Thanksgiving is all about the feast and celebrating the harvest. While the holiday may be widely associated with over-indulgence, there are some easy ways to make the day and the feast healthier. Here are 10 tips to help make your Thanksgiving a bit more sensible:

1. Manage pre-meal nibbles

Have you ever gotten to the Thanksgiving table and realized you’re stuffed … even though you skipped lunch? Mindless munching can be the culprit. It’s easy to fall prey to mindless eating — snacking on foods when they’re put in front of us, whether we’re hungry or not. Help your guests keep mindless munching to minimum by handing out individual plates with a mix of healthy finger-foods like smoked salmon, crudités and hummus to guests. Then they’re free to nibble and this will help them still have room for the meal.

2. Consider courses

It takes our bodies about 20 minutes to register what we eat, which may be less time than it takes most people to eat a plate of turkey and all the trimmings. Serving in courses gives people’s bodies time to catch up with their tummies, guarding against unintentional overeating.

3. Be present

It’s so easy to get caught up in all the activity of a Thanksgiving feast while mindlessly grazing. Being present and aware of your actions helps keep unconscious eating in check. Here’s a simple tip to help you tune in: before each bite, for five consecutive bites, notice one new detail on your plate or palate — the flecks of parsley in the stuffing; the sweet, tangy scent of the cranberry sauce; etc. The simple act of noticing can help you eat less … and be more satisfied in doing so.

4. Serve someone

Taking the focus off your own meal entirely can give a healthy perspective. If you want to take a break from overabundance, volunteer to serve a Thanksgiving meal at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen or local church. You’ll discover how a meal can fill more than just our bodies.

5. Give thanks

Taking the time to be grateful for every aspect of the food on the table helps you become fully present to the meal. If you’re the host, offer a word of thanks or a toast before the meal. If you’re a guest, take ten seconds and reflect on those who grew or produced the food on the table, the joy that came from preparing the meal, and the people around the table you’ll be sharing it with.

6. Make dessert mini

You know the drill. There are three different desserts on the table and everyone wants a taste of each. Help your guests control their portion sizes by making desserts mini. Consider pumpkin cheesecake cupcakes, for instance, or mini pecan tartlets in lieu of a full pie.

7. Source a heritage bird

The closer we get to the source of our food the more mindful we may be about our meal. Buying a heritage breed turkey or a pastured turkey (one raised in fields or woods and allowed to forage for some of its own food) is a great way to do that. You’ll be supporting small farmers and helping preserve a part of our country’s history … and you may end up with one delicious bird on the carving board.

8. Balance the plate

Pretend your plate is a pie with eight slices. Fill two slices of that pie with meat, four with fruits and veggies and two with whole grains. A balanced plate can help lead to a balanced diet.

9. Go fresh

Leave behind the canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup and canned onions. Instead, try roasted brussels sprouts or fresh sautéed green beans.

10. Make a plan

The Thanksgiving feast is only one meal over the course of a four-day weekend. Go into it unprepared and you’re libel to fall back on take-out during the rush. A little bit of planning can go a long way to help. Bake a batch of Friendly Fiber Muffins to freeze and you’ll have breakfast covered. Make a pot of Turkey Chile Verde earlier in the week and you’ll have Friday’s dinner set. And keep some washed lettuce in the spinner and a jar of dressing in the fridge for easy salads with any meal.