I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories about Thanksgiving food. Hundreds of calories and a load of fat your favorite stuffing, gravy-soaked deep fried turkey and of course Aunt Betty’s homemade sweet potato casserole. And, of course, all of these are proceeded by hours of eating chips, dips and drinking beer or mixed beverages.
Regardless of the tally on Thanksgiving Day, I’m going to step out on a limb and tell you to ditch your diet. That’s right, skip it. Why? Because it’s one day. Now, I’m not handing out a license to eat enough for a linebacker – to the point where you end up with a massive food hangover by 8pm, but, I do think there are a few good reasons why you shouldn’t count your calories this Thursday.
First, like I mentioned, it’s one day. And, in general, if we overeat but really listen to our body the next day we won’t be very hungry and probably undereat a little (combined with massive mall-walking starting at 4am on Black Friday).
Second, the weight people gain over the Holiday Spread – from Halloween through the New Year is a result of eating anything and everything their eyes see with the mindset that they’ll start their diet in the New Year. If you eat a little more on Thanksgiving day, that’s fine. Overeat for 2 months straight and you’ll wake up on January 2nd wondering why you needed all those glasses of wine and mixed drinks, sugar cookies, casseroles and less than delicious office party fare.
Lastly, I think people should enjoy Thanksgiving Day and focus a little less on food and calories and more on being thankful. By doing this they won’t binge eat to the point of destruction.
And now I need to sign off and go play with my 5 year old nephew who informed his parents that I went to his little sister’s Thanksgiving party today but missed his at the same school last year. And for that I’m thankful – that he notices when I miss his events and gives me a hard time about it. With all of the toys, games and TV shows that capture the attention of small children, I’m lucky to have an important place in their lives – yet another thing to add to my list this Thanksgiving.
