Watch CBS News

Expert Advice On How To Enjoy Thanksgiving While On A Diet

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Who doesn't love Thanksgiving? The answer: dieters.

The holiday about food can be hard to navigate if you're trying to cut back, but a local expert has some helpful strategies.

"Dieters will say things like 'I want to be able to eat whatever I want, I want to eat whatever quantity, I want to taste everything, I want to eat five desserts.'."

In other words, dieters are like everyone else, says Deborah Busis, head of the diet program at the Beck Institute, which uses a cognitive approach to weight loss.

Her job is to help dieters realize there is a vast middle ground between completely abandoning your diet and feeling deprived for sticking to it.  The key to finding that middle ground, she says, is a plan:

"Decisions that we make ahead of time are usually so much easier and so much better than it is to make a good decision in the moment. In the moment, when we have to use spontaneous willpower is really when it's most difficult to do so."

Busis says it's fine to "plan" to eat more than usual, but set a limit for excess and stick to it.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.