Thanksgiving

chirpinggalaxy

Are you planning a "dirty" or cheat day for Thanksgiving? If not, how do you plan on staying keto that day?

We have a huge family gathering full of stuffing, bread, and all sorts of sweets. This year, I'm in charge of the rolls and many of the desserts.

I don't know yet if I am planning a dirty day. I'm thinking of making desserts that are more keto-friendly and possibly foregoing the obvious carbs such as bread and stuffing. We'll see what happens when the time comes.

I'd love to hear your strategies and recipes.

enam_frist

I don't know. Just the thought of it scares me!

Golightly17

I always make a Thanksgiving spread for home and my husband and I go to a family dinner as well. I do have higher carbs that day- love me some sweet potatoes! However, I modify items like pumpkin pie and use stevia and almond flour. I have food allergies to egg and wheat so in some ways it makes it easy to avoid certain things. I also emphasize protein and fat on my plate before anything, to me those are the best parts anyway! That said, this is a lifestyle and I think it's important to take a counting day off every once in a while to enjoy life and the special occasions in it.

danamcox

Good topic. Just started thinking about Thanksgiving this past weekend. My husband and I are doing Atkins and decided that we would incorporate both low carb dishes and traditional fare. For us, we will serve mashed cauliflower, our usual cheesy broccoli with fried onions on top, take a stab at a keto giblet gravy I saw somewhere online (using xanthan gum - whatever that is) and include a low carb pumpkin cheesecake. I am also interested in what other's are doing -- and their recipes!

For my youngest son, I cannot get away from making sweet potatoes with marshmallows -- but I do not have to partake in the gooey sweet goodness. Unless we can find a good low carb dinner roll recipe or substitute, we will probably just abstain (or maybe just have one or two bites of my mother's homemade rolls -- if abstaining no longer becomes an option!). I'm thinking about doing away with stuffing this year, as only a few people eat it and we usually end up a lot left over.

We will have a smaller group than usual this year, so it should be a little easier to make a few tiny changes . . . or so I hope.

Dana

teaddicted

it can be the right day to take a break and give you some energy back!

Avansilee

My mother makes the Thanksgiving dinner, and it's all family recipes. This year since I've been doing well on keto, she's letting me throw in small bowls of low-carb options. Specifically a cauliflower and cheese mash, and keto friendly gravy (because I hate 'dry' turkey).

I'm also making low-carb pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate chip cookies, because dessert always gets to me at the family dinner simply because it sits out there so long I can't resist it.

What's nice is its tradition at my parent's house for there to be hor d'oeuvres before any big meal, which includes a pepperoni and cheese plate. So I plan to nibble on that, have my turkey and 'potatoes' and some dessert. If all goes well I'll probably still be a bit over on everything (it IS Thanksgiving, not over until we're all fat ladies singing Christmas Carols...), but I won't have gone absolutely crazy with it to the point of throwing myself off track completely.

Mistizoom

I started eating low carb right before Thanksgiving last year and made it through pretty well, so I plan to stick to my plan this year as much as possible. It's not worth getting kicked out of ketosis for me. I'm not sure what we're doing yet, but usually at some point we go to MIL's house (weekend before or after T-day) and at some point either I'll cook or we'll go out to eat (T-day itself). The good thing is MIL is a terrible cook, so nothing she makes that is high carb makes me want to eat it, LOL. Except for her mashed potatoes, those are actually good, so I might have a spoonful of those. So I'll stick with turkey and veggies for the most part, olives, cheese, etc. Maybe I'll make a low carb dessert, and attempt a low carb gravy (shouldn't be too hard, it would be easy to thicken with glucomannan).

yustick

This is my target cheat day. I'm just hoping, I can make it until then on 25 net carbs/day. I keep telling myself...just make it to Thanksgiving.

I'm only a couple weeks into this. Maybe by then, I'll feel that keto high and won't want to blow it, but I doubt it. Either way, I don't plan to go all out crazy.

chirpinggalaxy

I love pumpkin pie most of all and I'm going to put this recipe here. It looks like it has promise. It's a grain free pumpkin pie, made with a nut crust.

http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/10/the-best-paleo-pumpkin-pie.html

As is, if divided into 8 servings, it has (per serving):
Calories 345
Total Fat 25.2g
Total Carbohydrates 26.5g
Dietary Fiber 4.7g
Sugars 17.8g
Protein 9.2g

I reanalyzed the recipe, omitting the honey and maple syrup and came up with this, per serving. Use whatever sweetener you like in place of the honey and maple syrup:
Calories 287
Total Fat 25.1g
Total Carbohydrates 11.2g
Dietary Fiber 4.6g
Sugars 3.2g
Protein 9.2g

AllanMisner

I will probably be the one cooking the turkey and I'm going to stir fry some kale. I'll still probably go off keto, but because of the wine I'll drink.

chani8

I wish I could figure out which wine is best to drink, meaning lowest in carbs. In order to lower my carb drink, I switched from wine to whiskey, and watered it down. It was nice.

I've been carb cycling and just FYI, if you go walking within 15 minutes of your big meal, you'll burn off some of that glycogen before it ruins your keto too much. I'm not saying that you could eat 250 carbs and get away with it. But if you can keep your carbs around 100 for the day, it seems to work, at least it does for me.

And then the next day, before you do anything, get in some kind of workout, on an empty stomach. By noon, you just might very well be back in keto.

Enjoy Thanksgiving!!

Rei1988

I plan to make a low-carb keto friendly thanksgiving meal for me!

SASSYGIRLY30

We are going to my in-laws for Thanksgiving.. I've decided to bring my own dessert and I'm making mock twice baked potato (cauliflower)..

My my sister in-law always makes a few veggie side dishes so I plan to stay on Keto.

4athomej

I also came across a pumpkin pie recipe...it screamed Thanksgiving at me...so looking forward to trying it!!!

http://ketofood.blogspot.ca/2012/10/low-carb-pumpkin-pie-with-pecan-crust.html

341 calories per slice; 4 grams net effective carbs (7.9 grams carbs - 4.9 dietary fiber)

timwhoa

one year we did have a "low carb" thanksgiving with mock mashed taters, pumpkin pie ( almond crust), stuff like that, this year I have a goal of staying in Ketosis right up till thanksgiving and taking the day off, then back onto atkins induction on Friday

hookilau

This will be our first Thanksgiving with my T2D dx...I'm not really sure what I'll do.
Most likely, I'll eat whatever I want but be mindful of the amount. It's not as much *what* I eat, as it is how *much* of the particularly 'off program' food I'm consuming that jacks me up.

There are a number of ethnic foods that haven't passed my lips in the 6 months since I've been diagnosed, however, I think I will take the hit because my tight control has been really good for the past few months. Now that I know how food affect me, I feel like I'll be ok

Now, fielding questions from relatives and dodging the T2D police is a horse of a different color :blushing:

amylein

This has been my "go-to" Thanksgiving menu - low carb, sugar free and gluten free. Definitely doesn't meet keto ratios but it's low(er) carb than the norm/traditional fare.

Turkey with herbed butter rub (amazeballs!)

Stuffing - http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2011/10/dress-rehearsal.html

Cranberry "corn bread" muffins - http://healthylivinghowto.com/1/post/2012/11/healthy-holidays-cranberry-corn-bread-muffins.html

Mashed Cauliflower with butter and brie

Bacon wrapped green bean bundles

Cranberry sauce (using stevia as a sweetener)

Bourbon pumpkin cheesecake - http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2010/11/pumpkin-bourbon-cheesecake-with-spiced-pecan-crust-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html

amylein

I plan to make a low-carb keto friendly thanksgiving meal for me!

I need to tweak my menu to be more keto-ish than just low carb. Do you have any ideas of how you're going to get higher fat%?

Rei1988

I plan to make a low-carb keto friendly thanksgiving meal for me!

I need to tweak my menu to be more keto-ish than just low carb. Do you have any ideas of how you're going to get higher fat%?

One word. BUTTER. lol

hookilau

So, thinking about Thanksgiving has kind of taken me over :blushing:
My mom does this really embarrassing thing where she critiques my newly found 'alternative' recipes. :huh:

Me: I found a new sugar/starch free recipe so I can have 'insert dish here' again.
Mom: really???? is it goooood? I mean really guuuuuuud?
:huh:
Me: well mom, I don't really know 'cause I can't have stuff with sugar or starch in them so this will be the first cheesecake/sweet thing I've had in weeks, soooooo...
Mom: yeah, but is it gooood?
Me: well mom, diabetic friendly foods and replacement foods aren't really good compared to the real thing, but since it's all I can have, it's as good as it gets for me
Mom: it's not good is it?
:frown: :laugh:

For some reason, she completely misses the concept that I don't have a choice anymore. Because she chooses to eat something because it tastes good, she still thinks that's how I decide whether or not to eat something :sick: Like mock mashed potatoes. :grumble: No mom, it's cauliflower, how do you THINK it tastes?

I'm probably not explaining this right.:laugh:

chirpinggalaxy

Have you explained that your health may be at stake if you get away from your diet? If so, does she not get it?

Parents can be such a pain. :laugh:

Jasmine_James

My fiance and I are spending this Thanksgiving in Aspen -- just the two of us (we try to avoid big family gatherings and at least limit them to just one holiday a year). We'll be doing some fine dining and I want to enjoy every bite and not limit my choices to keto-friendly options. My plan is to go strong keto for three or four weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, and then take one of my usual breaks that weekend.

The holidays were really depressing for me last year because I felt self-conscious and overweight and I couldn't enjoy eating all the fixings on Thanksgiving because of guilty thinking. This year, I've been committed to keto with scheduled breaks throughout (primarily for vacations, weddings, etc.) and I feel proud of really adopting a lifestyle and balance that has helped me lose weight but also feel healthy. I am looking forward to having some bread, stuffing, dessert, and more without any negative thoughts or guilt over it.

EddieHaskell97

Officially: I will be hitting goal weight on Thanksgiving, so it'll be the end of ketosis, and a day of celebration.

Unofficially: For me, it's going to be so wantonly dirty and full of flour, sugar, beer and wine that it'll have to be called "Eddie Carbs Dallas" instead of "Thanksgiving!" After five months of ketosis... Bow-chika-wow-wow!

wheels_33

I can't pass up grandmom's cornbread sausage stuffing. I will at least rationalize this cheat by playing the annual 3 hour tackle football game in the morning.