With Thanksgiving coming up, many people are worried about the holiday offsetting their diet.
The truth is that one day will not make or break your weight loss journey, and you should feel free to indulge as much or as little as you want. However, if you are worried about overeating this week (and not leaving any room for pie), keep reading for some life-changing diet hacks to curb overeating this Thanksgiving.
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Drink More Water
Staying hydrated is a good idea everyday, but it's especially important on holidays that revolve around food (and usually alcohol).
The Nutrition Twins, Lyssie Lakatos, RDN, CDN, CFT and Tammy Lakatos Shames, RDN, CDN, CFT, and authors of The Nutrition Twins' Veggie Cure, tell Eat This, Not That!:"The brain confuses thirst for hunger and you wind up overeating when a glass of water would have nipped your 'hunger' in the bud."
To help, they recommend keeping water handy throughout the day: "Carry a water bottle with you and sip it throughout the day and make an effort to drink at least one cup of water with meals and a cup before!"
Put Your Food On Your Plate
On Thanksgiving, it can be tempting to snack on the food as it comes out of the oven, but doing so can make it more difficult to keep portions in mind.
According to Healthline, putting the food on your plate before eating can help prevent overeating. The article suggests, "Instead of eating food straight from the package, portion it into a dish."
Even if you go up for seconds (or thirds, no judgement!), putting the food on your plate before digging in will help you keep tabs on exactly what you are eating, making it easier to decide what you want more or less of as the day continues.
Eat Breakfast
You might be tempted to skip breakfast on Thanksgiving--especially if you usually eat Thanksgiving meal earlier in the afternoon. However, this might make you overeat later in the day.
Christina Towle, clinical nutritionist and founder of Hudson Valley Nutrition, explains, "If you skip breakfast, you're setting yourself up for an energy crash later in the day that will prime you to overeat. I tell clients to eat a hearty breakfast full of real ingredients and dense in nutrients to help them start their day balanced, without the fear of overeating later."
With that in mind, definitely make sure to have breakfast (or at least have a snack or two) before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner.
Try Relaxing Tea
Thanksgiving can be stressful, but it's important to prioritize relaxation throughout the day to curb the urge to overeat.
Towle recommends brewing a cup of relaxing CBD tea. She explains, "Calm yourself when you feel the urge to binge. CBD has shown great promise in helping my clients calm and relax so they don't overeat simply from pure anxiety. A CBD tea has the added benefit of satisfying and soothing."
Other relaxing teas include peppermint, chamomile, and lavender.
Go To Bed Early
You might be tempted to stay up late prepping for Thanksgiving day, especially if you're hosting, but the best thing you can do the night before is to go to sleep early.
Rebecca Lewis, RD for HelloFresh, tells Eat This:"Even just a single night of poor sleep can make you feel hungrier than usual the next day. Instead, make sure you are getting six to eight hours of sleep a night. Start by turning down lights and powering down your electronics about an hour before bed."
Plan On Leftovers
Your mindset around eating matters. If you go into the holiday planning to overindulge and then strictly diet the rest of the week, you are probably doing more harm than good.
Instead of overeating on a 'cheat day,' focus on eating what you want in good portions for your body--and remember that you can eat leftovers.
Erin Decker, MS, RD, LDN, CDCES, explains, "Allow yourself to eat leftovers. Making promises or telling yourself "I’ll be good tomorrow" can lead to all-or-nothing thinking and make overeating that much more tempting."
