It’s Stuffing Time!
This year, let’s stuff the turkey and not our bellies! We look forward to the great food, good times with family and friends, and our favorite holiday traditions. It is a day that should be enjoyed with gratitude and thanksgiving.
Before we take part in this stuffing tradition, let’s plan to balance out the feast. Here are some fun ways to keep your body moving and stay lean this Thanksgiving.
BEFORE THE FEAST:
Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Go to bed early the night before. Get your full 7-8 hours. Keep your cortisol levels low and your hunger pangs will stay in check. Lack of sleep is associated with more hunger and a higher calorie intake. Prepare your mind and body to make healthful choices.
Start the Morning with Movement and Nourishment
Start the morning with a mindset for success. Eat a Healthy Breakfast like your favorite smoothie, or oatmeal with walnuts and blueberries. Making the mindful choice to choose a healthy breakfast will keep you focused on making healthy food choices all day. One might think they should starve themselves all morning to save up for the impending Feast Explosion but this strategy may backfire. You are so famished when you show up to your gathering that you shove everything in sight into your mouth without even thinking. Next thing you know, you’ve eaten everything you said you would avoid.
Before or after your healthy breakfast, get your morning workout in! Start the morning with movement. You are about to ingest a large number of calories! If you are visiting family or have family visiting you, bring them along to your workout. Get everybody moving.
FEAST DAY:
Balance Your Energy
Find ways to move more throughout the day to expend more energy. We already got our morning workout in. Phew! Now, let’s keep moving all day.
- Run around with the little kids. Play chase, hide and seek, take them on a walk around the neighborhood. They ride their scooters and you speed walk to keep up.
- Help with the cooking. Cooking burns calories!
- For every hour the bird is in the oven, do 50 squats per hour. Set an alarm and get it done.
- Join the Clean Up Crew. Doing dishes burns calories! Sitting requires very little energy. Stay up and keep moving.
- Take the family on an evening stroll after dinner. Spend time together. Walk, talk, and burn.
- Play games together. Exciting cheers and jumping out of your seat burns fun calories.
THE AFTERMATH:
Do not beat yourself up. Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful, grateful, and at peace. It is not a day to be filled with guilt. Throw that out the window!
FUN IDEAS TO KEEP YOU MOVING:
- Sign up for a real Turkey Trot! Find a local turkey trot and burn the bird.
- Get back on track immediately. Book your Friday class and get back into the gym right away. Keep your consistent fitness habit. If you are feeling a little sluggish from your feast, sign up for a Yoga Class, Dance Class or some Core Work.
- Take the family out for some apple or strawberry picking.
- Take the family on a hike to find pinecones, acorns, leaves, or rocks to decorate your home for the Fall Season.
- Get outside and play games like horseshoes, cornhole, touch football, or design a scavenger hunt.
- Walk to the store for any shopping needs.
- Ride your bike to the Black Friday sales and avoid the parking madness. Two birds, one stone.
- Do a walking progressive dinner with friends or family.
Most of all have an attitude of gratitude
Be Thankful for everything you have and everyone around you. Be thankful for the healthy body you have and for where it will take you. Be thankful for the delicious food we can enjoy. Be grateful for the opportunity to grow and change and make progress. Every moment is a moment of discovery and learning. Take the healthy skills you’ve learned and put them into practice this Thanksgiving.
XOXO,