Healthy Thanksgiving Food Alternatives

There are ways to still eat your favorite holiday foods and cut the calories. Learn about healthy substitutions that allow you to still enjoy the feast!

Healthy Thanksgiving Food Alternatives Doctor Travis Stork: We’re back with more simple and surprising ways to help you survive the holidays. Andrew, let’s start with good old fashion eggnog. Doctor Andrew Ordon: Personally, I love eggnog over the holidays. I can tell you’re looking at this with distain. I know, 400 calories and a ton of fat. The problem is if you try to make your own batch of eggnog, it isn’t quite right. But I’ve got a great tip here. What you do is cut it in half. Pour it in a glass and then mix half and half with nonfat milk. So, you’re cutting it in half, half the calories and you know what? That makes a pretty good eggnog experience. Jillian Michaels: It’s actually good. Doctor Andrew Ordon: It is. It is not too thick. Jillian Michaels: It’s actually really good. Doctor Andrew Ordon: Put a little rum in there. Doctor Travis Stork: All right, so you can talk about a makeover for sweet potatoes Jillian because this is a good makeover. Jillian Michaels: Okay. The way that you cook your food will dramatically impact the amount of calories and the nutrients that you’re digesting. So, instead of taking sweet potatoes and soaking them in butter, in brown sugar and marshmallows, bake them, put pineapple on top. Pineapple has bromelain which aids in digestion. You’re getting beta carotene, fiber, all kinds of great nutrients and significantly less calories. Doctor Andrew Ordon: I can give you some of these, right? Jillian Michaels: Yes. Doctor Andrew Ordon: Good stuff. Jillian Michaels: And this will keep you from ending up on his table with a needle in your bite size. Doctor Travis Stork: So, sweet potatoes are loaded with nutrients but Jimbo, let’s say I do like mashed potatoes and gravy, so I’m not going to over do it but how much do we have to do to burn off? Doctor Jim Sears: Yeah, if you eat al these, you got to have to pay the price. So, just one cup of mashed potatoes is about 300 calories which is about a half an hour of aerobics and that’s without the gravy. Add the gravy and you’re doubling it. Doctor Travis Stork: So, if you enjoy the mashed potatoes, get ready to go for a run. Doctor Jim Sears: Pay the price. Doctor Andrew Ordon: All right, Lisa? Doctor Lisa Masterson: Well, I absolutely adore pecan pie but one slice of this, you’ll have to run but you know what? You have to run on a treadmill for an hour but I would do that because if I busted my butt all day long cooking this food, somebody better eat it. That’s all I’m saying, somebody got to eat. I’m telling you. If my make my gravy, somebody got to eat. Doctor Travis Stork: So, it gets back, if you want to enjoy your piece of pecan pie, go for it. Again, we’ve got it but you have to acknowledge that you’re going to put on weight if you don’t -- Jillian Michaels: Like a slice of this and a big thing of that, you don’t get all of it. Doctor Travis Stork: Again, we’re saying that you can enjoy life and enjoy meal every now and then but here is the important thing, you mentioned cooking. As a mother out there, whoever is preparing the meal, whether it’s the father, the mother, the grand, whoever it may be, don’t make so much food that there’s pressure for everyone to overeat. Make a certain amount so that everyone is satisfied but not overindulged and then no one feels bad and no one feels sick. Doctor Lisa Masterson: There you go. Doctor Andrew Ordon: Or our leftovers— Doctor Travis Stork: Leftovers are okay Drew. Leftovers are okay Doctor Lisa Masterson: A healthy sandwich is the best thing.