Eating your favorite Thanksgiving foods without sabotaging your health – Herb Weiss

By Herb Weiss, contributing writer on aging issues

We look forward to gathering around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends to enjoy good company and good food.

“For individuals with chronic diseases such as diabetes or heart disease, holiday social gatherings can be more challenging and at times anxiety inducing,” says Marilyn Csernus, a former, now retired Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist, living in Mendota, Illinois.

Csernus suggests that the best way to prevent stress and enjoy your Thanksgiving meal is planning ahead and being prepared.  “Planning ahead can include making sure your health condition is as well managed as possible going into Thanksgiving or any other holiday,” she says. 

Strategies for Managing Your Holiday Meals

“If we look at a specific holiday such as Thanksgiving as one day, rather than giving ourselves permission to overindulge all the way through New Year’s Day, it can be more manageable, especially for those with a chronic disease,” says Csernus.  She gives the following ten tips that will hopefully help you enjoy your favorite holiday foods without sabotaging your health:

1.     Don’t skip breakfast. It is important to maintain regular meals even if the timing may be off a bit on a particular holiday. It can be dangerous for anyone taking insulin and certain oral diabetes medicines to skip meals. 

2.     Try to continue your regular activity or exercise plan as much as possible. Maybe gather up a group to take a walk after enjoying a holiday meal.

3.     Don’t drink your calories. Steer clear of sweetened beverages. 

4.     Whether Thanksgiving is a sit-down meal or served buffet style, take a quick overview of what is on the menu. Decide which items you really want to ea,t and which you can skip. Choose small portions of holiday favorites that are unique to the holiday rather than filling up on foods that are available anytime of the year. For example, maybe enjoy a small serving of Aunt Sue’s sweet potato casserole rather than eating mashed potatoes which are available anytime of the year, or stuffing rather than bread or rolls.

5.     Enjoy larger servings of non-starchy vegetables such as asparagus, cauliflower, green beans, broccoli, spinach, carrots or green salads. These items are both low in calories and low in carbohydrates. 

6.     If you have a choice, always choose higher fiber options such as brown rice, or whole wheat bread over white rice or white bread.

7.     If there is a buffet table, don’t hang around the buffet. Fill your plate with small portions of your favorites and enjoy your Thanksgiving meal. Stop eating when you are no longer hungry rather than eating to the point of being uncomfortably full. If tempted to go back for seconds wait fifteen to twenty minutes and see if you are really still hungry. It takes that long for your stomach to signal your brain that you are full.   After eating spend your time socializing away from the buffet. Sip on unsweetened beverages throughout the day.

8.     When attending a holiday celebration at someone’s home and you are concerned that there may not be the best options for your usual meal plan, offer to bring a couple of dishes.

9.     If you have diabetes continue to monitor your blood glucose as you would on any other day.

10. If you do overindulge a bit, just get back on track the next day.

 For more diabetes educational resources including recipes, go to diabetes.org.

And – Happy Thanksgiving!

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To read other columns by Herb Weiss, go to: https://rinewstoday.com/?s=herb+weiss

Herb Weiss, LRI -12, is a Pawtucket-based writer who has covered aging, health care and medical issues for over 43 years.  To purchase his books, Taking Charge: Collected Stories on Aging Boldly and a sequel, compiling weekly published articles, go to herbweiss.com.