Here we go again. Another Thanksgiving is just a few days away and many of you have probably already started eating poorly. STOP! Don't throw away all your hard earned gains (well losses actually).

Here's what you can eat and what to avoid for the rest of the week and throughout the holiday season.

Eat:

• Lot's of fresh, steamed veggies but minimal butter and salt
• Lean meat (sirloin, bison), lean turkey or chicken (white meat), fish (cod, haddock, perch, tilapia, trout, whitefish) - preferably organic
• Salads
• fresh fruits (apples, oranges,mangoes, bananas) but sparingly
• Nuts - raw, unsalted - peanuts, almonds, cashews,Brazil nuts, Macadamia nuts, walnuts etc
• Eggs - grass fed, free range - Eat the WHOLE egg
• Grains with long cooking time like long grain wild rice, steel cut oatmeal, barley. The longer it takes to cook the more nutritious it is.

Don't Eat:

• Fast Food (you should never eat fast food)
• desserts
• Cereals
• Breads
• Corn
• Soy
• Cookies
• Candy
• Sodas

In Moderation and preferably only on Thanksgiving Day:

• Alcohol 
• Small portions of pie, potatoes, etc

If you stick to a good diet throughout the week and the entire holiday season, you can eat pretty much whatever you want on Thanksgiving Day. On Friday you need to get right back to your proper eating habits of 4 to 5 small meals spread throughout the day and making sure you have a lean protein and complex carbs at every meal. Breads and cereals are not complex carbs!

On Thanksgiving Day eat normally up until the big meal. Don't go to Thanksgiving dinner on an empty stomach. Eat something like a bowl of oatmeal (the good kind, not the junk in packets) with some berries and peanut butter mixed in. That will fill you up and make it less likely you'll over-eat. It will also make it easier to get back on track Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dave