5 Tips For A Healthier Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week is here! We are SO excited to spend time with family and friends over a festive feast… but what if you still want to stay on track with your fitty goals?

The average thanksgiving dinner is between 1500 - 3000 calories…. That's as much, or even more than most people's calories for an entire day! 

You absolutely CAN enjoy Thanksgiving without compromising on your nutrition and training goals by implementing a few simple tips!

#1 Don't skip meals 

You know you’re gonna be eating indulgently during thanksgiving dinner, so you should skip meals throughout the day to save up calories, right? ABSOLUTELY NOT! 

It is SO IMPORTANT to still eat as you usually would the day of your thanksgiving feast. Eating nutritious meals or snacks before your main thanksgiving meal helps to regulate appetite and actually helps you make better food choices later on!

#2 Keep an eye on your portions 

You can still enjoy ALL the festive food you want to eat, by keeping the portions smaller. 

Try to balance your plate with ¼ plate of protein like turkey, ¼ plate complex carbs like baked sweet potato and ½ plate of vegetables like green beans, pumpkin and corn! 

And of course, you can still enjoy a portion of your fav thanksgiving dessert like a slice of pumpkin pie!

#3 Stay hydrated 

During thanksgiving, the focus tends to be on the food, but don’t forget about drinking water! 

Staying hydrated helps to regulate appetite, helps digestion, and can even help give you more energy to avoid that food coma! 

Make sure that you drink enough water before, during, and after Thanksgiving dinner. You should aim to drink at least 12 glasses of water before the end of the day.

#4 Bring your own thanksgiving dish 

Heading to your family home for Thanksgiving dinner? Why not bring your own dish to share! By preparing a healthy dish, not only will it give you a healthier option to enjoy, but your friends and family will be thankful for it too! 

Grilled Butternut Squash Salad 

Serves 4

Per Serve: 318 cals, 4.5g protein, 24g fats, 25g carbs

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound butternut squash
• ¼ cup olive oil 
• 1 tbsp sugar free maple syrup
• 3 tbsp cranberries 
• 8 cups mixed greens
• ½ cup walnuts
  
  
• ¾ cup no added sugar apple juice 
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp dijon mustard 

Method: 

1. Preheat grill to medium heat. Peel and slice butternut squash into rounds. 
2. Mix maple syrup and 2 tbsp olive oil in a small bowl. Brush onto each slice of squash. 
3. Cook on grill, flipping as needed until browned. 
4. For the vinaigrette, combine apple cider vinegar and apple juice in a small bowl. Add dijon mustard and olive oil and mix to combine. 
5. Crush walnuts. Place in a large mixing bowl with mixed greens, cranberries and grilled squash. Mix to combine. Drizzle with vinaigrette. Serve! 

#5 Get active

Why not start Thanksgiving day with a heart pumping workout? Get your body moving and you’ll really enjoy getting to sit down and enjoy the feast later on! Working up a sweat will help to boost your metabolism for the day, help regulate your appetite and help to burn off some extra calories. 

With the WBK FIT app, you can follow along to one of our home workouts to easily fit some exercise into your day!

This Thanksgiving, we have a lot to be thankful for, and one of those things are our health and fitness! 🙏 

You can absolutely stay on track with your fitty goals during Thanksgiving by keeping active and making more mindful food choices. 

But most of all, we wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving, and hope you have an incredible celebration! 

WBK FIT Squad xx