Healthy Swaps: Your Thanksgiving Survival Guide

Thanksgiving!  The beginning of the official holiday season and a time to reflect back on all that we’re thankful for.  Another year in the books.  Trials and triumphs, failures and successes, family, friends.  But it’s also traditionally about the food.  Loads of food!  All different kinds of food!  And we want to sample it all…and lots of it, because after all, it IS a special occasion.  This season can be an easy time to completely derail from your nutrition plan and your exercise plan, but it doesn’t have to be.  This is why now is the time to begin your game plan.

When your day begins and you hit the ground running and baking, etc., let’s talk about some healthy ways to kick the day off.  You may do your big meal at lunch or you may do it at dinner.  The key to success in any health and fitness journey is to plan ahead.  It’s no different on this day, which is why this post isn’t showing up the night before Thanksgiving!  If you know you will indulge some on Thanksgiving (I know I will!), then you’ve got to have an action plan in place.

My day will start no differently on Thanksgiving than it will any other day.  I will have the same breakfast smoothie that I have every other day.  (I am very much a creature of habit first thing in the morning.)  It’s a really healthy way for me to start my day, and it makes me feel good that I’ve done something good for my body.

What are some other ways you can stay on track this day?  You’ve probably heard this said before too, but drink lots of water.  We sometimes mistake thirst for hunger.  We will feel less hungry and eat less if we have a glass of water just before we eat as well.  Give it a try.  And, while the grazing begins before your meal with the array of appetizers like cheese balls and crackers, cream cheese dips with hearty breads, perhaps your contribution could be a veggie tray or a fruit platter.  These are always a hit, and it’s a great way to start filling your belly with some whole food goodness.  These are all things we’ve heard before but worth repeating.  Reminders help us to stay focused on those long-term goals.

We can still enjoy Thanksgiving and it’s bounties without a total backslide.  Wouldn’t it be helpful to have some sort of Thanksgiving Survival Guide?  Nothing complicated, just some alternatives to some popular foods on our table to something a bit healthier.  We don’t want to feel completely deprived during this holiday, but at the same time, we don’t want to wake up full of regret and self-loathing either.  Let’s talk about ways to treat ourselves by some easy Thanksgiving Day swaps!  Below are five traditional Thanksgiving dishes that we can consider swapping for a healthier option this year!

1) Green bean casserole

Mmmmm, green bean casserole.  This seems to be a holiday staple in many households.  I don’t hate it, but I do prefer just old-fashioned green beans, so I don’t find this to be a huge weakness, but if this is your kryptonite, consider switching to just the green beans and passing on the casserole loaded with cream of mushroom soup and topped with those crispy French onions.  A serving of green bean casserole is around 90 calories, where as steamed green beans (minus any butters and oils) would be closer to 30.  On a day like Thanksgiving when you are eating more than usual AND when you are perhaps planning to treat yourself to a little dessert, skip the green bean casserole and go basic with a side of green beans.

2) Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes, although they get a bad rap sometimes, are actually good for us.  It’s the extra butters and sour creams, etc. that cause the calories to really rack up.  There are a lot of variations, so calorie count can really be all over the board, but a cup of traditional mashed potatoes (milk and butter added) will easily set you over 200 calories and even upwards of 250 calories if you start adding butter and cheeses.  A great swap here would be a baked potato or diced, seasoned and roasted potatoes, which are AMAZING.  The flavors that you add to the roasted potatoes can be whatever you choose…garlic, onion, pepper and other flavors that can make these your new favorite dish!

3) Turkey – White or dark meat?

This is always the hot question during Thanksgiving.  Which is the healthier choice?  Really the nutritional differences aren’t huge, but nonetheless, there are some.  Calorically speaking, white meat is the winner ounce for ounce and it has zero grams of saturated fat (pre-gravy!).  As far as protein goes, they are pretty comparable but for all you dark meat lovers out there, the dark meat in turkey wins in iron content, so there’s that.  Again, portion control is going to be big here, because there’s a substantial difference between a 3 ounce portion and 9 ounces pushing your calorie intake just in turkey alone to over 300!  Oh, and skip the skin on your bird.  It’ll save you as well whether you go white or dark meat.

4) Sweet Potato casserole

Oh, my goodness, the sweetness of sweet potatoes covered in brown sugar and oh so many marshmallows.  This really is more like a dessert than a side, right?!  Consider swapping the side of sweet potato casserole for a baked sweet potato.  If you do this right and bake it long in the oven, it is sweet all on it’s own and will melt in your mouth.  Plus, a plain baked sweet potato is around 100 calories where the sweet potato casserole (depending on the recipe you use) can double or even TRIPLE that for a half cup serving!  The baked sweet potato is, hands down, one of my favorite sides any day of the week.  You can even sprinkle a little cinnamon on it even and some toasted pecans for a little added flare.

5) Pecan pie

MY kryptonite during the holiday season.  I love pecan pie.  I was surprised to learn that for a pie titled “pecan”, there are surprisingly few pecans!  Luckily, I also love a good pumpkin pie, and this is a good swap for your sweet tooth instead of the pecan pie and will save you (again, largely depending on the recipe used), upwards of 100 calories!

What are some foods that are always on your Thanksgiving table?  Are there some that you can’t resist?  With a little thought and a plan in place, you can have an amazing holiday without completely wrecking those goals you’re working so hard toward.  Thanksgiving comes but once a year, so enjoy it, and make plans to stay on course finishing your 2018 strong!

Here’s to YOUR health!