5 Realistic Tips for Thanksgiving: Beyond Diet Culture and Guilt
Written by Illa Garcia December 2018
Edited by Vanessa Carrillo March 2023
Why does everyone want to be “Healthy” for Thanksgiving?
I keep seeing so many blog entries about “Tips to be Healthy at Thanksgiving,” and I just hate how this holiday is often conflated with diet culture. I was actually tasked at my internship to talk about this very subject and I found myself starting to make handouts with the nutrition info for each common food item, listing tips for how to be healthy on that day, and developing healthy recipe swaps for this day to hand out.
After researching this topic further, I starting asking myself “does one day really matter in the grand scheme of things? What should I really be trying educate about for this day?” I started digging and found that Americans, on average, only gain 1 lb by the end of the holiday season, so should we really be worried about this? Yes and no…
@joylaforme
What does this mean
The thing about nutrition is that it has to be a lifestyle-as in you should be doing little things every day for your whole life to make it work, not just one day of healthy eating. Gaining 1 lb for 3 months doesn’t really matter, but of you do this the rest of your life (say 40 more years) that’s 40 lbs gained which could increase your risk for other co-morbitites (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, etc…)
So being healthy on Thanksgiving somewhat matters if you’re trying to practice good habits for your life- habits of not overeating and listening to when your body is full.
Habits of not just eating because you’re bored or because the food is there. Habits of trying to fill most of your plate with vegetables. Habits, on being active every day. However, you also want to foster a “habit” of having a good relationship with food and not thinking of a day of eating as enemy #1 and suiting up for battle against it.
So basically what I’m trying to say is you don’t need to follow a strict set of rules about Thanksgiving day, because health is achieved throughout your life, not just what happens on 1 day.
What you need to do
I do believe that some people like some sort of guidelines for this celebration of food, so here are mine (which are basically the same guidelines I have for every other day of your life).
Practice Mindfulness
ask yourself when eating “Am I full?" AM I enjoying what I’m eating” If you feel that you’re full- it time to slow down or even stop. Dont eat until your miserable. If you don’t love the taste of what you’re eating- don’t eat it just because it’s on your plate!
Don’t Skip Meal
Eat a well-balanced breakfast and lunch (if you do Thanksgiving dinner). Skipping meals can lead to increased hunger and possible over eating later.
Save the food you love, skip the pones you don’t!
Go ahead and have the pecan pie and your Great-Aunt Mae’s sweet potato casserole. Enjoy the flavor and the memories that it brings you. If you absolutely don’t love the bread, skip it! Indulge on the food you actau;ly love and skip the calories on the ones you don’t.
Stay Active Throughout the Day
This could be running a turkey trot in the morning, following an at home exercise video, or even just helping with cooking and cleaning up! Moving throughout the day will help you feel better (as in your stomach) and help digestion.
Don’t feel guilt
Food is so much more than just nutrition. It’s culture, history, love, and so much more. The day is about being with those you lose and being thankful for what you have. It’s not about calorie counting, or feeling guilty for taking part in one of America’s greatest traditions.
Final thoughts
The pressure to be "healthy" during Thanksgiving can often lead to the conflation of this holiday with diet culture. While it is important to maintain healthy habits throughout one's life, the significance of one day should not be overstated. Americans typically only gain one pound by the end of the holiday season, but if unhealthy habits persist over time, it could lead to various co-morbidities. Therefore, practicing good habits such as listening to one's body, avoiding overeating, filling one's plate with vegetables, and being active should be fostered on Thanksgiving day and every other day of the year. Ultimately, there is no need to follow strict rules on Thanksgiving day, as health is a lifelong journey, not a one-day endeavor.