Low Cal Thanksgiving: Unlikely Advice from a Fitness Expert

Look, I know it’s the time of year when all good “fitness experts” must chime in on ways to take what should be a wonderful, relaxing day and turn it into a complicated game-plan of water-chugging, carrot nibbling, and the use of more fat free mayo than some Hellman’s plants churn out in a year. But, I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’ll give you my thoughts on the holiday, and you can take with you what you find handy.

Here’s the gist of my gripe with those kinds of articles—if you are already pursuing a healthy lifestyle, those habits will translate without effort into what you do on the 25^th. You’ll reign in your portion sizes without really thinking about it.  You might go for a walk with family or play a raucous game of Wii Bowling or RockBand because it feels good to get active, not because it’s on some magazine’s handy-dandy pocket guide to a Flab-Free Thanksgiving. You’ll intuitively reach for lean turkey and green veggies because filling up on stuffing and potatoes will probably feel kind of gross to you. In other words, you won’t suddenly un-learn all those healthy habits you’ve picked up this year. And, even if you do, your lifestyle will be such that you can mitigate any damages with what you do the other 29 days in November.

And, if you aren’t already pursuing a healthy lifestyle, why the gobble would you be picking Thanksgiving Day as the start of your journey? Now, I know there could be reasons why you’d want to put up appearances to the family that you are making an effort—maybe you just never got around to picking up that healthy lifestyle and you think that eating only fat-free mashed cauliflower that you “swear tastes just like potatoes”* and drinking Pumpkin Pie flavored hot tea instead of having a small slice will keep everyone off your back. But, I’d propose that all you are doing is reinforcing the idea that this lifestyle is about punishment. It’s not. And I’d rather see you eat the traditional Turkey Day haul (yes, I mean the 4000-calorie-average-day-long-feast) and get started Friday on your new lifestyle, or even after Christmas. I want you to get started when you are good and ready and when you can see that living a fit life is the greatest gift you can give yourself, not a punishment in the least.

*For the record, mashed cauliflower really IS delicious!!

I hope that however you choose to approach your Thanksgiving Day, it is filled with many blessings and much love. Oh, and thanks for reading.

Heather Hawkins is a certified personal trainer and fitness nutrition coach based in San Francisco, CA, who works with clients over the internet through FitLifeSF Coaching and blogs at FitLifeSF.com. Please send your fitness and nutrition questions to Smurf@FitLifeSF.com for use in future blogs.