Thanksigiving Menu Plan

KaciWood19

28 days til we celebrate good ol' turkey day here in the US. I'm a planner so I've already started planning my menu for our 11 guests. I emailed them all a rough draft to get their opinions and see if they wanted to commit to bringing any of it. I'm trying to plan for the usuall goodies + some healthier options to round it out. I hope to get in an AM workout and not binge eat! How are you planning to stay on track through the holidays? How do your family members respond when you try to add in healthier options?

amez1974

Most of the time the guests just appreciate being cooked for

Last year I did some little things to the menu-like add a stick of butter instead of two to the dressing, LF or FF cream cheese to the potatoes instead of full fat, low fat cool whip, ff cream cheese to a banana cream pie. Honestly no one noticed those changes. I did try a couple of alternative things and added a few new dishes. But I add new dishes to try every year, so no one thought anything of it. At my in-laws meal she left the butter out of the mashed potatoes completely and folks just added it to their own if they wanted it.

I did have a flop last year-I always make pumpkin rolls and I did make a traditional one (using lf cream cheese) but I tried a FF version using angel food cake and it just didn't compare. I would much rather have a smaller piece of the original then a large piece of the alternative.

stephaniekhani

I'm an Amercan transplanted in London but I still plan on celebrating. I've taken the day off work but I plan on crockpotting the turkey crown (it's just me and the hubby so we don't need a full turkey) and using that time to hit the gym/go for a run/run errands. After that, I'm letting myself relax for the day. I won't binge eat but Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday and the only holiday where I let myself have what I want without feeling guilty.

We've also planned lots of veggies in on the menu, so it's not too calorie-heavy. Try out Skinnytaste.com... they have some nice fall recipes on there which are really tasty!

santini1975

I'm glad you posted this, I didn't realize it was creeping up on Thanksgiving already! Last year I gained 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas and I'm really worried about it this year. I will make sure to have healthy snacks out during the day while the turkey is cooking so I'm not ravenous when dinner is ready! My mom always had a veggie tray on the table with several different dips. Stick to the white meat of the bird, don't smother it in gravy, and make sure you have lots of veggies to fill up on!

DenyseMarieL

I am in 'Canada, and we had our Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. It was a bit challenging this year, I am used to gorging myself on all the fixins'. I made sure to only take a portion of the foods I really loved, and didn't feel pressured to eat everything. I served myself half of what I would have usually taken, and was suprised at how full I got just on that. I ate slowly. I even ended up leaving some on my plate. I didn't have dessert, i was never a huge fan of pumpkin pie unless it was smothered in whipped cream. I didn't miss it. I made sure I kept up my workouts and ate light through the day to make up for the extra calories I would eat. If you treat it like any other meal, it's easy. it shouldn't be an excuse to overeat.

KaciWood19

I too think if I have some yummy healthy appetizers throughout the day then dinner won't be too bad. I'll prob have 1 plate full of proper or even smaller portions of all my favorites. Then choose either a small portion of each desert or just pick 1 and have a normal size portion. Hopefully I don't have too much wine though! :drinker: :laugh: