Eat Thanksgiving dinner early, try 6-6-6 walking, add fiber to your eggs — and 9 more health tips to help you have a great week

Hello, Yahoo readers! My name is Rachel Grumman Bender, and I’m here with your weekly wellness fix to help you have a healthier week ahead.

Thanksgiving is so close you can practically smell the turkey. The holiday certainly has its highs (watching the parade and eating a hefty slice of pumpkin pie) and lows (crowded, chaotic airports and unsolicited advice from Aunt Martha). Here’s one small thing to make the hectic holiday a little easier (besides wearing stretchy pants) and help keep things in perspective: Focus on something you’re thankful for, big or small. (November is National Gratitude Month, after all.)

Even better if you can make this a regular habit beyond Thanksgiving. For example, every Sunday evening, my family and I go around the table and share what our favorite activity was over the weekend (like my kids finally watching Star Wars for the first time) and something we’re grateful for (like sleeping in on a Saturday). Yes, it helps us focus on the positive, but practicing gratitude also has actual health perks: It reduces stress, improves sleep and mood, and, according to Harvard Health, may even help you live longer.

Planning on doing a turkey trot to get in some exercise before the Thanksgiving feast? Be sure to check your local forecast first. If you’re curious about what the stars have in store for you, glance at your horoscope as well. Then choose “one small thing” to prioritize your health this week. Let’s do this.

🍗 Eat (Thanksgiving) dinner early

While there are plenty of fans of the early bird special, Martha Stewart is taking things to another level by suggesting that people start the Thanksgiving meal at 2 p.m. Her argument: “You can eat and then watch the big game, then have more drinks and have fun,” Stewart said. “And eat dessert later.” While that time may not necessarily work, between watching football (there are three NFL games that day), kids’ nap times and waiting until the star of the show — the turkey — is fully cooked, there’s something to be said for dining earlier in the day: It gives your body time to digest all of that food, so it’s less likely to trigger heartburn and a bad night’s sleep. Plus, there will be time for seconds if you get hungry again.

👟 Try 6-6-6 walking

Japanese walking, Nordic walking, long walks, short walks — there’s no shortage of ways to get in a walk (which is a great idea after all of that sleep-inducing Thanksgiving turkey). But if you’re looking for something new, try 6-6-6 walking. The trend involves a six-minute warm-up before doing a brisk 60-minute walk. That’s followed by a six-minute cooldown. Some even take it to the next level by doing the 6-6-6 walk at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m. six days a week, according to Vogue. But whenever you choose to do it, lacing up your sneakers for longer strolls, like 6-6-6 walking, helps build endurance, strengthen muscles and lower blood pressure.

🥑 Add avocado to your eggs

Looking to level up your breakfast scramble? Add some avocado. While eggs are packed with protein, they’re missing another key ingredient: fiber — something most people aren’t getting enough of. Avocados are a surprising source of filling fiber (half an avocado has about 4 to 5 grams of it). They also contain heart-healthy fats, which can help lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels, reports EatingWell.

🥗 Make this easy salad dressing

Salad dressings help take a dull bowl of greens and turn them into something delicious, but many store-bought dressings are high in sodium (and sugar). Nutritionist Joy Bauer shared her hack for cutting back with Today: Dilute store-bought vinaigrettes by adding balsamic or red vinegar. Or better yet, make your own easy salad dressing. Here’s Bauer’s go-to recipe: Mix together 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup water, 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon garlic powder into a mason jar with a lid. Looking for other ways to use less sodium, which can lower high blood pressure and reduce your risk of heart disease? Check out these eight salt substitutes.

🦩 Balance on one leg

How long can you balance on one leg? Experts say this simple test can reveal a lot about your health. For older adults, “if you are unable to balance on one leg for more than 10 seconds, it’s very likely that you are at increased fall risk and actually could even potentially indicate an increased risk of dying in the next decade,” Dr. Gillian Wooldridge, a sports medicine physician at Houston Methodist Hospital, tells HuffPost. Under age 30? You should be able to balance on one leg for 40 to 45 seconds. Those between 30 and 50 years old should be able to do it for 30 seconds, Wooldridge says. “The younger you are, the longer you should be able to balance on one leg,” she adds. If you’re feeling unsteady, try practicing standing on one leg every day — while washing dishes or talking on the phone with a friend — to get better at it. Here are some other ways to improve your balance.

🚭 Stop smoking — even if it’s just a few cigarettes

Smoking a couple of cigarettes might seem fairly harmless compared with being a heavy smoker, but even light smoking can damage your health more than you might think. New research shows that having two to five cigarettes a day can more than double your risk of any type of heart disease and raise your risk of death from any cause by 60% compared with people who never smoked. “Even we were surprised by the strength of harm from even a low quantity of cigarettes and the incredible importance that and quitting early had on long-term heart health,” says study author Michael J. Blaha, a professor of cardiology and epidemiology and director of clinical research at the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Need help quitting? These tips can help boost your odds of stopping for good.

🫂 Say this instead of ‘I’m sorry for your loss’

Most of us struggle to find the right words after someone loses a loved one. While there’s nothing wrong with “I’m so sorry for your loss” or “I’m thinking about you,” sometimes giving them an opportunity to talk about the person they’re mourning can be more meaningful and comforting. On the latest episode of Good Hang With Amy Poehler, the comedian and podcast host did a beautiful job of this during a conversation with Ariana Grande, who recently lost her grandmother. After offering her condolences, Poehler said, “Tell me about her,” which led to Grande telling a funny story about her nonna that she might not have shared otherwise. Here’s another conversation starter if you’re searching for something to say: What’s your favorite memory with them?

🫒 Use extra-virgin olive oil

Extra-virgin olive oil has loads of benefits and is considered the healthiest cooking oil you can use. It reduces inflammation and contains healthy fats and antioxidants, which in turn protect against heart disease and may reduce the risk of stroke. You can even clean with it. Not bad for a salad dressing ingredient, right? While there are ample extra-virgin olive oil options, might I suggest this one from Graza? (Just be sure to read the disclaimer.)

🫀 Calculate your heart disease risk

Heart disease is often thought of as an older person’s health problem, but the risk factors that lead to it — namely, smoking, being sedentary and having high blood pressure, diabetes or not-so-good cholesterol levels — start much younger than most people realize. A new, free online heart risk calculator can help adults ages 30 to 59 get a clearer picture of their risk of developing heart disease over the next 30 years (and be sure to discuss the results with your health care provider). “We all procrastinate, but prioritizing health has to start today — and can with this tool,” senior study author Sadiya Khan, the Magerstadt professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells NBC News.

😴 Track how long it takes to fall asleep

Passing out as soon as your head hits the pillow isn’t necessarily the flex you might think it is. Experts say that falling asleep too quickly, such as within five minutes or less, can be a sign of sleep deprivation or burnout. So what’s the ideal time it should take to fall asleep? While it can vary from person to person, clinical psychologist and insomnia specialist Kristen Casey shared this with HuffPost: “The National Sleep Foundation suggests that it should take about 15 to 20 minutes for a healthy person.” If you find yourself falling asleep super fast (or taking a long time to nod off), bring it up with your health care provider and try these tips to improve your sleep routine.

🪴 Get an indoor plant

Your houseplants do so much than serve as decor. They also come with air-purifying perks, filtering out pollutants such as formaldehyde, ammonia and benzene. If you’d like cleaner air in your home (and who wouldn’t?), Yahoo Creator Tamara White says some of the best plants to have include a snake plant, monstera, rubber plant, pothos, Boston fern and aloe vera. Taking care of plants also helps reduce stress. “Interacting with plants, whether they are indoor or out, with activities such as watering or pruning, has been shown in studies to reduce cortisol level, the stress hormone in the body, and to improve heart rate, which makes you feel more calm and relaxed,” says Susan Albers, a psychologist with the Cleveland Clinic.