Where do you plan on spending Thanksgiving this year?

Will you be staying in town or traveling across the country?

Will you be driving down the street or getting on a plane?

Whatever your travel schedule may be, you’ll need to game plan to help balance all these extra calories you will be eating on Turkey day.

Trust me, you WILL be eating your Thanksgiving feast! This is not an article telling you to “only eat white meat” and “avoid the gravy”.

Heck no!

You WILL be eating that pie!

Thanksgiving is a holiday that’s meant to be fun and festive. If you’ve been working out, you need the break. Just because you’ll be eating goodies, doesn’t mean you have to completely ditch your healthy habits. You always have a choice to do something or do nothing!

Here’s a Thanksgiving workout plan that allows you to enjoy Thanksgiving while still making sure you keep up a healthy lifestyle.

Thanksgiving Workout Prep

Plan Ahead and Pack Some Gym Clothes

If you’re staying over family or friends, please make sure you pack some workout clothes!

Without the proper workout gear, you’re not going to be motivated to workout once you enter holiday vacation mood as the smell of sweet potato pies cross your nostrils!

Practice Intermittent Fasting On Thanksgiving Day

Intermittent fasting is just the simple act of skipping a few meals and keeping your body in a fasting state for 12-20 hours. You can drink as much water and unsweetened tea as you want. If you’re a coffee person, you can still have 1-2 cups. Just avoid the excess sugars and cream.

I know it sounds crazy but it’s actually easier than it sounds. From the moment you finish your last meal on Thanksgiving Eve, try to get a good nights rest. Hopefully that will be 8 hours.

Congratulations! When you wake up you’ve already fasted for 8 hours! Now all you have to do is skip breakfast and maybe lunch.

Most families have an early Thanksgiving dinner. Knowing you’ll be having a big meal earlier than usual will give you the willpower to hold out longer than you normally would.

I highly suggest you give this method a try. I’ve been intermittent fasting for over six years so I know the benefits of it.

As a bonus, the fasting will make you thankful for the fact that you actually don’t have to experience hunger every day of your life. For many, fasting isn’t an option.

Be thankful you have the choice!

Outdoor Thanksgiving Workout

Go for a Walk

If the weather is cooperating, get out the house and go for an easy walk. Walking is a underrated form of exercise. All you need to do is go at a brisk pace for 30 – 60 mins.

That pace and time period will cause your body to go into fat burning mode. If you do this while fasting, you will be burning fat quicker than if you have food in your system.

Indoor Thanksgiving Workout

Most gyms will be closed on Thanksgiving. But don’t let that detract you, because you still got your body to play with!

(Hmmm that doesn’t sound right does it?)

Use this holiday to think outside the box, and embrace the Mr. Travel Fitness “No Gym No Problem” traveling workout lifestyle.

Here’s two sample Full Body HITT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts you can do in your room.

Thanksgiving Workout #1

Do each exercise as fast as possible with no rest between exercises.

5 Rounds

10 Push Ups
Rest 0- 5 seconds
10 Bodyweight Lunges
Rest 0 – 5 seconds
10 Mountain Climbers
Rest 45 seconds.
Repeat.

Thanksgiving Workout #2

Instead of KettleBells or Dumbbells, why not use some cans for weights.

Using cans for travel workout routines is one of the many cool tips I teach to my traveling coaching clients.

If 1 can is too light, pack as many as you can safely lift into a pillow case, purse, reusable shopping bags or plastic bags to make your own CanBell (Get it?).

3 Rounds

50 Bent Over Rows per side
Rest 40 secs
25 Shoulder Presses per side
Rest 40 secs
50 reps of CanBell swings
Rest 40 secs
25 Jumping Jacks

Rest 90 seconds.
Repeat.

Exercise While Watching TV

While watching the parades and/or football games, don’t just sit, get some exercise in!

Look at 17 Fun Ways To Exercise While Watching Football On TV and incorporate those exercises into healthy games with your family!

Eat and Enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner

Cheat meals are an important part of living a healthy lifestyle. If you’ve been dieting and exercising diligently for weeks, your body needs occasional breaks. Not only for psychological reasons but physiological as well.

I don’t know if you’re aware, but your body is an incredible machine designed to survive by adapting to situations. If you’ve been in a low calorie deficit, your body will eventually figure out a way to survive with those limited calories and your weight loss will come to a stand still.

That’s why it’s important to raise your calories and shock your body once a week. This throws you body off balance and allows you to start burning fat again as your body tries to figure out how to adapt to this change.

There’s no better calorie increaser than a hearty Thanksgiving meal!

The key is to enjoy the meal and not feel guilty. The only shame you should be feeling is if you turn Thanksgiving Day into Thanksgiving Week!

There’s no need to turn one joyous day into a week long binge!

Gather with your family and friends and enjoy this wonderful day!