Ever since I started to embrace clean eating and then became a Health Coach, I approach the holidays with a mix of worry and eagerness.  Worry that I will be an outcast and viewed only as the “health food eater”. Eagerness that I have another opportunity to prove that our well-loved family food traditions can survive and trigger the same memories even with a few healthy twists applied.

How you decide to approach the holidays is a personal choice. For most of us Thanksgiving is one of those long awaited treat days where the food we eat triggers memories of good times and family connection. So we are left with two choices: 1) we eat what we want, without guilt, knowing we’ll be back to mindful eating the following day, or 2) Thanksgiving can become the start of a long season of mindless overeating and weight gain.  I personally try to keep the holidays on the sensible side, to view them as days, not weeks and months, and to not dive into the mind set that “I’ll fix it all in January.”

Use these 6 tips to have it all on Thanksgiving day!

1. Pace the day by making appetizers lunch.

1. Most families are together for the entire day so why not make appetizers, or as in my Italian household, antipasto, lunch?  Rather than serving appetizers followed closely with the feast, make appetizers the lunch that everyone needs when they immediately arrive. Then leave a few hours for digestion before the main meal is served. Make sure that you tell guests if you are hosting so they don’t eat lunch at home. Or, if you are going somewhere, talk to the host about this creative way to pace the day. We made this change a few years ago and it really helps to spread the food consumption out.
   

2. Remake a dish - better than the original.

1. Pick a few dishes that you look forward to which say, “Thanksgiving,” to you and remake them keeping in mind what makes them special.  A spice? A texture? A flavor? Don’t stray too far away from the original but with enough change to make it manageable rather than a sin.  For example, in my house, I have recreated bread stuffing, honoring my husband’s tradition.  Although I still use bread cubes (this is one of my gluten days), wild rice can also be substituted. Similarly, the sticks of butter are replaced with just a little alternate fat (like vegan butter, olive oil or coconut oil) for sautéing the onions and celery – not for moistening the entire lot.  Sausage is eliminated completely (but sometimes replaced with Field Roast Apple Sage vegan sausage) and vegetables like celery, onions, zucchini, carrots, parsnips, and kale are dominant. Think 3 to 4 times what you traditionally use for stuffing.  Fruits like apples and cranberries, cider, herbs and vegetable broth rounds it out and provides the moisture.  I guarantee that your brain will still say Thanksgiving on a remade dish.
   

3. Bring something new – an alternate.

1. If you are as excited for holiday meals as I am, you probably scour cookbooks, the web, and cooking shows for ideas.  Find a new dish, even if it uses a familiar ingredient like yams, and bring something new. Who ever made up that darn yam and marshmallow casserole anyway? The Pilgrims didn’t. Bring your own yam dish – perhaps roasted yams with a sparse, not drowning, maple syrup cinnamon glaze.  It doesn’t matter it the other dish will be present; I bet you will see people choosing this one as much as the other, and maybe even more since it is a fresh perspective.
   

4. Graze through the meal and dessert.

1. Grazing means you take a little of most dishes, more of others, and sometimes even bypass a few.  At dinner, load your plate mostly with vegetable based dishes that are prepared simply but are still delicious. Then add smaller portions of the more decadent looking fare. Similarly, for dessert; grazing allows you to taste without over indulging. There’s no need for a battle of wills. You can have it all – just not full sized portions of every single option since the holidays tend to have a LOT of options. Plan ahead. What foods are you willing to bypass, take a little of, and fill up on?
   

5. Don’t drink your calories.

1. You don’t have to imbibe spirits to get into the spirit! Too many liquid calories from alcoholic drinks or sugary based concoctions can blow an otherwise well thought out plan. And don’t think that diet soda does the trick because aspartame is one of the worst ingredients that wreaks havoc on your metabolism and digestion. Be mindful that eating and drinking will surely overtax your system, sugar tolerance and caloric load.  Celebrate with a glass or two of the holiday beverage then switch to water or seltzer drinks but spruce them up with muddled fruits, spices, or herbs.
   

6. Enjoy some non-food traditions.

1. Sure, food is a big part of holiday celebrations but Thanksgiving is about family, gratitude and reflection.  Find ways to add more non-food traditions to the day.  Consider doing something charitable in the morning before your festivities begin, or even participate in a Turkey Trot or hike. When you are together with family, take more time than usually to share stories of generations and holidays past.  Storytelling is a lost art of passing on family information. Then, once stomachs are full, and the kitchen is clean, consider going for a relaxing evening stroll. Slow down, savor the day, and create some new traditions to pass on to future generations.
   

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After Thanksgiving, consider bringing an attitude of gratitude into your daily life.  That way the feeling of the season continues on. This month, on my Facebook page, I have been making daily posts of things I am grateful for.  It is an interesting exercise to reflect, compose and then declare publicly, your gratitude.  Or if that is too much for you – keep it private but still do the reflection and even say it out loud. I am so GLAD and eternally grateful for the new turn my life has taken. Learning, sharing and mentoring people to better health is an incredible reward, and reflects support back to me as well. Be well, be glad, and enjoy everything your families and friends have to offer.

Let me know If this article was helpful, and if you contact me before Wednesday, I’ll send you the recipe for ‘Thanks, No Turkey’ (stuffing). blog@gladforhealth.com

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