You have a big decision to make during the approaching Turkey Day feast. Will you stuff your face until you’re ready to roll yourself home, or will you make smart choices among all the delicious offerings? Many folks believe you can’t enjoy the holiday if you’re on a diet. However, the key isn’t skipping delicious holiday foods — it’s choosing wisely. Believe it or not, you can enjoy a feast while still upholding a healthy eating plan. Here are eight choices to make this Thanksgiving holiday.
Choose This: Breakfast
You still need to eat a nutritious breakfast on Thanksgiving. The meal should be quick, simple and filling. Choose proteins, healthy fat and whole grains; they make you feel full because they take longer for the body to digest. A few breakfast options include:
— 1 cup of oatmeal topped with sliced apples
— Parfait made with nonfat plain Greek yogurt, fruit and chopped nuts
— Vegetable omelet
Not That: Skipping breakfast
Heading to the Thanksgiving feast very hungry is a huge faux pas. An overly rumbling tummy can lead to overeating during the feast, and the logical side of you that makes smart food choices will be thrust to the back burner.
[See: 9 Things That Are Surprisingly Good for Your Health.]
Choose This: 3-ounces turkey breast without skin
Three-ounces of white turkey meat sans the skin provides 97 calories and 3 grams of fat. Compared to the same portion of dark meat with the skin, that’s a savings of 50 calories and 2 grams of fat.
Not This: 3-ounces turkey breast with skin
Three-ounces of dark meat turkey with the skin provides 147 calories and 5 grams of fat. Although that may not sound like a lot, this is a feast we’re talking about, and there’s a lot more food coming. Shaving off about 150 calories in one food is a reasonable goal when minding your total calories for the night.
Choose This: Prepared low-sodium gravy mix
With so much food prep, sometimes prepared gravy is the way to go. If you do choose to purchase the boxed stuff, go for the low-sodium version, which has about 25 calories and 1 gram of fat per 1/4 cup serving. That’s about 20 percent of the calories compared with the traditional full-sodium varieties.
Not This: Traditional gravy mix
Many traditional prepared gravy mixes are brimming with sodium and calories. On average, 1/4 cup provides 131 calories and 9 grams of fat.
[See: 10 Good Deeds and Why You Should Do Them.]
Choose This: Fresh cranberry relish
Fresh cranberries are available at the market. Whip up your own cranberry sauce where you control the ingredients, including sugar, or get creative and whip up a cranberry relish to accompany your bird. One-quarter cup of fresh cranberry relish contains 67 calories and 12 grams of sugar.
Not This: Canned cranberry sauce
The same amount of canned cranberry sauce contains 105 calories and 26 grams of sugar. Plus, don’t forget about the preservatives needed to keep it shelf stable. In this case, you’re better off opting to make your own, or ask a guest to whip up a batch for you. There’s nothing wrong with requesting guests pitch in.
Choose This: Baked sweet potato topped with brown sugar and pecans
It’s pretty simple to bake small sweet potatoes in the oven, and top each with 1 teaspoon each of brown sugar and chopped walnuts. This comes out to 138 calories, 12 grams of sugar and 2 grams of fat per each sweet potato — which is also brimming with beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium and the antioxidant lycopene.
Not This: Classic sweet potato casserole
This baby is the one oozing with marshmallows — where your entire family is fighting for the topping (happens every year in mine). One cup of classic sweet potato casserole contains 558 calories, 78 grams of sugar and 9 grams of fat. That’s four times the calories, 6 and 1/2 times the sugar and over four times the fat compared to topping a small sweet potato with brown sugar and chopped pecans.
Choose This: Sautéed green beans
If you do choose the marshmallow-filled sweet potato casserole, skip the green bean casserole. Instead, make a green bean sauté, and top each cup serving with 1 tablespoon of fried onions. Even if you use 1 teaspoon of butter per each cup of green beans, it will help shave off unwanted calories. The end result is 91 calories, 2 grams of sugar and 6 grams of fat per 1 cup serving.
Not This: Traditional green bean casserole
This bad boy is filled with canned cream of mushroom soup and loads of fried onions. One cup provides 235 calories, 3 grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat.
[See: How to Enjoy a Stress-Free Holiday.]
Choose This: Lightened cornbread stuffing
Made with fat-free buttermilk and half the butter, this slimmed version provides 319 calories, 6 grams of sugar and 10 grams of fat per cup serving. You’ll shave off about 30 percent of the calories compared to the traditional version.
Not This: Traditional cornbread stuffing
Whip up the stuffing per the package instructions (with whole milk and butter), and you’ll be downing 470 calories, 8 grams of sugar and 17 grams of fat.
Choose This: Pumpkin pie
One slice of pumpkin pie (1/8th of a 9-inch pie) provides about 265 calories, 27 grams of sugar and 9 grams of fat. Also, there is no need to go a la mode after all that food.
Not This: Pecan pie
One slice of pecan pie (1/8th of a 9-inch pie) provides about 806 calories, 54 grams of sugar and 25 grams of fat. That’s three times as many calories, twice as much sugar and almost three times as much fat compared to the pumpkin pie. Remember, nuts are higher in calories, and at this point you can skip the calorie-heavy desserts and opt for a sliver of those that contain fewer calories, sugar and fat.
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Choose This, Not That: Thanksgiving Edition originally appeared on usnews.com
