Once in a while it feels good to be stuffed. Although, if you lived in Okinawa, Japan they would tell you to stop at 80% capacity. But Thanksgiving is about the 4 F’s, not the biology majors 4 F’s, but Food, Family, Friends, and Football. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for many reasons, well actually just those four. This is the one of a few times I eat more than I should, but I thought give you an inside look at what that food does. Plus, it makes for a compelling argument to go for a walk or workout after a big meal. If it is too cold to go outside I’ll give you my post Thanksgiving workout. It will lean a little more to the endurance side versus the strength side of working out. But let’s start with my favorite part…
…The food.
In the America we have a lot to be thankful for. (BTW, that’s to all of you who donated food to the food shelf). So on most tables there will be lots and lots of food, some good and some not so good. Family gatherings for some can be a little dicey so here is a little run down so you don’t completely blow your pants out, unless you need new pants for Christmas.
The good news about Thanksgiving is that there is some good bird to eat. An average daily allowance for protein is about 35% of your calories. Protein mainly being animals, dairy, eggs, meat, birds, and fish. They are very high in nutrition and amino-acids. For those of you working out, your body is very acceptable to protein after a workout. Just a few things added protein can do: help prevent type 2 diabetes, help weight loss, improve muscle composition, and helps decrease premature aging. This is one time when digestion can really become taxed. If you have some Zypan or other digestive enzymes, this would be a good time to take them. Protein is a large complex molecule and is more difficult to digest so if you notice more gas or burping your digestion is kicking back.
Now, for everyone’s favorite, the carbs. Yum, Yum. The buns, the rolls, the potatoes, the yams, and basically everything else that makes your mouth drool. After the meal, your body breaks those down into glucose. The pancreas kicks some insulin in to move that glucose (sugar) into your cells. After a big meal, you obviously need a nap, but after that determines what happens to that sugar.
If you are overweight and inactive it sits in you like a rock. The muscles aren’t being used so insulin resistance can take over. Basically your body starts to resist it’s own insulin. This is the very early stages of Diabetes. The pancreas now has to up the ante and make more insulin. Besides diabetes the next biggest problem is heart disease. Some intesting studies were done 50 years ago with insulin dripping into an blood vessel. The vessel began calcifying where the dip was. This helps explain what Dr. Kevin Graham, Cardiologist and President, Minneapolis Heart Institute was talking about in the lecture on the New Ulm Heart Project.
Dr. Graham talked about calcification (plaque) in the arteries as being a MORE important indicator of heart disease than cholesterol. It “trumps” cholestrerol. I loved it. Maybe the great cholesterol myth will finally die. Plus, Dr. Graham said that diabetes makes it all worse.
If you do indulge in the yummy carbs of Thanksgiving, then here is a little info to help keep your body healthy.
Get out and get your body moving. Exercise increases the movement of glucose into your muscle cells. Exercise makes your carbohydrate metabolism much, much better.
This is my Post-Thanksgiving Workout
Warm-up:
25 Arm circles forwards
25 Arm circles backwards
2 minutes of Kettlebell Swings alternating every other hand.
Workout: I’m looking for some serious caloric expediture
10 Bench Dips -elbows kept tight to the body
20 Box Jumps with calf raise
10 Rolling situp-to-standing with Kettlebell
10 One-legged push-ups
10 Dive-bomber push-ups
10 Ab-crunching push-ups on the rings
Go back through and do it again, but faster and 2 less reps for each one.
This should take about 18 minutes. That should be enough to get me sweating and still not miss too much family time. If you’re still not tired do 2 more minutes of Kettlebell swings and that should burn the rest of the calories up. If you are going to follow this workout or a variant of it. Do it at your fitness level. Don’t hurt yourself, it’s Thanksgiving and you still want to have fun.
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Dr. Altman
P.S. Complex carbs are much better for you than those pesky simple carbs. Complex carbs are bascially fruits and veggies. If you are strapped for something to bring to your feast, here my wife’s salad recipe.
Becky’s salad:
One big bunch greens—lettuce, spinach, kale, or combination of these, washed and torn into bite sized pieces
Dressing:
2 T. balsamic vinegar
2 T. olive oil
Whisk together (use more or less dressing depending on your taste.)
Lightly toss dressing with greens, then add the following:
1 apple, diced into chunks
1/3 c. raw cheddar cheese, diced into small chunks
1/2 c. carmelized walnuts (Melt 1 T. butter with 1 T. sugar, gently “saute” small walnut pieces until sugar begins to carmelize, only a couple min. Remove from heat onto plate, break apart when cool.)
Eat immediately! :)
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