How Not To Be Godzilla On Thanksgiving 🍁

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! This can be an exciting time, filled with friends and family, but it can also be a time of worry. Working on your health goals and then WHAM! The last thing you want to do after a lovely holiday is have any feelings of regret or sickness.

There's ten tips for keeping this Thanksgiving (and the day after) both happy and healthy. Let's jump right in.

1) Eat Breakfast: You want to support your blood sugar (which supports your energy levels) and make sure you start the day on the right foot. This can often get skipped especially if your the host and want to get everything all set up. It can also get skipped for the false logic of "saving calories" for the big meal - which often backfires completely because instead you show up like Godzilla running down the buffet line eating 5x more calories than you would have if you ate a solid breakfast. Save Godzilla for xmas morning when you open presents and do yourself a favor by eating breakfast on Thursday. Click here for my favorite quick and healthy paleo breakfast recipes.

2) Give Thanks: Novel concept, I know. But really- take a moment before each meal or snack to PAUSE and think of one thing you're grateful for. Two things happen here. One you PAUSE - which can make you reconsider that 4th slice of pie and two- you give thanks. So even if you choose to have the fourth slice of pie- it at least won't be compulsive- it will be eaten intentionally and with gratitude. Boom.

3) Offer To Pitch In: By bringing a dish that you prepared yourself- you can rest assured that there will at least be one thing that is healthy at the gathering. This is a golden tip for all parties really. It helps the host and it helps you have a trustworthy dish. Win-Win. Make something from this list of paleo thanksgiving treats and people will be so happy with the taste they won't even know it is healthy.

4) Clean Up: You know when you are full, but you have that dirty plate sitting in front of you and then you just keep going back to get more food? Clean up your plate once you're done eating and offer to help clean up other people's plates as well. Not only do you get major love-points for helping to clean, but you also save yourself from that super-duper yucky over the top full feeling. By all means, if you're hungry again later- you can always eat more- just get a new plate.

5) Move: Do some movement before your thanksgiving meal. You can join your community's Turkey Trot, or you can go for a walk by yourself or with loved ones that morning. You don't need to spend 90 minutes at the gym (unless that's your jam), but your body and mind will be grateful for some exercise. If you can't fit it in before, how about after dinner? A walk with a loved one to digest? A dance party while washing dishes? A game of hide and seek or tag with the little ones?

6) Waste Not: When the buffet line is as long as a football field, start small and you can always go back for seconds. Often our eyes are bigger than our bellies at parties. Take a pinch of whatever floats your fancy and then you can always get more later if you're still hungry. So much food is wasted on Thanksgiving, do your part to "start small" and your body will thank you.

7) Enjoy Every Bite: Slow down and really chew your food. Gandhi tells us to "Chew Your Drink and Drink Your Food." Guess where your digestion starts? In your eyes! When you look at and appreciate your food you send signals to your body, "Get ready! Here comes fuel!" Then when you chew and chew you send salivary enzymes in to begin digesting your food in your mouth and the process goes on from there. Even if the mashed potatoes are the best ever- they will still be on your plate in 30 seconds. Take your time, savor, move slow, take a sip of wine, and IN-JOY your meal.

8) Look People In the Eye: This will help others to feel seen and heard by you and it will also help you to slow down and enjoy every bite of your meal. Win-Win.

9) Make 50% Of Your Plate Veggies: Holidays or not, this is the golden rule. When you have lots of fresh veggies (like salad) your body is equipped with extra enzymes to help digest and absorb the nutrients of that food. How cool is that?!

10) Love Yourself: All in all, if you ignore steps 1-9, don't ignore this step. It really is the most important. This day is all about giving thanks and celebrating the love you have with your community. You can't love anyone else fully, unless you love yourself. Let me say that again. You Can Not Love Anyone Else Fully Unless You Love Yourself. Be kind to yourself, honor your body, follow your heart, and trust in the process. You are brilliant EXACTLY as you are. Everything else is dairy-free icing on the gluten-free cake. ;)

Rock on. And Happy Thanksgiving. I'm so very thankful for you.