Thanksgiving tends to be associated with over-indulgence and weight gain. You should change your perspective to think of Thanksgiving as a time to devote to gathering and enjoying the company of family and friends rather than eating. Concentrate on eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise and sleep, which are essential for good blood glucose control.

So, how can you enjoy the holiday while watching what you eat? Here are some ideas to get you through. Although Thanksgiving comes just once a year, the traditional meal often contains many calories, lots of starches, and a lot of fat. If eating healthy meals every day of the year is one of your goals, you can make your Thanksgiving meal healthier. Use healthy substitutions in your favorite foods, and add a few new dishes to make your traditional dinner healthier and save a substantial number of fat grams.

Healthier Turkey. Turkey without the skin is a low-calorie, healthy Thanksgiving dish, with 3 oz. of light and dark meat having 157 and 132 calories, respectively. However, you add calories by eating the skin, using a butter baster or frying the turkey. As you prepare the turkey for cooking, leave the skin on to help the turkey stay moist while it's cooking, but remove all the skin before you serve the bird. Rub spices on the turkey before cooking, and baste the turkey with its own juice or a fat-free chicken or turkey broth. Buy fat-free turkey gravy rather than making turkey gravy with the fat that drips off during the cooking process.


Remaking Classic Side Dishes. The ingredients you traditionally use to make your Thanksgiving side dishes, such as greens, okra, green beans and sweet potatoes, are healthy. However, these foods become unhealthy when you add the high-fat, high-sodium soups, large amounts of brown sugar, high-calorie marshmallows and cans of fried onions.

Saute the green beans with garlic and/or minced onions in vegetable broth and top with raw or lightly toasted almonds.

Mash cooked sweet potatoes, mix with 1 tbsp.  raw milk and bake in a casserole dish until warm. Sprinkle it with a small amount of cinnamon and  xylitol powder and top with roasted pecans.

Make mashed potatoes with skim milk rather than cream to save about 40 calories per tablespoon.

Healthy Additions. Provide healthy Thanksgiving additions to your dinner table.  Serve a large, green salad as a nutrient-filled, calorie-saving alternative. One cup of green leaf lettuce has 8 calories, three leaves of Romaine has 6 calories and an entire head of Boston lettuce has about 20 calories. Add chopped vegetables of your choice to the greens. Serve with low-calorie dressings.

Serve a bowl of walnuts or some whole-grain crackers with fat-free hummus as appetizers. Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, while hummus and the crackers have filling fiber.

Lighter Thanksgiving Desserts. Pecan pies, pumpkin pies, cranberry pound cakes and heavy desserts may normally finish your Thanksgiving meal, but you can reduce the caloric content and serve healthier desserts. Make a pumpkin custard which has less than 80 calories a serving. Serve baked apples rather than apple pie. A lower calorie and fat-free dessert is angel food cake, which contains about about 129 calories per slice.

Choose Wisely. A common Thanksgiving mistake is eating everything and anything, regardless of whether or not you really want it. Instead, choose only what you really want to eat and pass up the rest. Worry less about offending a host or family member and more about yourself. If you do not absolutely adore a certain dish, do not eat it.

Fill your plate with the healthiest choices available, such as white-meat, skinless turkey with a small amount of gravy, seasoned green beans and a scoop of whipped sweet potatoes.

Consider bringing along a healthful dish to share if you are not hosting Thanksgiving dinner, such as colorful assorted raw veggies with low-calorie dip or homemade, low-sugar cranberry sauce. Avoid fat and sugar-loaded dishes as they will do the most damage. If you feel comfortable, let your host know ahead of time that you are watching what you eat or are on a special diet. The more familiar you are with the menu, the easier it will be to maneuver around obstacles.

Don't get stressed out!

Holidays are stressful. Lots of heart attacks occur on Thanksgiving and the days surrounding Thanksgiving.  Try to remind yourself to breathe deeply throughout the day and try not to sweat the small stuff. And, d

on't gulp down your food. Eat slowly and be grateful with every bite.  

Healthy trade-Offs. When it comes to food-related holidays, such as Thanksgiving, there are typically plenty of options for what to eat. Attempt to make the best choices you can without denying yourself entirely and your body will thank you.

Alcohol provides empty calories and some choices are higher in calories than others. Instead of having two cocktails made from spirits, enjoy a glass or two of champagne made with low-calorie punch or small glasses of wine interspersed with mineral water.

Enjoy crudités with low-calorie dip, grilled veggies, and other low-calorie hors d'oeuvres.

Choose a baked sweet potato instead of candied yams or wild rice instead of buttery turkey stuffing. Fill your plate with veggies and whole grains.

Enjoy one glass of wine with your meal.

Use discernment when dessert comes. Instead of pecan pie topped with vanilla ice cream, opt for a small slice of pumpkin or sweet potato pie with a dollop of low-calorie whipped topping.

Test your blood glucose just like any other day -- diabetes doesn't take a holiday. But, don’t test right before eating. Instead test an hour before eating.  Trust me, you don’t want to find out  that your blood sugar is high right before eating. 

Start a new tradition. Take the spotlight off the food. Suggest an after dinner walk around the neighborhood, or play charades or other group activities, to get your blood moving, and to keep you occupied so you don't pick at leftovers, or succumb to that second piece of pie.

Be thankful! It may seem a bit much to go to so much trouble for your health on Thanksgiving but, remember, one of the greatest things to be thankful for is your health.  Treat your body like you’re truly thankful for it. 

Be grateful for Thanksgiving. Sometimes we feel bitter about having to deal with diabetes.  On Thanksgiving Day though, it is a good idea to look at what we have and ignore what we don’t.  Today, don’t beat yourself up, just focus on having a nice Thanksgiving Day and all day long in your head, come up with things you are grateful for.

Death to Diabetes Diet. Use the Death to Diabetes Diet and Super Meal Model Plate as a guide to help design a healthy but scrumptious Thanksgiving meal. If you need more healthy, balanced recipes, get the Death to Diabetes cookbook. If you want to learn how to enjoy your favorite foods but still maintain control of your blood glucose, then, get the Food Tips & Favorite Foods CD or ebook.

More Tips to Enjoy the Thanksgiving Meal

Divide your plate into three sections: Reserve one-half of the plate for vegetables such as spinach, broccoli or green beans. Choose raw vegetables when possible, and avoid those with added creams, gravies, and butter. If you are not a fan of vegetables or want to have a lesser amount, consider adding/substituting fruit as an option to this half of the plate, such as cranberries, baked apples or pears.

Allow one-fourth of the plate for grains/starches such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, or cornbread.

The remaining one-fourth of the plate is for protein, in this case turkey, which, without the skin, makes an excellent low-fat and low-calorie choice. A 3 to 4 ounce serving is ideal.

Avoid skipping meals or snacks earlier in the day in order to try to “save” those calories and carbs for the Thanksgiving meal later on. Deliberately skipping meals makes it harder to manage your blood sugar and often leads to cravings and over-eating.

When it comes to dessert, plan to make this a small portion. Eat slowly and enjoy the taste.

After your meal, instead of taking a nap, take a walk with family and friends. Exercise is extremely important for most people with diabetes because it helps to regulate blood sugar, aids in metabolism, and reduces the risk factors for arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

With a plan of action, you can embrace the holiday, enjoy the festivities and have a healthy Thanksgiving Day.

Note: If you want hundreds of ideas on how to enjoy your favorite foods during the holiday, then, get the Food Tips ebook or the diabetes cookbook.