I’ve shown you how to prepare your own low-fat Thanksgiving, but what if you’re celebrating Thanksgiving at someone else’s house? Here are some tips to navigate your way to a lower fat feast without appearing rude or going hungry.
Don’t come to the table super-hungry. Make sure you eat a filling and nutritious breakfast such as oatmeal. When hunger pangs strike as the aromas fill your host’s house, eat healthy snacks such as fruit or a few whole-grain, trans-fat-free crackers.
When it’s time to eat, keep in mind that the main problem with eating at Thanksgiving is overeating, so resolve to keep portions of each dish small.
When your host carves the turkey, opt for breast meat rather than leg meat if you have a choice, and remove the skin no matter which kind of meat you end up with.
Assuming the rest of the food is served family-style, you can be in control of what ends up on your plate. If you love stuffing, have some—but perhaps just a quarter cup. Then fill the rest of your plate with vegetables, leaving the fried onion rings off the green beans.
You don’t have to have something from every side dish, so perhaps you can choose between mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes rather than having both. Sweet potatoes are more nutritious overall, and if the mashed potatoes are full of cream and butter, it would be better to stick with the sweet potatoes. However, if you must have both kinds, adjust your portion size accordingly, helping yourself to a half portion of each.
Enjoy the cranberry sauce but go easy on the gravy. You want to add flavor and moisten your turkey and vegetables, not drown them.
Pass on the rolls and butter. There’s probably plenty to eat on your plate already.
Finally, dessert. If you have a choice between pumpkin pie and pecan pie, pumpkin pie is generally a better choice. According to calorie-count.com, a slice of regular home-baked pecan pie is worth 503 calories, with 244 of them from fat. A slice of pumpkin pie is worth 316 calories with 130 of them from fat. Neither is ideal in terms of eating low fat, but pumpkin pie is lower in calories, and an excellent source of vitamin A, plus a good source of calcium and iron.
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