When it comes to Thanksgiving it literally is all about the food! From gathering with friends and family, volunteering to serve others or enjoying a quiet meal at home, we know that on Thanksgiving we think about what we eat. According to www.sparkpeople.com, “The average American will consume more than 4500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone,” Keep in mind that there are 3,500 calories in a pound. Yet, with so many people taking new ownership of their health and working to combat disease, obesity and just feeling overly full, you may also wonder how you can even count the calories in and calories out. While part of a healthful lifestyle is moderation and balance, we understand many people may want to balance out their Thanksgiving dinner or dinners that can also turn into days of leftovers.

So how can you burn off an extra 4,500 calories?

Walk, Jog or run 45 miles

Take 10 Zumba® classes

Take 7.5 Spinning® classes

Take 30 yoga classes

Vacuum your hours for 26 hours

Take 11 Piyo® Live classes

Lift weights for 25 hours

And the list goes on. As you can see it takes a lot of exercise to burn off even one day of laid back indulging. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fully enjoy your Thanksgiving celebration, but it also means that you want to make sure you aren’t over-indulging the whole holiday season long. Before you grab a second piece of pie or add extra butter to your potatoes, think a little bit about how you might feel the next day or down the road? If you say, “I never eat like this and I am active, no problem,” enjoy. If your head voice says, “you already ate pie for breakfast and you have another Thanksgiving meal tomorrow,” you might want to use a little extra will power. After all, it’s only food! One great way to break up the binge-mode that can happen at holiday gatherings is to have a game plan. Take some time away from the food to engage with each other – make memories or go for a walk! This year you could probably even have a snowball fight!

When it comes to trying to work off food you should be mindful that it is very hard to exercise off a bad diet. The holidays that bring on extra splurges here and there are perfect excuses to add some extra physical activity into your diet. Just be mindful to make these splurges occasional treats and not your new way of eating. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, “the average American’s weight increases by 0.4% over Christmas, and 0.2% over Thanksgiving. In total, this amounts to around one pound gained per holiday season for the average person.” On top of helping to manage your weight, the extra activity you add in over the holiday season is great for keeping your mood levels boosted and combating stress as well.

When in doubt you can join us at our Annual Burn off the Bird Fundraiser on Friday, November 29th at The Wellness Center at 10:30 am. All money collected will go to the North Country Hospital Oncology fund that gives support to our local friends and family in treatment for cancer.  This boxing workout is designed to help you Burn off the bird!

 

Mary Hoadley

Director of The Wellness Center