This week, we’ll be sharing some tips for eating and storing your Thanksgiving dinner to help prevent excessive Thanksgiving weight gain! One of the first things you can do is to eat breakfast on the day of. As mentioned in our past blog, Preparing your Body for the Big Thanksgiving Feast, it is beneficial as “not only will it prepare you for the day ahead and boost your metabolism, but also prevent you from over-stuffing yourself… ”
Use smaller plates: When it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, it’s usually a self-serve buffet. One of the easiest things you can try is using a smaller plate. Oftentimes, we put more food than intended when plating a bigger plate since we unconsciously fill up the empty space we see. This may be due to the Delboeuf illusion which, according to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, is “a size contrast illusion in which a larger enclosing circle influences the perceived size of a smaller enclosed circle. If the two circles are of similar sizes, the perceived size of the inner circle will be increased. If the size of the enclosing circle is significantly larger, then the perceived size of the inner circle will be decreased.” Simply speaking, it means that if you put the same serving sizes on a small plate and a big plate, the bigger plate will seem like it has less, potentially leading you to believe it is not enough food.
Pace yourself when eating: It takes about 20-30 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you are full. We often continue to eat until we receive that signal, but by then we feel overfull or stuffed. Some ways to avoid this scenario include: taking more time to chew your food, eating slowly, waiting some time (at least five to ten minutes) before getting a second plate, paying attention to how you feel while eating, etc. Something else you can do to pace yourself is drinking water before and while eating. This can help make you less hungry while keeping you hydrated, therefore making it easier to distinguish whether you’re thirsty or hungry.
Avoid distractions: Sometimes, when we eat while watching television or being distracted by something else, we aren’t able to pay full attention to how much is on our plate, how much we’ve eaten, cues signaling that you’re hungry or full, etc. This can prompt us to eat past what we should. Try sitting at a table with the TV off or away from other things that could prevent you from paying attention to your food. If you feel that may be hard to do, one tip could be to properly portion your plate so that you don’t overeat. Focus when serving your plate so that you can get the right portion sizes.
Portioning your plate properly: Some tips to do this include using bigger serving spoons for fruits and vegetables dishes and smaller serving spoons for the foods higher in fat (i.e. gravy, mashed potatoes with butter, etc.), familiarizing yourself with MyPlate to see how you can portion your food (try to have more vegetables & fruit on your plate than starch), etc., and having a variety of dishes on your plate.
Storing leftovers: In case you plan on having leftovers, you want to make sure there’s enough space in your fridge. Make sure to follow the FIFO (first in first out) rule with throwing away food and consuming leftovers. For safely refrigerating foods, you want to make sure that cooked foods aren’t held at room temperature for more than two hours as it can allow harmful bacteria to grow. To help food cool down to a safe temperature before putting it in the fridge, you can divide it into smaller containers with lids (i.e. mashed potatoes, casseroles, soups, etc.). A helpful tip is to label and date your leftovers so you can keep track of what it is and how long you’ve had it. If you don’t plan to eat them soon, placing them in the freezer can help them last longer. For additional details, take a look at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website for more information on Leftovers and Food Safety.
Remember that this is not an exhaustive list of things you can do. You may already have your own things that work for you. Whatever you decided to do, have a happy Thanksgiving!
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Kay Loughrey, MPH, RDN, LDN
Transformational Speaker, Breakthrough Coach, Nutritionist-Dietitian
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