Six Healthy Thanksgiving Recovery Steps

A week ago we all binge ate our way to a healthy nap, correct? If you consciously made the effort to eat only healthy portions for Thanksgiving – Great! What a relief to not have that guilt and to instead gain that control over your food.

However, if you, like most Americans, ate way too much and made unhealthy choices, I’m here to tell you IT’S OKAY. Thanksgiving is the one day a year when people tend to splurge. It doesn’t mean it’s okay to eat an excessive amount of food until you’re in pain, but it’s a normal weakness to have. Most people indulge on this holiday, but it’s important to know that your weight loss goals aren’t demolished because of one day – If you don’t let them.

I don’t know about you, but when I used to make bad food choices, I almost always regretted it. On top of feeling guilty, I would convince myself that my weight loss plan just wouldn’t work. Yes, it’s true that the average American will gain anywhere between 5-7 pounds during the holiday months, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are six healthy Thanksgiving recovery steps that will help you mentally and physically continue with your weight management goals even after your day (week …) of stuffing:

1. Don’t Stress About Overeating: Just because you went a little overboard one day doesn’t mean all bets are off. In fact, beating yourself up over it does more harm than good. Don’t turn on yourself – jump back on the saddle.
2. Get More Sleep: Aim to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night the week following Thanksgiving. This shouldn’t be too difficult considering all the turkey you just consumed puts you in a turkoma (turkey coma).
3. Eat a Healthy Breakfast: Don’t rid your body of the nutrients it needs the rest of the week or month just because you feel guilty. Not eating breakfast can actually increase weight gain.
4. Drink Lots of Water: Enough said.
5. Schedule Your Workouts: Hold yourself to your routine and try not to fall out of that routine. Getting back on track is exactly what will hold you to your goals.
6. Understand Your Limits: Most importantly, understand that there are more holidays ahead and using each of these days as an excuse isn’t a healthy mindset. It helps to understand your limits and how you can best regulate your eating the day of and the days that follow.

Take these steps into consideration throughout this holiday season, and utilize the community that you are apart of to help guide you toward your weight loss goals.

Fort HealthCare is now offering plenty of health classes for you to keep in tip top shape.

Visit FortHealthCare.com/classes to save your spot for January’s class.

Happy Holidays:)