Thanksgiving Tips to Stay on Track
The holidays can be daunting if you try to maintain and control your weight. During this time of year, celebrations center around food, drink, and family, all of which can lead to overeating, overdrinking, and frustrations about family dilemmas.
Wellness experts often suggest not stressing about confronting unavoidable distractions that prevent you from maintaining a perfect balance of health and wellness. There are always obstacles that appear before us as we traverse the course of our lives. The key is to keep them from steering us away from our desired goals. If you go off track, get back on course. There is no such thing as perfect balance; it’s always a matter of adjustment.
Wellness is not about deprivation but the integration of mind, body, and spirit. One cannot avoid family; they belong to us forever. One cannot avoid food and drink; we need them for sustenance. However, we can control the quality and quantity of our consumption.
We can decide whom to celebrate with or call, email, or text. If a family relation causes adverse reactions in your mind and body, it’s best to stay clear of them. A Happy Thanksgiving blessing can be given to anyone, even if transmitted in a prayer.
We can prepare a menu for a healthy Thanksgiving dinner and choose to stick to small portions just like any other day. Just because it’s a holiday doesn’t mean you have to feel bloated with indigestion; you can eat normal portions like you do every day. And a glass or two of spirits won’t kill you; however, days, months, and years of continuous drinking create such an imbalance that it can ultimately be your demise.
Here are some tips to stay the course of health and wellness through the holidays:
- Eat your normal courses of food leading up to the holidays. It makes more sense to keep eating regular meals from now to then than to starve yourself to “make space” for the big meal. That means breakfast, lunch, and dinner, even on Thanksgiving Day.
- Stick to your fitness program, get up early and take a walk, go to the gym, or follow an online class.
- Wait until dinner to consume your “spirits.”
- Plan a balanced holiday meal with fruits, vegetables, and protein. There are tons of healthy menus available online. Here’s a link to a few recipes, https://www.brit.co/healthy-thanksgiving-recipes/
- Don’t deny your indulgences. If you like dessert, have some; Thanksgiving comes once a year, so enjoy. However, as I mentioned before, watch your portions.
- Savor and enjoy your food, eat slowly, and leave space on your plate. Rather than covering every inch with food, or piling your servings into a big heap, separate each food group from the other and enjoy small bites of each.
- Place your fork down between each bite, consciously chew the food and realize the different textures and tastes.
- Consciously embrace the abundance before you and give thanks and grace for what you have rather than what you don’t have.
- Thanksgiving is one day; it comes and goes. Enjoy it, and know that even if you go off course, you can always get back on track.
- Thank your body for carrying you through this life. It is the only one you have, and you are fortunate to be alive. Live it well.
If you want any help with your health and wellness needs, we are here to help. Don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Your best health is our business,
Peace, Love, Namaste,
Clarita.
The staff at Absolute Best and Nguyen Procare Chiropractic wish you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.