Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I must say that I didn’t follow my own Thanksgiving Day eating tips  - including “overeat in moderation”.  This girl from citygirlbites had too many bites, especially of desserts. Yes, that it is  a picture of me eating 4 desserts - 3 of them chocolate. Check out this post for more of my personal chocolate stories!

My feeling is that Thanksgiving is one day (or perhaps several days if you are home for the long weekend like me) of eating more than usual. This can cause some people to feel out of control. The key is to get back on track and not gain “eating momentum”. Take control before the holiday season really gets underway.

 Here are some tips to get back on track:
1. Don’t beat yourself up for eating more than you planned! This is the worst thing you can do as it usually leads to a hopeless feeling which will likely contribute to even more eating. Let it go and get back to your usual diet plan.

2. For those people who weigh themselves, it might be a good idea to avoid the scale for a few days. Even one day of overeating can cause a 2-3 pound weight increase on the scale. While part of this gain may be due to fat storage, the majority is fluid retention from the extra carbohydrates and sodium. You need to consume an extra 3500 calories on top on your maintenance calorie level (maintenance calorie level is ~ 1800 calories for the average women and 2100 for the average man).  Even if the scale showed a gain of 2 pounds over Thanksgiving, I would tend to doubt you consumed an extra 7000 calories in addition to your maintenance calories. This would mean 8800 calories for the average women and 9100 calories for the average man!                                                                          

3. Add in a few extra long sessions of exercise. Not only will this burn off some of the turkey day calories, it will help you feel better physically and psychologically.

4. For those of you who really overdid it and want a little jump start diet after your Thanksgiving  gorge, try a lower carb low sodium diet for 2-3 days. This will help you shed water weight as well as some fat. While I usually don’t recommend rapid weight loss or really low carb diets, there is no danger in following this type of plan for a few days. It can be motivating to see the scale drop by several pounds. You would then ease into a more realistic eating plan.

Sample meals:                                                                

Breakfast (pick one):  egg whites with veggies or one slice of whole grain toast with 1 T. peanut butter or 1 cup cottage cheese with 1/2 cup fruit

Snack( pick one): 1/2 oz nuts such as 12 almonds, 20 pistachios. 14 peanuts, 9 cashews or a string cheese or a fruit

Lunch (pick one):  5 oz grilled chicken on a salad, 2 cups assorted veggies, 1 T. oil and unlimited vinegar or 5 oz grilled salmon or skinless poultry and steamed veggies or egg white omelet with veggies.

Snack(pick one): piece fruit, nuts as above, string cheese, nonfat yogurt, 1/2 cup cottage cheese

Dinner (pick one): 5 oz lean meat, fish or skinless poultry, grilled or baked plain, no sauce with unlimited veggies, preferably steamed plain.

In addition: Drink at least 10 cups of water. No alcohol. No bread or other starch (except as allowed on meal plan).

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