Health Chips: Don't go ham on your turkey this Thanksgiving

HealthChips is a weekly blog focusing on healthy living and wellness. Come back next Thursday for the next edition of HealthChips.

Thanksgiving is so close that you can almost smell the freshly baked pumpkin pie coming out of the oven. With all the joy of seeing family and having an endless feast, what is not to like about Thanksgiving? In reality, with the infinite amounts of food and countless sugary desserts, you may find yourself over-eating during Thanksgiving and feeling crummy the next day. To avoid this shabby feeling, keep reading to discover a few eating tips that you can put into action this Thanksgiving.

Eat breakfast
Some people assume that skipping breakfast to leave more room for your Thanksgiving dinner works. But actually, not eating earlier in the day will just leave you tremendously hungry by the time dinner comes around. As a result you could end up uncontrollably over-eating, and in the end you will feel gross and unhealthy. So eat a nutritious breakfast the morning of Thanksgiving. The breakfast does not need to be big to match your dinner feast, but eat something that will give you energy so you do not pass out while waiting to eat your turkey.

Plan ahead
Before choosing what to eat, SCOpe out the options. There can be so many different foods to choose from that you may find yourself taking everything you see—which is not necessarily a problem. But if you see something early on that looks good and you pile a lot of that food on your plate, you may find more good-looking food later and want to do the same. This will turn into an endless cycle that could have been prevented if you had only chosen what and how to eat ahead of time.

Portion size
Piggy-backing onto planning ahead, you must also be careful with the amounts of food you put on your plate. Many people think the sweet desserts are all that could put them in bad shape during Thanksgiving. Eating too much of any food can turn out badly. When serving yourself, choose your food portions wisely. You may feel the need to stock up on all the food possible like a bear getting ready for hibernation, but that is simply not necessary. You can sample all the foods, but try them in reasonable serving sizes that won't leave you feeling bloated.

Beverages
People may not realize that some beverages can have the same sickly affect on you that some unhealthy foods may. This Thanksgiving, try to limit the sugary liquids you consume. You will already be eating so much you don't wan to add to the calories with drinks. Drink water or milk instead of picking a sugary Starbucks coffee or a sweet soda. It will really make a difference.

Take your time
Thanksgiving is not a race so take your time eating. Eat slowly and it is less likely that you will end up overeating. If you think about it, most of the times you over-eat on Thanksgiving you are probably so overwhelmed with all the food that you dive into it all. But if you eat slower and just relax you will end up feeling better in the end. After all thanksgiving should be a time to unwind and have a good time. So take it easy and take your time eating.

Choose foods wisely
Feel free to eat every food you see on the Thanksgiving dinner table. Just be mindful of the foods that are better and worse for you. Try to pick more proteins and vegetables to eat, such as turkey or green beans. Those types of foods are nutritious and will make you feel good and healthy. Make an effort to limit sugary foods, such as pies or cakes. Sweet foods like that may look, smell and taste good, but if you eat too much unhealthy food you will just end up feeling sick and unrefined.

Thanksgiving break should be a relaxing break so don't stress out about food. As long as you follow this advice and use your own good judgment you should turn out fine and dandy. Good luck and have a great Thanksgiving!