If you're invited to a Thanksgiving meal this year, you can almost guarantee that you'll be faced with a feast. With all the delectable treats, juicy meats and flavorful eats, will you be able resist eating too much when you're seated at the Thanksgiving table? If you think you might struggle with overeating this Thanksgiving, do your waistline a favor and follow these simple suggestions.

Step 1:

Eat normally throughout the day. People often make the mistake of skipping meals on Thanksgiving Day in order to "make room" for dinner. Unfortunately, all this does is give you reason to eat even more at the end of the day (which is when you don't want to be packing on the calories). To avoid overeating at Thanksgiving, make a point of eating breakfast and lunch as you normally would on Thanksgiving Day. Then you'll have no reason to overeat at dinner because you won't be starving by the time supper hits.

Step 2:

Get some exercise before dinner. If you can, get some fresh air before you eat Thanksgiving dinner. A brisk walk or even a quick run will suppress some of your appetite at that same time that it will boost your metabolism. After you exercise, you won't feel like eating too much at Thanksgiving dinner.

Step 3:

Drink lots of water. You won't be able to fill your stomach with Thanksgiving food if it's already full of liquid. Although water won't satisfy you for too long, it will help to slow down your eating so that you'll be able to sense when your stomach is full sooner. Water in your stomach makes you feel fuller earlier.

Step 4:

Don't put more on your plate than you normally would. Many people treat a holiday meal as a feast during which they can pile the food on in two or three layers on their plates. But before you are tempted to do the same this Thanksgiving, ask yourself how much food you would normally eat for supper. Would you pile on 10 different kinds of foods until it was several inches high on your plate? This is certainly something people do without realizing it, and it's something you need to avoid doing this Thanksgiving. Instead, choose a normal serving of meat, and have your potatoes with a few vegetables. Try not to overload your plate with food that you really don't need. And, instead of going back for more and more of your favorite dish, just savor your first helping. Remember, you can always take some leftovers home for the next day. You'll still get to eat all of your favorite foods, but you won't have to overeat at one meal in order to do so.