Thanksgiving – You Can Do It (and Enjoy It)!

featured

Thanksgiving is approaching rapidly and while it can be a day of pure gluttony and over indulgence, interestingly November is also American Diabetes Month.

With all those favorite, tasty foods beckoning and over-indulgence just beyond the horizon, it can be a huge temptation to over-eat all those seasonal favorites—turkey, ham, gravy, rolls and oh, those desserts!

One of the best things to keep in mind is to not be too hard on yourself. If you happen to indulge a bit, just get right back on track.

Here are a few simple tips to help you enjoy the day with family and friends:

• Do the right thing: Before the soiree, check your blood sugar and take your regular meds.

• Start the day off with a good breakfast so you won’t be tempted to overeat, and fit a walk into your Thanksgiving morning.

• Turkey is good, good, good! It’s low fat, with no carbs or sugars; just avoid the fatty skin. Also, if ham is the main course, eat it in moderation because it contains lots of fats and may be high in sugars depending on how it was prepared.

• Try to avoid or eliminate that high-fat gravy.

• Avoid those high-carb dishes (breads, potatoes, stuffing) or exchange one carb for another: For example, depending on your tastes, you can exchange bread for a small portion of mashed potatoes or vice versa.

• Eat lots of vegetables including green salad or vegetables that have not been prepared with cream or marshmallows (such as green bean casserole or sweet potato casserole).

• Desserts can still be enjoyed. To use a cliché: all things in moderation! Have small portions, and once again, substitute as you can.

After the feast, don’t be tempted to become that couch potato! Take a walk to jump start your metabolism—you might even start a new Thanksgiving tradition!

Helpful and fun links:
Rethinking the Thanksgiving Feast:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art26034.asp

How to Manage Your Diabetes on Thanksgiving:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4544115_manage-diabetes-thanksgiving.html

Healthy Thanksgiving Dinner with Diabetes:
http://diabetes.about.com/od/nutrition/a/healthythanksgiving.htm

Featured recipes:
http://diabeticgourmet.com/Food_and_Dining/Holidays/Thanksgiving

By: Kathy Eckel