Amoy Ellis bumped up her cardio workouts this week leading up to Thanksgiving, by spending more time on the treadmill at Drexel's 11th Street Family Health Clinic.
She lost 12 pounds this year in 11th Street's Biggest Loser competition and doesn't want to gain it back.
"It was really difficult to lose it in the first place so any weight gain would really upset me," Amoy says.
Still the holidays are tough. Health educator Jennifer Warshaw says the average person eats a whopping 45-hundred calories over the course of Thanksgiving Day.
"So if you wanted to think about how long it would take to burn that off, you would have to walk 30 miles," Warshaw says.Or you could take these tips to heart:
1.) Remember Thanksgiving is ONE DAY to indulge -- not four
2.) Eat something healthy in the morning so you're not ravenous at dinner
3.) It's okay to try everything at dinner but watch your portions.
Warshaw says, " Trying everything is taking one to two tablespoons of everything- not a heaping serving spoon."
"There's ham, there's turkey," she says as she helps clinic patients set their holiday food-time strategy.
If you have a choice of meat-- choose turkey and take off the skin.
As for dessert---choose ONE of your favorites... Or small slices of two.
Keep in mind an average slice of pie has about 400 calories -
"So if you have two slices that's 800 calories so you are really going overboard on that," she advises.
Amoy says that while Thanksgiving is typically about food, she is taking a different approach this year.
"I am going to make it about family this time so I will focus on the food less and get my comfort from conversing with my family," she says.
