Thanksgiving Dessert Ideas

Now that you have begun to prepare your healthy Thanksgiving meal you don't want to go overboard with a high-calorie or high-fat dessert. Here are some things to have as a sweet treat to end your festive holiday meal:

Fresh fruit

Unsweetened dried fruit

Poached Pears in Earl Grey Tea with Dried Fruit

Apple Oatmeal Crumble

Chocolate Pecan Tartlets

Any of these desserts - or even your favorite healthy dessert can be served for Thanksgiving. If you know there is a dessert that you are looking forward to enjoying this holiday then take smaller portions during your meal to save room for a small serving of it.

Don't forget to start planning out how you are going to start your Thanksgiving Day too...exercise, breakfast, healthy snacks should all be part of your day.

photo by: Sang An

Sides and More for Thanksgiving

To follow up from Monday's post of healthy starters for your Thanksgiving meal here are some more dishes that are healthy and delicious (and many are vegetarian friendly!)

Stuffings

Wild Rice and Mushroom Stuffing

Quinoa Stuffing

Vegetables

Sauteed Green Beans and Brussels Sprouts with Chile and Mint

Kale with Garlic and Cranberries

Squash

Spiced Winter Squash with Fennel

Turkey

Herb-Rubbed Turkey with Roasted Garlic Gravy

The Simplest Roast Turkey

All of these dishes can be part of a healthy Thanksgiving meal. They are low in fat, high in fiber, and the variety of seasonal foods are very nutritious. These dishes make great leftovers and can be dishes that you serve for friends and family throughout the season. 

Don't forget to check back on Friday for healthy Thanksgiving dessert recipes and tips to get you through the day!

Ten Days Until Thanksgiving

Have you started putting your menu together for Thanksgiving?

Do you need some ideas for healthy dishes for your family and guests?

Here are some tips and dishes for you to try for your Thanksgiving feast:

Sweet Potatoes are Healthy and Weight Loss Friendly

Sweet potatoes are a healthy food that can be prepared in a variety of ways. Once cup of sweet potatoes has
180 calories. They are high in fiber making them good for digestion and also are a complex carbohydrate helping keep your blood sugar from spiking and dropping.

You can just bake sweet potatoes and enjoy the sweet delicious flavor as a side dish or a snack. One side dish to try is Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes. This dish has 107 calories per serving and 5 grams of fat, 3 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein. A nutritional profile of this recipe is available.

Don't forget to save this recipe to your my ND Recipes. As you start planning your Thanksgiving menu think about making a healthy dish with sweet potatoes so you know you have a dish that is weight loss friendly.

Is Your Diet Making You Angry?

If you are following a low-carb, high-fat diet (similar to the Atkins diet) then you may be angry according to a report recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This study which was done in Austraila with 106 obese members participating showed that those with a low-fat, high-carb diet were less depressed and angry after a year than those on a low-carb, high-fat diet.

Both diets did work for weight loss and on average the participants lost 30 pounds.

There are many reasons as to why those who were on the Atkins like diets were not as content as the others on the low-fat high carb diet. One hypothesis was that the participants may have been going through withdrawal symptoms from removing carbs from their diets which shows us how addicting carbohydrates can be to some people.

No matter which diet you chose to incorporate into your life you need to make sure it is something that you can live with long term as it will become a lifestyle change. If you are feeling depressed, or angry, then you might want to find play around with your food to find a diet that makes you feel happy and energized.

What were some of your experiences if you followed a low-carb/high-fat diet or a high-carb/low-fat diet?

Starting to Think About Thanksgiving

It is time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and what you are going to prepare and eat for this wonderful holiday. Some things you should do to start thinking about having a healthy holiday are:

Start making a game plan for the day - what will you eat during the day? when will you fit in your exercise?

How much will you eat at your Thanksgiving meal - will you eat a small breakfast and lunch before as to not overindulge?

What are those special foods that you will eat at this meal - are there 1 or 2 dishes that you love and only have once a year such as pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes with marshmallows? Will you enjoy a small serving of these foods? What foods can you pass on?

Are there foods that make better leftovers - what can you pass on today and eat tomorrow because sometimes leftovers just taste better and this can help you from really over eating.

Will you be the host to have control over the foods prepared or are you the guest who can bring a healthy dish or two for you and the rest of the guests?

Remember that this is just one day of the year so if you do overindulge you know you can get right back on track the next day.

What are some tips you have to help you have a Happy Thanksgiving?

Eating Slowly Can Help With Weight Loss

Perhaps you've heard that eating more slowly can help with weight loss. Here's why: When food enters digestive tract, hormones are released by the gut. These hormones signal the brain that we are full.  But this process takes time.  When you eat too quickly, by the time your brain gets the signal that you are satisfied, you've eaten way more calories than you actually need. Excess calories lead to weight gain. 

A study in an upcoming issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism demonstrates this effect. The researchers found that people who took 30 minutes to finish a serving of ice cream had higher levels of certain gut hormones and tended to feel fuller than those who ate the same size serving more quickly.

Eating more slowly can allow you to reduce your caloric intake but still leave the table feeling satisfied.  It can be hard to slow down in such a fast paced society, but here are some tips to help you slow down:

Don't eat in front of the TV, computer, or while reading

Set up an environment where you feel relaxed while eating

Put your fork down between bites

Chew your food completely

Don't eat in the car or on the run

What tips do you have to help slow down eating?

Boost Your Immune System to Prevent Colds

A strong immune system can help you fight of colds during the autumn and fall. One of the best ways to   boost your immune system is with good nutrition and eating the right foods. Eating a diet of whole foods will help keep you healthy, but make sure you are adding these foods to your diet to keep your immune system strong:

All Natual Whipped Topping

If you have browsed the aisles of your natural grocery store you may have come across TRUwhip  All Natural
Whipped Topping. This topping has no trans-fats, hydrogenated oils, or GMO's.

Enjoy this topping with fresh berries or on top of pie. A serving of this whipped topping is 2 tablespoons and each serving has 30 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 3 grams of carbs.

So if you are a user of whipped toppings that are full of chemicals and trans fats take a look for TRUwhip topping to make a healthy swap in your diet.

Coca Cola Moves Calories to the Front of the Can

Coca-Cola is jumping on the band wagon of making calories more visible by placing the calories and calories per serving on the front of the can. The new labeling will be on almost all products Coca-Cola has including soft drinks, teas, energy drinks, flavored waters, juice and fruit juice.

Pressure for this type of labeling is coming from consumers as well as law makers. "Now more than ever, people expect facts about the product they consume to be both readily available and visible," says Muhtar Kent, Coke's chairman and CEO, in a statement. "This global commitment is about making it easier for consumers to quickly see the calories information for our beverages."

Some say that by Coca-Cola putting this labeling on the front of the can it is building consumer trust and loyalty, but I say that is is just a public relations move. After all no matter where the label is these beverages are full of sugar and provide little to no nutrients, but hopefully with the calories more noticeable people will start drinking more water.