Thanksgiving is the one day of the year when you can eat as much as you want (and, for many people, as much as you possibly can) without feeling guilty. Although you want to indulge in stuffing and pumpkin pie, you also don’t want to go overboard and wreak havoc on your diet. Here are a few smart ways to cut calories on Thanksgiving — without cutting out the sweet potato casserole.

1. Remove the turkey skin. While the turkey is the focal point of any Thanksgiving meal, you can save up to 20 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving without even noticing it simply by removing the skin before eating.
2. Eat light meat. Instead of reaching for the dark turkey meat, opt for the lighter sections and save about 20 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving.
3. Create a low carb stuffing. If you’re in charge of bringing the stuffing, swap half of the bread for veggies like onions or water chestnuts and low-fat chicken broth instead of butter.
4. Practice portion control. The only real foolproof way to eat everything that you want without going overboard on Thanksgiving is by limiting your portions. Split that piece of pie with a family member, or take small portions and only reach for more if you’re still feeling hungry.

21 Ways to Slim Down Your Thanksgiving Feast [SparkPeople]
20 Ways to Cut Thanksgiving Calories [FitDay]
Top 10 tips to cut back on calories and guilt this Thanksgiving [The Ann Arbor News]
10 Tips for a Thinner Thanksgiving [Web MD]

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Andrew Lee