As Thanksgiving approaches, deciding on a healthy meal may be a challenge.
Although there are many types of food people eat such as turkey, ham, corn and mashed potatoes, there are things to think about like the amount of food consumption one takes in and how to go about the day surrounding the meal itself.
Daria Blachowski-Dreyer, associate director of operations and wellness, said it’s important to stick to three meals a day instead of waiting to eat heavily during the holiday feast because it can lead to poor choices and over consumption. People should “always try to eat some vegetables or fruit beforehand.”
“There is no law saying that you have to eat everything,” Dreyer said. “Focus on those items that you absolutely love and within reason.”
Though staying within reason of the amount of food consumption may decline calorie intake, there are other alternatives to staying healthy during the holiday too.
Instructor in the department of Family and Consumer Sciences Carrie Hamady said a few other ways people can be mindful in food consumption is to go in another room where there isn’t any food, keeping up with their every day exercising routine and even bringing their own low-calorie food if the feast is going to be at another person’s house.
“If you have the whole family together you could ask them to go for a walk if the weather isn’t too bad,” Hamady said. “Maybe if you have a Wii or Kinect, something that is active you could even get your whole family involved. I think the biggest thing is to be mindful and just pay attention to everything you eat.”
Freshman Jimmy Cibik said each year his family cooks turkey, mashed potatoes and pie and then proceeds to walk around the block in the neighborhood a few times right after the meal together.
“It’s tradition for us to do that long walk after eating,” Cibik said. “It’s just so much food to take in to not.”
If there aren’t any solutions to think of when trying to stay healthy for Thanksgiving, there’s always an economical way for comparing calories as if they were the dollars inside of someone’s wallet, Dreyer said.
“Look at holiday meals like you would the money in your wallet,” Dreyer said. “You only have so many calories you have to spend so you want to make the most economical choices.”
