[music playing] The holidays really do add up.
There's a tendency to think,
well it's just the holidays I can take a break from my diet
and just eat what I want, but it's a month long period,
lots of parties and it really does add up.
About 40% of American's calories come from meals eaten away
from home and when we're eating away from home often it's
for what we think of as a special occasion.
We know that foods that we eat away from home tend
to be less nutritious, more calorie-packed
than those we eat at home.
So, kind of do the math and think about it
and it is a piece of the picture.
There's lots of great food offered at holiday gatherings
and lots of things you don't get very often,
so you can eat those things, it's probably more
about how much you take.
Think of yourself around the Thanksgiving table,
taking a little bit of everything but not a whole lot
of anything and that can help keep your diet in check.
Turkey's really not a bad option.
Turkey's naturally a fairly lean meat and a lot
of the vegetable we have, squash and the green beans
and things, are good choices.
It's really amazing some of the foods we eat
around Thanksgiving are just packed with vitamin A,
like the squash and the sweet potatoes.
So we get a lot of good nutrients
with our Thanksgiving meal.
Beverages really add up and often we've got wine
and apple cider and eggnog and those sorts of drinks there
and if you kind of drink them continuously throughout the day
they really do add up.
So it's good at some point, maybe after having a drink
of the eggnog, switching over to water and satisfying your thirst
with a calorie-free beverage.
Diet sodas, tea, coffee-- are some other good choices.
We tend to make food the focus of our get-togethers
and it's important that great food can be a part of it
but then there's a point where it's time to push away
from the table and do something else.
Go play a board game with your family, go for a walk
with the kids, take them to the park to play, do something other
than sitting around that table
where the food is there tempting you to eat it.
