How about some Thanksgiving Tips?

As the owner of the Eat, Drink and Be Skinny Blog, I’d be failing you if I didn’t at least try to enlighten you on how to avoid consuming 5000 calories and winding up in a food coma on the couch watching a football game you don’t care about.

So here are a few things I plan to do this holiday season to keep this muffin top in check:

• Start the day by being ACTIVE! We all have the day off, why not get up and do something fun? Go for hike or do a fun run/turkey trot. Several friends and I will be running to fight hunger this Thursday am. I love the irony.

• Don’t skip breakfast and show up starving to your feast. That is a recipe for disaster. And don’t show up in sweat pants thinking you’re clever because you won’t have to pop open the top button on  your pants. Just don’t plan on stuffing yourself.

• Bring a healthy dish. No, you can’t ask your host to prepare food a certain way to suite your needs. But you can bring a delicious, healthy, impressive side dish or dessert that showcases how tasty healthy food can be. Check out my twitter stream for many, many delicious healthy food blogs.

• Healthy plate strategy. Fill half up with salad and veggies FIRST. Then fill in a quarter with lean protein and then the gaps with the good stuff like starches. A little goes a long way.

• Watch it on the booze. It’s caloricly dense and can lower your healthy choice radar significantly. Before you know it you’re 1000 calories over in alcohol and pie. Not the worst thing in the world on this day of indulgence, but you’ll probably feel better if you rotate in a sparkling water cocktail in between rounds.

• Make it about the people, not the food. That stuffing wouldn’t taste nearly as good in a room all by yourself. So don’t forget to pay your thanks, share your laughs, and tell people you love them. Whether your building on old ones or creating new ones, it’s about the relationships and the traditions that make this day special…

Cheers to a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your loved ones!