Are you concerned about weight management this holiday season?  Here are some tips:

First, Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were your thighs.  Don't blame weight problems on a Thanksgiving binge.  Likewise, now is not the time to start a five week "I've got to fit into that outfit by New Year's Eve" crash diet; it won't work but it will make the holidays unduly stressful.

Turkey is lean and healthy (especially the white meat):  it is the skin and the trimming that will get you.  Send the gravy boat sailing and pass on the butter.  Load up instead on relatively low fat side-dishes.

There's no reason that you have to skip dessert; you just don't have to eat full-servings of each choice.

And Moms:  just as there is no rule that says that kids have to clean their plates. . .there is no rule that you have to eat whatever they've left over.

Finally: focus on the true meaning of the holidays. Holiday spirit is not defined by consuming massive quantities of food and drink, but by being thankful for the bounties which we share. The original Thanksgiving celebrated harvest, not consumption; it celebrated friendship over feast.  It celebrated the Pilgrims being healthy and alive. 

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Created: 11/22/2000  -  Donnica Moore, M.D.