Thanksgiving

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april27kelli
april27kelli Posts: 338 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Anyone have any tips about how to enjoy a holiday feast without the guilt? Or how to track/log the calories of all the foods that other people bring? Or do most of you treat Thanksgiving like a "free pass" day?
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Replies

  • saraann4
    saraann4 Posts: 1,312 Member
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    It's Thanksgiving. It comes once a year. Enjoy yourself. If you are worried about guilt, just don't over-indulge. Sample everything.
  • lizblizz2012
    lizblizz2012 Posts: 196 Member
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    I'm not going to measure out every last morsel of food, but I'm not going to go crazy either. I see nothing wrong with people choosing to not log that day, simply because life is about enjoying these occasions with friends and family and for goodness sakes it's one day a year. However I will be logging, or trying my best to log everything at least roughly, because I want to keep myself from eating TOO much. I'm going to enjoy myself and eat some of everything, but I refuse to stuff myself until I can't move and then feel worthless and fat a week later when I weigh in and have gained back 4 pounds. Especially since I will be attending 4 different Thanksgiving dinners that weekend. Plus I want to keep up my "X days in a row" of logging :)
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Green beans, spinach, and turnips are your friends. Everything else to a minimum.
  • april27kelli
    april27kelli Posts: 338 Member
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    Good advice. Thanks :)
  • BigMike915
    BigMike915 Posts: 112 Member
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    ^^agree! One day will not hurt you. If I had to "diet" everyday I would have quit a long time ago. Just enjoy yourself and eat as you please, then continue regular habits the following day.
  • MrsMaui27
    MrsMaui27 Posts: 63 Member
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    Try not to stand right next to the food. Try to drink loooots of water.And when you eat,Enjoy ever bite! Try not to just inhale it! You will do fine!! Happy turkey day, Enjoy our self!!!
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    total free pass day

    make an effort to get a nice walk in. It's particularly refreshing while everyone else is konked out on tryptophan right before stuff-ourselves-with-pie-time. :)
    drink extra water too. It's hard to eat in excess when your belly is already full of liquid
  • kairisika
    kairisika Posts: 131 Member
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    Eat the things you really *enjoy*, and skip anything you're 'eh' on. My dad makes great pie, but I just really don't love pie. So I skip it. Saving calories for what you'll really really enjoy helps.
    Eat a little less the other days of the week.
    And if you enjoy having a big holiday meal, and it means that you don't drop any weight that week, or hey, even if you gained a full pound just off thanksgiving dinner... as long as it's a rare occurrence, it's really not a big deal.
  • Gwen_B
    Gwen_B Posts: 1,018 Member
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    I am going to eat plenty, and workout even harder. Thanksgiving is one day, I will enjoy it even if I am sore fore a week afterwards!
  • C00lCountry
    C00lCountry Posts: 282
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    Green beans, spinach, and turnips are your friends. Everything else to a minimum.

    What about the turkey?
    I mean turkey is not exactly loaded with calories for the amount of goodies you get.
    I will try to limit my intake but not restrict myself to not enjoying.
  • MsJayeKaye
    MsJayeKaye Posts: 155 Member
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    I plan to workout that morning and burn as many calories as possible so I can sample some of whatever I want that day. I do plan to log my food so I don't get too far off track. Thanksgiving is a day to enjoy food, family and friends and to be thankful for all you have been blessed with.
  • ParkerH47
    ParkerH47 Posts: 463 Member
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    heres a good site: though this post is directed towards halloween, a lot would transfer over. http://summertomato.com/9-tricks-to-make-halloween-a-treat/

    I say leave your guilt behind, BUT only eat the things you love! if you could take or leave that broccoli casserole, dont eat it. And eat slowly so that you know when your full.

    Eat a healthy and substantial lunch so your not starving before hand
  • djc315
    djc315 Posts: 585 Member
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    I will be eating and drinking (beer) all I want. I will have a little bit of every food. And I will enjoy a piece of pie.

    I'm spending Thanksgiving at a friends house since I live 3,000 plus miles away from my family. She is also watching what she is eating and it will just be her family of 5 plus me, so we won't have that much food anyway. But I still plan on enjoying myself.


    That being said, I will be putting veggies and salad on my plate first, then the turkey, and lastly the mashed potatoes. I find if I do that then I will be less likely to eat a plate full of mashed potatoes, which I totally could and would gladly do. I love mashed potatoes. And I will limit myself to one roll, if any. I'd rather have mashed potatoes than bread.

    Also, I will only have one plate. But I always do that. I never go back for seconds on holidays, so that isn't going to change for me.
  • MyPaperBleedsInk
    MyPaperBleedsInk Posts: 240 Member
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    Portion control.
    I'm DEFINITELY having all the foods I love... but unlike other holidays in the past... I wont go overboard on the amount I take of each. A little bit of everything, maybe a slight bit more of the things I absolutely love and don't eat often... Also going to resort to water for beverage... usually I'd do soda throughout the day and that's just way too many calories.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    Eat, enjoy, forget about it.

    One day is not going to un-do everything you've already done.. and limiting yourself to foods you think you should eat for the sake of following your diet, is stupid IMO.
  • shinkalork
    shinkalork Posts: 815 Member
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    turkey and greens....can't go wrong...

    Just PLEASE don't add all the other crappy sauces with a ton of sugar and cake etc...

    Stick to standard white meat and veggies and it's all good
  • Midnigh
    Midnigh Posts: 56 Member
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    Eat the things you really *enjoy*, and skip anything you're 'eh' on. My dad makes great pie, but I just really don't love pie. So I skip it. Saving calories for what you'll really really enjoy helps.
    Eat a little less the other days of the week.
    And if you enjoy having a big holiday meal, and it means that you don't drop any weight that week, or hey, even if you gained a full pound just off thanksgiving dinner... as long as it's a rare occurrence, it's really not a big deal.

    I'm with you on skipping the things you don't fully enjoy and then enjoy the things you reallllllly enjoy! Budgeting my calories.
  • hbm616
    hbm616 Posts: 377 Member
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    I found out that my gym is open that morning so I'm planning to get there bright and early and get a good workout in. Other than that I plan to not eat to the point where my stomach hurts.
    I will also focus on eating plenty of vegetables and take small pieces of dessert so I can have a little of everything. I won't be logging because I want to spend the day with my family and not in front of the computer trying to calculate my calories but I plan to be reasonable with my eating.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,250 Member
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    I already did my Thanksgiving... but I gave myself a free pass. These days only come up a few times a year (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birthdays...) so I don't worry about it. It wasn't those days that made me fat... it was all the days in between where I ate too much.

    That said, I found I couldn't even finish one plate of food OR have some of everything when before I would pile it up and go back for seconds. So, that was a win in upon itself!
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    I kept a pretty good mental note on how much of each thing I ate. The database is full of generic dishes. I logged left overs tonight and my full meal yesterday if you want to check it out. Normally I wouldnt even bother for just one day but it really wasnt that hard to log it and now I know how I did.

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