Thanksgiving!!
Meganooxoo
Posts: 8 Member
Oh shoot! I just remembered thanksgiving is soon... I think for that day, I don’t want to care about my calorie limit and none of that. Is that bad? Lol
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Why would that be bad. You have goals and you have needs and wants and a life. Make your choices6
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Normal people don't stress about holidays since they are few and far between. If you can't relax and let go once in a while you're sucking the fun out of life. Lol1
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Nope cause there are 365 days in a year. I bet you will find that you do not eat as much as you think you will. Your body gets use to the change and you will probably feel fuller sooner.3
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All of this is true, but then there’s left overs, then Christmas. I never understood when people said they gained more in the holiday season, because I never tried to lose or cared. Now I totally understand haha. It is just one day. I didn’t mean bad as in, I’m going overboard. I meant is it bad in a sarcastic kinda way.
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If those people are eating themselves stupid to a point where they are gaining that much weight.. I probably wouldn't even use them as a comparison0
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I used to blow a year's worth of weight loss in the winter with mindless *daily* "holiday" eating and as little movement as possible. I was stressing for a while about this year, because 34# is a lot of ground to lose, but I have calmed down about it-- I have a plan, and I'm prepared. I've planned my menu, entered my recipes into MFP already so I know what kinds of calories I'm dealing with (and importantly, a plan for the leftovers), have a schedule of exercise that I've already been keeping to for several months and I'm feeling pretty good about it this year.6
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Yummy, yum! I plan on eating my way into a semi-coma. If I can remember my own name at the end of it all then it just wasn't Thanksgiving.2
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I am doing low starch for a medical reason right now to see if that helps me. That limits my choices substantially. Turkey, cranberry sauce and not much else traditional. I will probably roast diced rutabaga with olive oil and spices. I am definitely making some baked apples with a large cavity stuffed with chopped pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. So I may still spike the calories.1
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My sister is cooking so I don't have to worry about eating.............that much LOL. I don't trust her cooking so I'll be good.3
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Thanksgiving is largely about making low cal foods high cal (at least that describes my family's traditional dishes), but in that I've been doing this for a while now it's not hard to make many Thanksgiving dishes that are quite reasonable calories, and turkey is not high cal. I usually make a garlic mashed potatoes with just a bit of milk and let everyone add butter to taste (I make a gravy too, but I don't care much about gravy so usually pawn off the making of it to someone else). My sister last year did a cauliflower potato mix that she's really into and prefers. Then I roast sweet potatoes (the only way I like them) and don't add anything but olive oil and salt. If someone wants candied yams, they can bring them (IME, no one really likes these, most prefer the plainer sweet potatoes). I have a green bean dish with dill and almonds and mushrooms that I prefer to a green bean casserole, and will usually do brussels with bacon, but it's easy enough to do them pretty plain and roasted too. Salad is easy. I'm picky about cranberry sauce and will usually make one with fresh cranberries and some other fruit to add sweetness. Someone else will bring their favorite stuffing (I used to spend tons of time on stuffing and then just delegated it, because I don't even care about stuffing). Our other always dish is a broccoli and cauliflower thing with cheese that my mother used to make and my sister now does, but although high cal it's vegetable based (and the way we make it, it would be fine for someone low carbing, although I don't think any of the crowd currently is).
Then there's dessert, but you can go easy on these.
And, no, I never log Thanksgiving.
The reason I think the holiday season can be challenging isn't the holiday meals, but the many, many extra treats available and parties and cookie exchanges and so on between Thanksgiving and New Years (and my birthday is in there too, although at this age, who cares). ;-) Plus perhaps an attitude of "it's the holidays, I have to eat this or I am missing out" which I used to have somewhat.1 -
CarvedTones wrote: »I am doing low starch for a medical reason right now to see if that helps me. That limits my choices substantially. Turkey, cranberry sauce and not much else traditional. I will probably roast diced rutabaga with olive oil and spices. I am definitely making some baked apples with a large cavity stuffed with chopped pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. So I may still spike the calories.
YUM!1 -
Nope...I am keeping my eyes open and keeping it in perspective. My mind and goals are in a good place with my success that holiday food will not derail me. I will enjoy but with a perspective!0
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It is one day, and it is manageable.
Enjoy it, log it, and continue on.
One day ( or several if you count the Christmas & New Year's holidays) will not make a big difference.
Just don't let it become a daily habit and you will be fine.
Holidays & special occasions occur. Learning self control and how to manage your daily eating habits will go a long way towards successfully maintaining a healthy weight for life.1 -
It is possible to eat "holiday food" in moderation. We are not required to eat until we are stuffed to the gills. By all means, do it if you want to, but you have no social or legal obligation to do so. Same goes for leftovers after Thanksgiving, etc.1
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It’s not bad. Everyone has a different aim for the day. Some stick to their deficit, some bank calories in the days leading up to it, some eat up to their maintenance calories, and some go all out. The key is to get back to what you were doing on Friday, or Monday if you’re enjoying the entire weekend.2
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I agree with you all one way or another. It is what we make it so eat smaller portions and choose to be happy and enjoy being with the family. Have a great Thanksgiving.
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I'm already thinking a lot about Thanksgiving- I'm new to weight loss and exercise and don't want to see the small progress I've made disappear. There will be several meals in the next week that will be a challenge for me, as we are driving to my husband's family, stopping at exciting restaurants (Korean, Polish) along the way to celebrate my husband's birthday. I'll pay attention to portion control as much as I can, but no way am I missing out on these foods.0
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nickssweetheart wrote: »CarvedTones wrote: »I am doing low starch for a medical reason right now to see if that helps me. That limits my choices substantially. Turkey, cranberry sauce and not much else traditional. I will probably roast diced rutabaga with olive oil and spices. I am definitely making some baked apples with a large cavity stuffed with chopped pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. So I may still spike the calories.
YUM!
One of the recipes I have calls it "pecan pie baked apples". You use a paring knife to remove the core in a funnel shape that doesn't go all the way through. Stuff it, bake it just enough so that it only softens a little, cool and slice in half and the halves look like small pieces of pecan pie are in the middle.2 -
EVERY DAY is Thanksgiving to and for me (just some days (the so-called "holidays") on a larger scale than others), BUT, I'm purposefully counting every single solitary day as thanksgiving, period. On this "thanksgiving" I'll eat just as I do everyday, whatever I want...just smaller portions of it. I'll log calories and if it's under my daily goal, I'll be thankful and if it's over my daily cal count...I'll still be EQUALLY thankful. Being thankful and grateful and "celebrating" life, family, friends and everything in between is so much FUN--I dare not/no longer am a "slave" to my appetite, traditions, to nothing at all. No longer will I ALLOW myself to be limited to being thankful and eating, drinking and making merry to just 1 day a year. Nope, instead I'll count it all joy that it's a day off and eat like I'm on a mission (to be slimmer and healthier) and be thankful and grateful (on Thanksgiving and EVERYDAY) that I get to see & live another day on this earth--just like I do now, everyday.
Thanksgiving...YAY--bring it! Again, I'm so looking forward to the day off minus ANY fuss/muss/stress and woe(of eating, drinking whatever)--those days are forever GONE and I "Thank" God they are--Boom!
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I already told my mom that I'm sticking to turkey and green beans for the meal. And I'll be weighing everything before I eat it.1
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Thanksgiving is one day. Christmas (or whatever other holiday you may celebrate) pick one or two days. New Years Eve is one day. And maybe one or two others when you have a serious holiday festivity or party, so like 5 days total out of 35-40 that make up the holiday season. Relax on those days, try a little of everything, and remember more enjoyable food days are coming so you don't have to gorge.
You can get back on track the next day and still enjoy a turkey sandwich or leftover piece of pie in a deficit.
The key is to not overeat for the entire season.2 -
Leftovers. That is what freezers are for. Get some plastic containers and portion out those leftovers into meals you can eat in the future. If you are portioning for the family, label yours and family separately. That way you know which you have taken the time to weigh before you eat them.
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There's nothing inherently wrong with the foods we generally eat for Holidays (especially for Thanksgiving - turkey is one of the lowest calorie white meats around).
What really gets me are the 'extra' desserts and non-meal snacking (and holiday snacking tends to equate to eating a full meal). Try to limit those and it's not all that hard to stay within target.1 -
I, personally, am going to eat about 2,000 calories of just stuffing. That's not counting the gravy, cornbread or turkey and mashed potatoes I'm going to add to the 2,000 calories. So, you could say I'm not worried about it.3
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I was thinking I was just going to treat it like any other day, but now I think by the time I'm done there won't be an ounce of turkey breast left in town.
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@lemurcat12 - recipe for the green bean dish??? Sounds like a potentially light side-dish option.
This year, I have decided to go nearly non-traditional with the menu. I'm planning on a potato-fennel soup, pumpkin cornbread, wild rice/roasted beet/orange/romaine salad, maple-glazed tofu. Except the pie will absolutely be one traditional item - pumpkin. I think I'm also going to try a vegan pecan pie this year.
Overall, I don't think it's too decadent a meal. In fact, may add some stuffing and cranberry sauce to round it out, because I looove stuffing and cranberry sauce. Will be enough food for a good meal with some, but not tons, of leftovers. In fact, if more family come than we have planned right now, I may have to increase the recipes or we likely won't have enough.
I will vaguely track, but not overly concerned about it.
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@lemurcat12 - recipe for the green bean dish??? Sounds like a potentially light side-dish option.
This year, I have decided to go nearly non-traditional with the menu. I'm planning on a potato-fennel soup, pumpkin cornbread, wild rice/roasted beet/orange/romaine salad, maple-glazed tofu. Except the pie will absolutely be one traditional item - pumpkin. I think I'm also going to try a vegan pecan pie this year.
Overall, I don't think it's too decadent a meal. In fact, may add some stuffing and cranberry sauce to round it out, because I looove stuffing and cranberry sauce. Will be enough food for a good meal with some, but not tons, of leftovers. In fact, if more family come than we have planned right now, I may have to increase the recipes or we likely won't have enough.
I will vaguely track, but not overly concerned about it.
Wow, your menu sounds amazing.0 -
I'm so hungry now.1
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@lemurcat12 - recipe for the green bean dish??? Sounds like a potentially light side-dish option.
It's pretty light, yeah. I don't really use a recipe, but wing it -- basically maybe some garlic and shallots in olive oil, sautee mushrooms, add the green beans, cook until they are bright (salt and pepper to taste) and then toss on some slivered almonds or pine nuts, cook very briefly, and when finished add some sprigs of fresh dill.1 -
Last year I got things started in the morning and headed out for a nice 10 mile walk.....I felt so pumped after that I did not over eat at all. Will employ the same strategy this year.
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