’ll go ahead and skip that knowing that I have met my calorie goals and have eaten early enough to get this meal digested before bedtime so it does not interfere with my sleep (going to bed full is very hard on the liver and can make for a restless night which can mean an unpleasant next day).
As the next day presents itself with leftovers I will make lunch my big meal of the day. Given that, I will have 2 eggs and ½ cup sauteed spinach for breakfast with a cup of coffee and a little half & half (around 220 calories). Lunch will be 3 oz turkey, 2 TB gravy, 2 TB cranberry sauce, 1 cup cooked green vegetables, ½ cup sweet potatoes and I’ll skip the stuffing (about 385 calories) but I will have a small portion of desset (250 calories). This hearty lunch will keep my blood sugar level until dinner time. So far I have consumed 855 calories which leaves me with 645 calories for dinner, which again is a large dinner, a little smaller than the night before (without the stuffing and ¼ cup sweet potato instead of ½ cup) and still including a glass or two of wine.
I’m hoping that this small example illustrates that exercising a little meal management can really go a long way in helping us maintain our weight without feeling deprived. It is not necessary to eat everything that we see. As a matter of fact, choosing a few of your favorites at each meal will keep your food simple and easy to digest. The easier it is for digestion to take place, the easier it is to maintain weight and avoid gaining weight. Rather than approaching holiday food events from the standpoint of the taste buds, think of approaching them from the standpoint of the stomach. The more complex the food and the greater the quantity of it, the harder the stomach struggles to digest. This inefficiency is the first step in weight gain.
So be light in spirit when approaching food this holiday season. Eat slowly, savor every bite and enjoy. This way you can greet the New Year the same size you were in the old year.
Cheers!
Cara Demu, RD, MPH
