How to Avoid the Thanksgiving Food Coma

It happens every year! We get so excited for the Thanksgiving holiday that we over indulge when the time comes. We wind up sprawled out on the couch, kicking ourselves for eating so much, as all we want to do is sleep and lay around. We have put together some holiday hacks that seem to help avoid the holiday food coma all together!

• Snack healthy to get yourself in a healthy-food minded mood. Research has proven that eating healthy before you head out to shop for the holidays can encourage the choice of healthier foods for your guests. And eating healthy before you jump into that Thanksgiving feast can help with what you choose to pack onto your plate. Choose appetizers like fresh fruit and vegetables to get yourself in the right mindset.
• Use smaller plates. Other studies were done on the reasoning behind over indulging on the holidays. Since we tend to pile up our plates during Thanksgiving, choosing smaller plates can reduce food intake quite a bit. The same goes with your choice of fluid intake. Choose glasses that are tall and skinny instead of short and fat.
• Line up the healthy foods first. Guests tend to over load on what is in the front of the line when it comes to filling their plates. Pushing all the healthy foods to the front of the line can inadvertently result in you choosing a plate filled with more healthy foods than fattening.
• Slow down! We tend to be so excited about our holiday food that we over indulge. We don’t give our brain enough time to get the message that we are full. This often leaves us feeling bloated and over full. Take breaks in between bites, you can even try to put down your fork in between. Drink water as well. This helps with the digestion process and makes us full.

Don’t leave yourself living with regret from filling up on all those yummy Thanksgiving foods. If you do find you have over indulged, try drinking beverages with hot water for digestion.