Eating slowly, putting your fork down between bites, and tasting each mouthful is one of the easiest ways to enjoy your meal and feel satisfied with one plate full of food, experts say. Choosing whole grains, fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups, salads, and other foods with lots of water and fiber add to the feeling of fullness.

Spread out the food and fun all day long. At the Finn family Thanksgiving gathering, they schedule dessert after a walk, while watching a movie together.

“We eat midday, and instead of another meal at dinnertime, we continue the feast with dessert a few hours after the main meal,” Finn explains.

Don’t forget those alcohol calories that can add up quickly.

“Have a glass of wine or a wine spritzer and between alcoholic drinks, (or) enjoy sparkling water,” says Diekman. “this way you stay hydrated, limit alcohol calories, and stay sober.”

The holiday season is a time for celebration. With busy schedules and so many extra temptations, this is a good time to strive for weight maintenance instead of weight loss.

“Shift from a mindset of weight loss to weight maintenance,” says Finn. “You will be ahead of the game if you can avoid gaining any weight over the holidays.”

Everyone looks forward to Thanksgiving for the delicious food (and, of course, the leftovers!). But did you know that the average adult eats approximately 2000-3000 calories at the Thanksgiving meal? Try the following strategies so you still can enjoy your meal more while making it more healthful (and less caloric):

Don’t come to the Thanksgiving table starving! Make sure to have a healthful breakfast and lunch before arriving at dinner. When you are extremely hungry, you eat very fast and tend to overeat.

Fill your plate with salad and veggies first and then leave a small amount of space for higher calorie options like stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etcetera. Don’t deprive yourself of your favorite dishes—think in terms of moderation!

Distance yourself from the hors d’oeuvre table. Munch on fresh fruits and vegetables (preferably organic) instead of high fat appetizers.

Drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated, many of the foods served on Thanksgiving are high in sodium.

Go skinless…most of the fat is in the turkey skin. Have your turkey breast, leg, or thigh without the skin to trim major calories and fat.  (Have you ever thought of trying a vegetarian Thanksgiving?  It’s a radical concept for many, but it’s a fun way to think creatively in the kitchen about the holiday.)

Eat slowly…put your fork down every few bites and drink water. Your brain will have time to catch up with your stomach and you will find that you are satisfied with less food!

If you are the host, try making healthful alternatives such as steamed green beans with a drizzle of olive oil and almond slivers (instead of green bean casserole) and baked sweet potatoes (instead of baked yams with butter and marshmallows) to decrease calories and fat and increase nutrient density!

“Your turkey preparation begins days before Thanksgiving dinner. Consider this sobering fact: foodborne illnesses affect an estimated 48 million Americans yearly, with 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. Kitchen cleanliness isn’t just recommended—it’s essential.

Hand washing comes first, and we mean truly thorough hand washing. Soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds—about the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Don’t forget between fingers, under nails, and up to your forearms. This isn’t optional; it’s your first line of defense.

Now, here’s where many home cooks go wrong: never wash your raw turkey. This mistake actually spreads bacteria throughout your kitchen instead of removing it [6]. Paper towels work perfectly for patting away anything you want to remove.

Turkey thawing requires planning and patience. Choose one of these safe methods:

• Refrigerator thawing: Allow 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of turkey. Once thawed, your turkey stays safe in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before cooking.
• Cold water thawing: Submerge the turkey in its leak-proof original wrapping. Change water every 30 minutes, allowing about 30 minutes per pound. Cook immediately after thawing.
• Microwave thawing: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and cook immediately after thawing.

Counter thawing or hot water methods are absolutely off-limits—bacteria multiply rapidly in that danger zone between 40°F and 140°F. Every surface that touched raw turkey needs sanitizing with hot, soapy water. No exceptions.

After thanksgiving dinner is completed:

Proper Storage: Your Step-by-Step Guide

For safe leftover storage, follow these essential steps:

• Divide turkey and other leftovers into shallow containers no deeper than 2 inches
• Carve the turkey into smaller pieces for quicker cooling
• Store in airtight containers or zip-top bags

Ready to make your holiday cooking safer and more confident? Remember, proper food safety practices aren’t just about following rules—they’re about showing care for the people you love. Let’s make sure your Thanksgiving memories focus on what truly matters: great food shared with the people who matter most.”

Always Food Safe (Thanksgiving Food Safety Tips: Avoid Common Kitchen Mistakes This Holiday – Always Food Safe)

Thanksgiving only comes around once a year, so why not go ahead and splurge? Because gaining weight during the holiday season is a national pastime. Year after year, most of us pack on at least a pound (some gain more) during the holidays — and keep the extra weight permanently.

But Thanksgiving does not have to sabotage your weight, experts say. With a little know-how, you can satisfy your desire for traditional favorites and still enjoy a guilt-free Thanksgiving feast. After all, being stuffed is a good idea only if you are a turkey!

Create a calorie deficit by exercising to burn off extra calories before you ever indulge in your favorite foods, suggests Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, former president of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

“‘Eat less and exercise more’ is the winning formula to prevent weight gain during the holidays,” Diekman says. “Increase your steps or lengthen your fitness routine the weeks ahead and especially the day of the feast.”

Make fitness a family adventure, recommends Susan Finn, PhD, RD, chair of the American Council on Fitness and Nutrition: “Take a walk early in the day and then again after dinner. It is a wonderful way for families to get physical activity and enjoy the holiday together.”

While you might think it makes sense to save up calories for the big meal, experts say eating a small meal in the morning can give you more control over your appetite. Start your day with a small but satisfying breakfast — such as an egg with a slice of whole-wheat toast, or a bowl of whole-grain cereal with low-fat milk — so you won’t be starving when you arrive at the gathering.

“Eating a nutritious meal with protein and fiber before you arrive takes the edge off your appetite and allows you to be more discriminating in your food and beverage choices,” says Diekman.

Whether you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner or bringing a few dishes to share, make your recipes healthier with less fat, sugar, and calories.

“There is more sugar and fat in most recipes than is needed, and no one will notice the difference if you skim calories by using lower calorie ingredients,” says Diekman.

Her suggestions:

• Use fat-free chicken broth to baste the turkey and make gravy.
• Use sugar substitutes in place of sugar and/or fruit purees instead of oil in baked goods.
• Reduce oil and butter wherever you can.
• Try plain yogurt or fat-free sour cream in creamy dips, mashed potatoes, and casseroles.

• Thanksgiving tables are bountiful and beautiful displays of traditional family favorites. Before you fill your plate, survey the buffet table and decide what you’re going to choose. Then select reasonable-sized portions of foods you cannot live without.

“Don’t waste your calories on foods that you can have all year long,” suggests Diekman. “Fill your plate with small portions of holiday favorites that only come around once a year so you can enjoy desirable, traditional foods.”

• Skip the Seconds.Try to resist the temptation to go back for second helpings.”Leftovers are much better the next day, and if you limit yourself to one plate, you are less likely to overeat and have more room for a delectable dessert,” Diekman says.
• Choose the Best Bets on the Buffet.While each of us has our own favorites, keep in mind that some holiday foods are better choices than others.”White turkey meat, plain vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, defatted gravy, and pumpkin pie tend to be the best bets because they are lower in fat and calories,” says Diekman. But she adds that, “if you keep your portions small, you can enjoy whatever you like.”

Most of all Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day!!

1. “Smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers on average.
2. If young people continue smoking at the current rate, about one in every 13 Americans currently aged 17 or younger will die prematurely of a smoking-related illness.
3. Smoking triggers disability and disease and damages almost every organ. Effects include cancer, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lung diseases, diabetes, and certain eye diseases.
4. States are sitting on billions of dollars from tobacco taxes and tobacco industry legal settlements to prevent and control tobacco use.
5. In fiscal year 2019, states will collect a record $27.3 billion from tobacco taxes and legal settlements but will spend less than 3% of that money on prevention and cessation programs.
6. Spending a mere 12% ($3.3 billion) of that $27.3 billion would fund every state tobacco-control program at the levels recommended by the CDC.
7. Not one state funds tobacco-control programs at the CDC’s recommended level at the moment.
8. The tobacco industry spent $9.36 billion on the advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in 2017. That’s about $25 million every day, and over $1 million every hour.
9. Smoking costs the United States almost $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and over $156 billion in lost productivity due to exposure to secondhand smoke and premature death.
10. Every day, about 2,000 people younger than 18 smoke their first cigarette and more than 300 people younger than 18 years old become daily cigarette smokers.”

Walden University (10 Alarming Facts About Tobacco Use, Costs, and Prevention | Walden University)

For many people, the first sign that they may have lung cancer is the appearance of a suspicious spot on a chest x-ray or a CT scan. But an image alone is not enough to tell you whether you have cancer and, if so, what type of cancer it is.

Most people who come to us for a lung cancer diagnosis first meet with a surgeon. He or she will work with pathologists, radiologists, and other lung cancer specialists to determine the specific type of lung cancer you have and how advanced it is. These findings help your disease management team develop the most successful treatment plan for you.

The first step is for your doctor to get a tissue sample using one of several biopsy methods. Then a pathologist — a type of doctor who specializes in diagnosing disease —who focuses on lung cancer studies the tissue under a microscope to determine whether you have lung cancer and, if so, what type. He or she will be able to tell this by looking closely at the cancer cells’ shape and other features.

Knowing which type of lung cancer you have will help your doctors to stage the tumor accurately and to begin identifying the best treatment approach. Understanding what type of cancer you have is also important because each type responds differently to certain chemotherapy drugs.

Testing healthy people for lung cancer

Several organizations recommend people with an increased risk of lung cancer consider annual computerized tomography (CT) scans to look for lung cancer. If you’re 55 or older and smoke or used to smoke, talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of lung cancer screening.

Tests to diagnose lung cancer

If there’s reason to think that you may have lung cancer, your doctor can order a number of tests to look for cancerous cells and to rule out other conditions. In order to diagnose lung cancer, your doctor may recommend:

• Imaging tests. An X-ray image of your lungs may reveal an abnormal mass or nodule. A CT scan can reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray.
• Sputum cytology. If you have a cough and are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells.
• Tissue sample (biopsy). A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a biopsy.Your doctor can perform a biopsy in a number of ways, including bronchoscopy, in which your doctor examines abnormal areas of your lungs using a lighted tube that’s passed down your throat and into your lungs; mediastinoscopy, in which an incision is made at the base of your neck and surgical tools are inserted behind your breastbone to take tissue samples from lymph nodes; and needle biopsy, in which your doctor uses X-ray or CT images to guide a needle through your chest wall and into the lung tissue to collect suspicious cells.A biopsy sample may also be taken from lymph nodes or other areas where cancer has spread, such as your liver.

Treatment Options for Lung Cancer Patients

“From 2018 to 2022, nearly half of all lung cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage, meaning the cancer had spread from the lungs to distant parts of the body. More than one-fourth of lung cancers were found at a localized stage (the cancer had not spread outside the lungs) and less than one-fourth at a regional stage (the cancer had spread from the lungs to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs).

Overall, 29% of lung cancer patients had not died from their cancer 5 years later. However, survival rates differed depending on the stage at which the cancer was detected.

Most lung cancers are found after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, when survival is lowest. Lung cancer screening can find cancer earlier, when treatment works better. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are at high risk because of their smoking history and age.”

Center for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite | U.S. Cancer Statistics | CDC)

“More than 16 million Americans live with a disease caused by smoking.

• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease, death, and disability in the United States.1

• Cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure cause more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is nearly one in five deaths.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cigarette Smoking | Smoking and Tobacco Use | CDC)

When you breathe in, air enters through your mouth and nose and goes into your lungs through the trachea (windpipe). The trachea divides into tubes called the bronchi (singular, bronchus), which enter the lungs and divide into smaller branches called the bronchioles. At the end of the bronchioles are tiny air sacs known as alveoli.

Many tiny blood vessels run through the alveoli. They absorb oxygen from the inhaled air into your bloodstream and pass carbon dioxide (a waste product from the body) into the alveoli. This is expelled from the body when you exhale. Taking in oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide are your lungs’ main functions.

A thin lining called the pleura surrounds the lungs. The pleura protects your lungs and helps them slide back and forth as they expand and contract during breathing. The space inside the chest that contains the lungs is called the pleural space (or pleural cavity).

Below the lungs, a thin, dome-shaped muscle called the diaphragm separates the chest from the abdomen. When you breathe, the diaphragm moves up and down, forcing air in and out of the lungs.

LUNG CANCER

There are 3 types of lungs cancer.  The two most common types of lung cancer that exist are 1 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is the most common, and 2 small cell lung cancer (SCLC), an aggressive cancer that occurs in just over 10 percent of all lung cancer cases.

The third group is 3 lung carcinoid tumors (also known as lung carcinoids) are a type of lung cancer, which is a cancer that starts in the lungs. Cancer starts when cells begin to grow out of control. Cells in nearly any part of the body can become cancer, and can spread to other areas of the body.

Lung carcinoid tumors are uncommon and tend to grow slower than other types of lung cancers. They are made up of special kinds of cells called neuroendocrine cells.

Lung Cancer Symptoms

Both major types of lung cancer have similar symptoms. These symptoms often include a cough that doesn’t go away and shortness of breath.

Sometimes lung cancer does not cause any signs or symptoms. It may be found during a chest X-ray done for another condition. Signs and symptoms may be caused by lung cancer or by other conditions. Check with your doctor if you have any of the following:

• Chest discomfort or pain
• A cough that doesn’t go away or gets worse over time
• Trouble breathing
• Wheezing
• Blood in sputum (mucus coughed up from the lungs)
• Hoarseness
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss for no known reason
• Tiredness/lethargy
• Trouble swallowing
• Swelling in the face and/or veins in the neck

For both conditions, early detection through a low-dose computed topography (CT) scan is especially critical. Identifying lung cancer in its earliest stages even before you have symptoms can reduce the risk of death by 20 percent, according to recent studies.

Non-small cell lung Cancer (NSCLC)

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of cancer in lung tissues. Your risk of developing this disease increases if you are a longtime or former smoker, have been exposed to passive smoke, or have had environmental or occupational exposure to radon, asbestos, uranium, and other substances. The primary types of NSCLC are named for the type of cells found in the cancer:

• Squamous-cell carcinoma (also called epidermoid carcinoma)
• Adenocarcinoma
• Large-cell carcinoma
• Adenosquamous carcinoma
• Undifferentiatiated carcinoma

Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC)

In small cell lung cancer (SCLC), small cancerous cells arise in the airway, usually in a central location. This is an aggressive cancer that spreads quickly throughout the body through the blood and lymphatic (node) systems. Typically occurring in people who smoke or who used to smoke, SCLC accounts for just over 10 percent of all lung cancers.

“From 2018 to 2022, nearly half of all lung cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage, meaning the cancer had spread from the lungs to distant parts of the body. More than one-fourth of lung cancers were found at a localized stage (the cancer had not spread outside the lungs) and less than one-fourth at a regional stage (the cancer had spread from the lungs to nearby lymph nodes, tissues, or organs).Overall, 29% of lung cancer patients had not died from their cancer 5 years later. However, survival rates differed depending on the stage at which the cancer was detected.

Most lung cancers are found after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, when survival is lowest. Lung cancer screening can find cancer earlier, when treatment works better. Lung cancer screening is recommended for people who are at high risk because of their smoking history and age.”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC (U.S. Cancer Statistics Lung Cancer Stat Bite | U.S. Cancer Statistics | CDC)