Eat Fewer Calories with the Thanksgiving Diet

Let's face it, dieting is not fun. Holidays come once a year and these are the days that bring the most important people in our lives together. Smelling great food and watching others enjoy it is a recipe for frustration and can ruin your special day. What starts off as a cranky mood can easily escalate into a confrontation with someone you've missed all year. Now don't stop reading here because there's a good chance you are interpreting what I said as a free pass to gorge on Thanksgiving, but that's not what I'm saying. Here's the deal. If you get a free pass you are at risk of opening the flood gates and releasing all the hard work and willpower you have already invested in your diet.

The Thanksgiving diet is more of a compromise. You do not have to stay clear of certain items, but at the same time you must show some control. You can eat small portions of anything you want. Of course the more items you have as options the smaller your portions must be. The key is that you do not deny yourself anything that you desire but that you do not go crazy either. To keep this in check I want you to limit yourself to what you can fit on a single layer of one dinner plate. Yes you will still most likely consume more calories than you should but as long as you make sure to have equal portions of everything you should be fine. A thin piece of pie isn't the healthiest choice but as long as you have the fiber from the corn and green beans along with the protein from the turkey and starch from the potatoes and bread you should be well satisfied with a sliver of pie.

You will want to make sure that you start in the right order so as you continue to eat you have less room for the sugary and fatty foods. Remember, leaving something on the plate is a good thing. Start with the veggies, then turn to the turkey and other meats, starches (potatoes and bread), and save the sugars for last.

Keys to the Thanksgiving diet:

1) Eat the healthiest foods first and save the least healthy foods for last.

2) Eat small portions that equate to no more than a single layer of a plate full of food.

The Thanksgiving diet is a fair and straight forward way to look at Thanksgiving. Remember the key to any diet is staying with it and the best way to make sure that happens is to make sure you do not regret your diet.