Heading Toward the Holidays
Did you ever stop to think about how much our culture's special events have a central theme--eating. Let's face it. Vacations, we splurge and seek out favorite foods. Birthdays, we eat cake, ice cream and favorite dishes. Anniversaries lead to dinners out, and then there's the holidays. What about Thanksgiving?
One year my daughter and some of her friends went to a 5K race Thanksgiving morning. They decided they'd break the eating tradition and do something active together. On the way home they figured out how many calories they'd usually eat on a normal Thanksgiving day. They settled on the rounded number of 13,000. Yes, I said thousand.
We figure it's okay once in awhile to over indulge, but think about this. If you are a man trying to lose weight you'll want to stick around 1,300-1,500 calories a day. For a woman you'll want to stay around 1,000-1,200. Think about that. If you eat 13,000 calories in one special day, your body still has to do something with that energy.
Not eating for 10 days to compensate is not a healthy option. So what do we do? We have about two months to get in shape before Thanksgiving. Just like training to run a marathon, we can train to make better choices on Thanksgiving Day.
I don't know about you, but I'm still a little more than 20 lbs. from my target. Realistically, I know I won't lose 20 lbs in two months. Even if I did, eating 13,000 calories in a day is not an option. Moderation is the answer. We need to train ourselves to be satisfied with smaller portions and healthy snacks. These two steps will make a big difference.
In my next blog, we'll look at serving portions to start the education process. Most of the time I'm amazed at how small a serving is and on the other hand I even more surprised to learn it can sastisfy me.
One year my daughter and some of her friends went to a 5K race Thanksgiving morning. They decided they'd break the eating tradition and do something active together. On the way home they figured out how many calories they'd usually eat on a normal Thanksgiving day. They settled on the rounded number of 13,000. Yes, I said thousand.
We figure it's okay once in awhile to over indulge, but think about this. If you are a man trying to lose weight you'll want to stick around 1,300-1,500 calories a day. For a woman you'll want to stay around 1,000-1,200. Think about that. If you eat 13,000 calories in one special day, your body still has to do something with that energy.
Not eating for 10 days to compensate is not a healthy option. So what do we do? We have about two months to get in shape before Thanksgiving. Just like training to run a marathon, we can train to make better choices on Thanksgiving Day.
I don't know about you, but I'm still a little more than 20 lbs. from my target. Realistically, I know I won't lose 20 lbs in two months. Even if I did, eating 13,000 calories in a day is not an option. Moderation is the answer. We need to train ourselves to be satisfied with smaller portions and healthy snacks. These two steps will make a big difference.
In my next blog, we'll look at serving portions to start the education process. Most of the time I'm amazed at how small a serving is and on the other hand I even more surprised to learn it can sastisfy me.
posted by Donna Sundblad at 6:41 PM
2 Comments:
Hey ya! This, believe it or not, is the first time I have visited a blog! Yes, it is - I am not lying. And wouldn't you know I picked your one on diet, portions and weight - just as I was going to bake us a batch of cookies. sigh. I wonder - have you guessed yet who this is?
Hmmmm, hard to tell. Cookies? I could say this might be someone I'm close to or a kindred spirit that loves to eat as much as I do. Or, perhaps both.
Give me a clue.
Post a Comment
<< Home