Weight Management Doctor Gives Tips on Eating Healthy This Thanksgiving
Enjoying Your Thanksgiving Feast Doesn’t Have To Mean Adding On the Pounds
Naples, Fla. (PRWEB) November 24, 2009
Thanksgiving is just days away. For most of us, the holiday is marked by time spent with family and extreme overeating. Dr. Caroline Cederquist, MD, bariatric physician specializing in weight management and creator of diet delivery company Bistro MD says that the holidays don’t have to make the numbers on your scale climb.
“Big, abundant, sit-down dinners are likely to make their way into the schedule of even the most harried and hurried among us,” Dr. Cederquist states. “Thanksgiving (http://www. bistromd. com) is a day when many of us feel the need to break all the rules when, in fact, it is possible to enjoy the feast without ruining a week’s worth of healthy eating.”
“Perhaps the most important attitude adjustment is to be sure that you’re not thinking of yourself as a person who is trying to lose weight or avoid junk,” Dr Cederquist explains. “If you’re trying to eat better and get healthy, then think of yourself as a person who eats well and makes healthy choices.”
Cederquist goes on to say that it helps to be forearmed with a few defensive thoughts to call up in case someone brings that plate of cookies right over to you. Think of what motivates you to be eating better and getting healthy to begin with. “We have our patients write these out on index cards and keep their top motivations with them for quick reference in moments of temptation.”
If someone is particularly insistent about trying to ply you with sweets or goodies, be ready with a polite way to decline. “But don’t say, ‘I’m dieting’”, Dr. Cederquist (http://www. bistromd. com) warns. “That’s only going to invoke sympathy and good-natured encouragement to live a little.”
One avoidance strategy she suggests is to plan ahead. “When you’re faced with that big sit-down meal at Grandma’s, plan to stop before you get so full that you’re uncomfortable. Sure, the food is delicious and evokes all sorts of wonderful nostalgia, but you don’t need to overeat to enjoy the memories. Chew slowly, savor each bite, and really appreciate those special dishes. It’s a much better way to enjoy them than doing the stuff-and-suffer.”
Ask for small servings or serve yourself small portions to start with. “If you’re truly still hungry, go back for more,” Dr. Cederquist reminds. “That way, you can leave room for seconds of the really delectable dishes.”
If you’re the host, one trick to help slow the overeating at your holiday party is to try for buffet serving rather than putting all the food on the dining table.
“We actually recommend this to patients year round so that when they’re at home they fill the plates from the stove and bring them to the table,” Dr. Cederquist says. Repeated studies have shown that if food is within arm’s reach, more will be eaten. If you and your guests have to get up to grab seconds, less food will be consumed overall.
It takes about 30 minutes for the hormones that signal satiety to get the message from the stomach to the brain. Cederquist advises not to keep packing just because your brain doesn’t know your stomach is done.
Here are Dr. Cederquist’s top three tips for Thanksgiving (http://www. bistromd. com) feasting:
Hold the sauce – You can knock 100 calories or more off most sandwiches or salads—not to mention that pile of potatoes—by skipping the special sauce, dressing, or gravy.
Don’t supersize – Stick to reasonable-sized portions. Holidays are a great time for appreciating the abundance in our lives, but we can do that without upgrading to the supersize meal, either in the drive-through or at Grandma’s holiday buffet!
Skip the soda – A wide array of sodas on the buffet table may look hospitable, but regular soda will add hundreds of calories to a meal. A nice glass of ice water goes beautifully with any holiday meal; unsweetened ice tea or diet sodas are a decent second choice.
Dr. Caroline Cederquist, M. D. is board certified in family medicine and bariatrics, the specialty of medical weight loss. The team under her leadership at Cederquist Comprehensive Weight Control addresses the individual metabolic, hormonal, nutritional, social and behavioral needs of each patient. In addition, Dr. Cederquist is the creator of Bistro MD, the national home-delivery version of her dietary program. Bistro MD meals are prepared using cutting-edge technology to assure an optimal balance of convenience and nutrient content. Affordable dining plans are delivered right to dieters' homes.
Bistro MD specializes in diabetic meal plans, senior meal delivery, and gourmet diet (http://www. bistromd. com) programs. For more information, visit the Bistro MD (http://www. bistromd. com) website.
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