Ola my friend! A very big Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families! I hope you are excited about the holiday season and happy for time to relax a bit. Here are some quick tips that have helped me make the best of the holidays. These healthy Thanksgiving tips are useful for if you are hosting this year, just cooking for yourself, if you dislike cooking, if you get overwhelmed while cooking or even if you absolutely love cooking. The key here is applying these tips in fun creative ways so that the holiday is enjoyed to the max. Ok ready? Let’s go!
1. KISS (Keep it Simple Sweetheart)
This is a big one. If you get this tip right then you will greatly help set the pace for the entire holiday. Do not try to make complicated new dishes last minute. Do not try to make hundreds of dishes last minute (I exaggerate but you get the point). Do make dishes that you know how to make with confidence. Do make dishes that you and others will eat. Keeping it simple always helps with your mental health. It is perfectly ok. Relax because everyone will enjoy the day more when you keep it simple sweetheart.
2. Prep Early
This is like a secret ingredient to the recipe of a smooth holiday. Do not wait until the last minute to go grocery shopping. Plan out your meal and decorations early so that you know what is needed and can get them early. It’s best not to have to make one trip to the store the day before or the day of Thanksgiving. You have to be strategic with this. I promise you will save time, money and headache grocery shopping early. Do not wait until Thanksgiving to cook the entire meal. Pies are the perfect example of what you can prepare early. People buy pies from the store all the time and who knows how long they have been sitting there. So don’t feel like pies need to be baked the day of. That is just one example.
Another example, is making the cornbread the day before if you are making cornbread dressing. Do cut up your vegetables and peel your yams the day before and store them for easy use the day of. These are just some tips that will greatly help your mental and physical health. Do you have any other helpful examples and life hacks for prepping early? Drop a comment below to share.
3. Cook with Gratitude and Love
You can tell when someone prepared food with love and care and just took the appropriate amount of time. You can also tell when a dish has been rushed and it just taste like the cook did not care at all. Do think about how good the food is going taste and how it is going to benefit the people that will eat it. Do not be angry, frustrated, or in a rush to finish. Do be grateful to have food to cook, serve and eat. It is truly a blessing.
Having your mind in the right place just makes the holiday more peaceful and pleasant. Your body follows the mind. You will notice that your body will not be as tensed and it won’t be so hard to relax and get quality rest.
4. Quality over Quantity
It is not about having a buffet. For those who can do that and the food is good then great. However, this is part of KISS (see point #1). Do focus on a few quality dishes that you can manage and make them all taste good. Do focus on making the food with quality ingredients that are actually helpful to the body. Do not try to make many dishes and only a few of them taste good.
5. Eat Earlier and Mindfully
If you prepare early then you can eat earlier in the day. It does your body no good to eat late into the night and not have time to digest the food before going to sleep. This impact your body’s healing hours which is time you are restored and rejuvenated for the next day. Do eat earlier in the day and give your body time to digest your food. Do eat mindfully. Try to control your portions per serving. Do not gorge and stuff yourself to the point you are in pain and cannot move or breath hardly. This makes your body works over time especially if you fall asleep.
Yes, the food may be delicious but try practicing discipline. Do not get anxious about this because we are all a work in progress. Do at least try. This is a tip that your body will appreciate the most.
6. Say Your Grace
This is the most important one. Saying grace over a delicious well prepared meal is an excellent support for improved mental health. Do pray over your food. Do pray for people who may not have food or what they desire at this time. Do not rush through the prayer or skip praying all together. Remember it is a blessing to have delicious food to cook, serve and eat. This means you had the funds to buy the ingredients, the strength to prepare the food and ability to eat and taste the food. Do not take these seemingly small blessings for granted.
7. Getting Active is Good
First, let me say awesome job because you made it to the end of the list. This last one is very important too. Exercise do profit even if it profits a little. So get active. Do go for a walk or a light jog. Be sure to bundle up and dress for the cold accordingly. Cleaning up definitely count as being active so don’t discount that one. Jump roping is an oldie but goodie. Got a treadmill? Awesome! Hop on that and get some miles in hehe. Do not just sleep and eat and sit and repeat. Your body will respond positively for sure if you get active during the holiday season with all that good food you are eating.
Until Next Time
Well, what do you think? Do you have any healthy Thanksgiving tips that you would like to share? Please drop a comment below or email me. I would love to hear your feedback and/or stories. If you need a salad idea to help you detox post Thanksgiving holiday season then try this Powerful Mango Kale Salad.
Well, I will take my leave for now. I look forward to our time together again soon. Be inspired to have an appetite to Live and Live well.
Adaeze
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