5 Tips To Survive Thanksgiving Dinner

You’ve worked hard the past few months to get where you are. Your clothes are fitting great, you feel strong, and have gotten your confidence back.

But as Thanksgiving approaches it’s kind of scary to think of getting derailed and falling back into your old habits. Sure it’s only one day, but one day can lead to leftovers the next, and then a slice of leftover pie each day for the next week.

Well PNF has you covered with our Thanksgiving Survival Guide. We are all to familiar with that overstuffed feeling after the big meal that leaves us in a food coma on the couch. Our goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

Tip #1: Get in a morning workout.

Start your day with movement. This can be a pretty sedentary day between driving to see family and watching the Macy’s Parade and football, which is why we want to get some good quality movement in first thing.

This will help to also give your body a needed metabolism boost to help offset the food you will be eating later in the day.

Bonus boost if it is strength training versus cardio because of the long lasting metabolic calorie-burning boost it will give you.

Tip #2: Eat a healthy breakfast.

Get up and start your day with a healthy breakfast. A veggie egg omelet is a great choice, but just make sure you eat.

The worst thing to do it not eat until dinner because of fearing how much you will eat. Doing this will set you up to overeat and most likely eat more than you would have had you eaten breakfast.

The key is to keep your eating normal throughout the day, with the exception of Thanksgiving dinner.

 Tip #3: Don’t deprive yourself.

If you love sweet potato casserole, eat it. If your mouth waters just thinking about your grandmas pumpkin pie, eat it. Don’t deprive yourself of the things you like, but only get to enjoy eating once a year.

What you eat at this one meal is not going to make much of an impact on your long-term weight loss success. The problem becomes when Thanksgiving dinner lasts for the next week and then spirals into a changed pattern of food choices.

Tip #4: Take a walk. 

Yes, more movement.

Once you’ve finished your meal take a short walk, it doesn’t have to be long or even an intense pace. Just getting outside and moving will help you digest your food and burn a few more calories than if you just plopped down on the couch to watch football.

Tip #5: Move over the weekend.

Sitting is always the waist’s enemy, so make sure you get up and move over the holiday week.

This can be difficult with time spent in the car and visiting with family. So start each day with this simple ten-minute workout.

• World’s Greatest Stretch with T-Spine Reach – 5 reps each
• Push Ups – 10 reps
• Bodyweight Squats – 10 reps
• Repeat 3-5 times.

Bonus if you do it a few times through the day.

Use these tips to burn the bird, keep your belt buckle in the same hole and survive Thanksgiving.

If you’d like more help with your fitness check out our 30 Day Personal Training Experience here: https://pittsburghnorthfitness.lpages.co/30-day-personal-training-experience/