Thanksgiving isn't just a holiday on the calendar to enjoy one day and move on from the next day. We can actually benefit from what Thanksgiving offers, all year round! Did you know there are hidden strategies within the holiday that can help you with your weight management journey and overall health? For most of us, that won't include taking many nutritional cues from how we eat on Thanksgiving 😉, but there are some Thanksgiving lessons that can be helpful to carry with you.
Some of the best parts of Thanksgiving can be...
+ enjoying the food
+ gathering with people
+ reflecting on what matters
+ being grateful and thankful
The good news is that all of these traditional aspects of Thanksgiving can become strategies that support you well past the 4th Thursday in November! Let's look at how the best parts of Thanksgiving can actually apply to your weight management journey.
(If you're looking for strategies to help you through the holiday season, check out this previous post series)
ENJOYING FOOD
Unfortunately because of dieting culture and all of the intense messaging around food that's out there, figuring out what to eat can nearly steal all the enjoyment out of food itself. Whether you're losing weight or maintaining your weight, please know that you can and should find foods you enjoy eating! Food is meant to fuel the body, and it's also meant to be enjoyed. We are designed with the ability to sense textures, flavors, saltiness, sweetness, and more for a reason.
Some of the messaging out there can make you feel like finding the perfect foods, the perfect meal plan, and the overall perfect way to be healthy is what you need. Sadly, that sneaky message will have you searching forever and feeling like a failure all at the same time. Finding food you enjoy, that also supports your health goals, is actually much more realistic than you might think! But to do that you'll have to get rid of ideas like- 'healthy' foods taste like cardboard or that you have to trade a full meal for green juice or something.
Do you believe that to be healthy or lose weight that you have to eat things you don't enjoy? Or that you'll never get to eat things you do enjoy again? Those are actually lies of the culture that will keep you stuck. One way to break out of those beliefs is to begin looking for ways to cook and prepare foods that nourish your body in a way you enjoy! Ex. If you're not sure you like certain vegetables, give them another try using a recipe where you roast them in the oven or air fryer to add more flavor and change the texture.
GATHERING WITH PEOPLE
In general, eating with others is good for us on many levels. It can enhance a sense of well-being and connectedness because of the social interaction, and it tends to affect our food choices positively as well. There are some major caveats to these benefits when gathering over a meal becomes more about the food rather than the company we keep.
Sometimes when a shared meal time gets too food focused there can be an overly permissive culture in the group where unhealthy habits are encouraged, or there can be an overly restrictive culture in the group where there's a sense of guilt or shame around food choices. When gathering for a meal is more people focused and there's a healthier social dynamic, you'll find there will be more freedom for each person to choose how they want to eat without as much peer pressure!
Gathering with that friend, or friends, who give you a sense of freedom around your food choices is the best way to go. When you eat around them it can encourage you toward healthier food choices (without guilt/shame), because you'll choose differently when you're eating with others rather than alone. Especially while you're working on losing weight, gathering with others for a meal can be a great way to enjoy your food even more! Gathering with people is part of a healthy life, especially over a meal.
If you have family at home, find ways to enjoy an evening meal together more nights than not. If you live alone, invite people over for a meal at your house, even if you don't cook it! Or go out to eat together! Begin to make meals more about the people you're with than the food you're eating and watch how things shift both in your relationships with others and in your health!
REFLECTING ON WHAT MATTERS
Thanksgiving can be a time where you end up thinking a bit more about what matters in your life. When you look at who is, or isn't, around the table, and when you think of what's happened in a year's time, you just naturally reflect on things that you might usually skip over in the day-to-day hustle and bustle. Even though some of those deep reflections can pass through, times of reflection don't have to be deep and intense to bring about meaningful change!
In moments of reflection sometimes you notice something's lacking that you want to have more of into your life, and sometimes you see things in your life you'd like to experience less. For example, as you're sitting around the Thanksgiving table, maybe you realize you'd like to spend more time having meals with others at a table and you'd like to eat fewer meals at your desk or in front of the TV. The holiday experience can bring about all kinds of reflective thoughts, so take note of them!
When you're working on cultivating healthier nutrition and physical activity habits, it can end up feeling like a lot of hustle and bustle too! Even in the middle of pursuing health, you can easily get lost in the tasks and goals; so, stopping to reflect every now and then can really help!
When you take moments to think about where you are and how you're experiencing the journey, you can identify those areas where you'd like to do more of something and less of something else. Maybe you'll realize you'd like to try a new recipe and break out of the pattern of eating the same things. Some simple reflection on what matters to you can go a long way in smoothing out your weight loss journey!
Thanksgiving only happens once a year, but you can give yourself the gift of reflection more often during your weight management process. Once a month (at least), take a few minutes to stop and look at how the journey is going for you. Sometimes you'll find you're right were you want to be and feel good about continuing on the path, whereas other times you'll recognize the need for some minor adjustments. Taking time for reflection will help you stay authentic to your goals in a more sustainable way and help you avoid burnout in your weight loss journey!
CHOOSING GRATITUDE AND THANKFULNESS
One of the hallmarks of the Thanksgiving holiday is the idea of choosing to be thankful. Being grateful and thankful on a regular basis doesn't just happen, we have to choose to think in those ways! But great benefits come when we take the time to focus on what we're thankful for. Inherently, focusing on what we're grateful for helps us to see what we have rather than what we don't. We naturally tend to focus on what's missing, what we don't like, what's wrong, etc, and gratitude interrupts the 'regularly scheduled programming' of negative thoughts and helps bring perspective.
Gratitude is a legitimate strategy for use in everyday life but is especially useful in the weight loss process! I might go so far as to say it's critical to your weight loss journey. Negativity tries to come knocking on your door in many ways- when you look at how far you are from reaching your goal, when you feel like you "have to" eat or do things a certain way, or when you're annoyed your body doesn't look a certain way. Here's how gratitude can bring perspective in those situations when you say "I'm grateful for ..."
"I'm grateful for the progress I've made and I'm grateful I'm not where I was."
"I'm grateful to be on this health journey and I'm grateful I get to choose what I eat and what I do."
"I'm grateful for my body and every way it works to support me."
Whenever you feel like grumbling and complaining, or feel a lack of motivation and energy for your journey, take a few minutes to find things to be grateful for....I promise you'll be able to find something! It's not about ignoring your feelings or just trying really hard to be positive. Gratitude is a real tool you can use to reset your focus and bring a fresh perspective that will help you enjoy yourself more along the way. That's worth it isn't it?
THANKSGIVING TAKEAWAYS
Enjoy your Thanksgiving for all it is and take these Thanksgiving tips with you after it's over! When it comes to weight management you'll need strategies like these alongside any nutrition plan you work with to experience a more enjoyable and successful journey. So don't forget to enjoy, gather, reflect, and be thankful!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I hope these takeaways make your weight management journey a little smoother and a little easier for you! As a dietitian in weight management, my goal isn't to just provide the nutrition facts, figures, and formulas. My goal is to provide those things along with the holistic strategies that can bring you simplicity and ease in your health journey. If you're looking for that kind of support, check out the website for a bit more information about who I am (preview- I'm Anne, the dietitian of Get RD Nutrition, hi!) and how I can help!
Speaking of Thanksgiving! If you're looking for some personalized support to help you get through the holidays in a way that honors your health goals, check out the Holiday Helper Program. There's all kinds of value tucked inside (but with Black Friday kind of pricing) because you deserve the support even in the middle of a busy holiday season! Just send me a chat if you have any questions!
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