How to Approach Your Thanksgiving Nutrition
People always want tips on “what’s healthy to eat at Thanksgiving” or how to stay on track with a nutrition plan – or even something much simpler like “how can I enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and not feel like garbage afterwards”. The team at APEX PWR all loves food and we’re all about helping people create healthy habits that can serve as a foundation that carry you through vacations, holidays, happy hours and everything in between all while reaching your health, wellness and fitness goals. So here’s what to do around Thanksgiving featuring professional insight from the APEX PWR resident Nutrition Coach, Shelby Goldstein.
First Things First With Thanksgiving Nutrition
First off, we know the best way to stay on track with a nutrition plan is to not go off the rails consistently. Holidays can make this tough .. VERY TOUGH .. with Thanksgiving being one of the most difficult times. Why is that? To start, Thanksgiving typically comes with overindulging. Overeating one meal definitely never caused any harm, but the next most common part of Thanksgiving are the leftovers and continuous, casual grazing. This day tends to roll from not just Thursday, but carry on into Friday and then, hey it’s the weekend so why stop?! And this is right where most people find it hard to reel it back in on Monday. Instead, stick closer to your normal eating habits and as a bonus, get some movement in and stay with your normal workout routine – check out some of the expert insight below from Coach Shelby.
Should I Starve Myself to Prepare for the Big Thanksgiving Meal?
One of the most common approaches people take on Thanksgiving is to starve themselves to go all out come Thanksgiving meal time. Everyone eats Thanksgiving “dinner” at different times. Some people make it more of a lunch, whereas others have it at a more traditional dinner time. The biggest tip from Coach Shelby to approach Thanksgiving is to eat normally as you would during the day rather than try to starve yourself all day to let the flood gates open at dinner time. Have a protein-rich breakfast as you would on any given day, as well as a nutrient-dense, protein-packed lunch if Thanksgiving meal is in the evening. You may find yourself eating just enough to feel full rather than go in expecting to overeat to the point of feeling like garbage.
How a Little Workout Can Go a Long Way with Thanksgiving Nutrition Goals
The APEX PWR Holiday workout (or a workout of your choosing) could provide some helpful benefits. “It’s just a great way to get in a little extra movement to help balance out any potential of overeating,” states APEX PWR Nutrition Coach, Shelby Goldstein. She continues to highlight that, “The biggest thing with doing a workout is just consistency of training. Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean we have to completely abandon the habits we’ve built that help us feel good. An after dinner walk is also a great way to help digest and balance out blood sugar. With strength training, I like to say, “put that Thanksgiving fuel to work!” One lift/workout and one big meal isn’t going to make a huge impact, it’s more about the consistency over time. So, if we’ve been lifting, don’t feel like you have to skip, rather, get it in and put that fuel to work.”
Enjoy Thanksgiving, Stick to Your Foundation
In conclusion, ENJOY THE HOLIDAY! One bad meal won’t crush your nutrition plan or work towards a different body composition or fitness goals. Life is full of ups and downs, different moments and events, but when you’re armed with a foundation of healthy habits, it’s much easier to tackle each scenario with confidence. In fact, Thanksgiving time may actually be one of the best times to get body composition analysis – so you have more insight and data instead of one number on the scale that doesn’t tell the entire story. Or, it could make more sense to check in with a nutrition coach to build healthy habits for life. It can even be a good time to get your physical health analyzed with a sports physical therapist. Don’t wait for the new calendar year to get started. If you’re looking for a partner in health, wellness and fitness, the team at APEX PWR is always here for you and ready to help you Get More Out of Life!
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