Thanksgiving is almost upon us

It is help full if you have water before you go and a nice health snack to avoid over eating and if it is a potluck bring one of your fav dishes so you that there is aleast one thing you can have also look at all the dishes before you take anything and take small portion and do not go back for seconds also if you can take gum to chew on also it may help you :happy:

I began this in May of 2012 and was also concerned about over eating during the holidays. It's been over a year and as another poster said - Thanksgiving is one day. Eat some of everything you like. Go for a walk that afternoon. The next day get back on plan. Thanksgiving and Christmas is not what made me gain weight - the other 363 days did. Enjoy your life.

definitely not cranberry sauce, thats all i have to say

ummm...enjoy everything, and don't overeat. That is your life now.
Or, pig out, and make up for it next week. Either way, enjoy your holiday. I know I will.

I've never been at a holiday celebration yet that they force fed you. Use portion control and make good choices. You don't have to over eat to enjoy yourself. Enjoy the company, savour a bit of the things you like and feel good about your day.

since i lollygagged all summer im gonna be in the same boat as you. if this is a lifestyle change for you do as others hve suggested and allow urself the one day to enjoy and just focus on the big picture. in my case im hunkering down again harder starting now and so my plan for our thanksgiving which is weeks away would be if i were bringing a side to bring plain green beans with toppings for others to add like bacon mushroom sauce fried onions almonds etc. i would eat a big salad right before going and a coffee on the way. try having a big appetite after that. then i would fill half my plate with my plain green beans and claim to LOVE them like that and a 4th the plate turkey and the other 4th a roll or stiffing or mashed potatoes whichever looks tastiest. then i would eat mostly the green beans and dabble in the other stuff. if dessert got pushed on me i would gracefully accept...but ask for coffee with it. then i would focus on the coffee act so full and ask to take it home with me and finish my coffee and leave right away. no napping and waking up for seconds. i would work that dessert into the next days cals and since my diet allows a full meal like i just describd i would have stayed on course without starting a dialogue about my weight loss plans in front of family or in laws which i dont know who is worse anymore.

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I'm planning to just save all my calories for the meal/leftovers -- that's about 1000 for the meal itself and 500 for a late-night leftover party. I don't honestly think I'll eat anywhere near that, but if I want to I'll be able to. And if I go over by a few hundred? Meh. It's one day. Even if I ate up to maintenance (about 2300) I wouldn't gain. (For that matter, even if I ate something ridiculous like 3000 calories I wouldn't gain more than a few ounces.) After the holiday I'll plan my daily meals around leftovers for a week or so because... seriously, turkey and cranberry sauce and cornbread stuffing are not terrible foods to eat, and I love them.

Don't stress about it much. Make sensible choices, sure, but make sure to give yourself plenty of room to enjoy the holiday and the food. Bring a food scale if you want to watch your portions, check in with yourself periodically to see how you're feeling ("Am I starting to feel stuffed? Do I still really have room for pie or should I wait a little while?"), and don't forget the wine.

There is no right or wrong way or answer. My suggestion would be to just not stress over it either way. Myself, I plan on eating all the food on Thanksgiving, and probably leftovers for a few days. I will do the same at Christmas too. I have this figured out FOR ME. My way won't work for everyone. Find YOUR way to deal with it.

focus more on being lucky enough to spend the holidays with your family and friends, than the food situation. The more you focus on the food part, the more it will become the most important part of the day - and it should never be good luck!

I very much like this advice. I have been working overseas for 2 months, so I will be focusing mainly on my loved ones on Canadian Thanksgiving. This will mean more talking and only grazing, over a long period of time.

Although I have to admit the glycogen depleting exercise strategy is attractive to me.

Usually what I do in a situation like this is to eat as little as possible before the event, thus saving more calories for dinner than I usually do, giving some more room to enjoy. But remember if you do that you're going to be more hungry than usual so you'll be more inclined to heap things on your plate. Be smart about serving sizes and you'll be fine. Maybe a little over, but nothing too drastic.

Well, we do Thanksgiving in November, so there's still a little time for me to plan. My family tends not to serve lunch because we eat kind of mid-afternoon, so I guess the theory is that we're replacing both lunch and dinner with one meal. But I'm usually starving by the time we actually sit down to eat, and have grazed on appetizers from noon onwards. Usually cheese and nuts. Last year, I tried to avoid the fatty appetizers in order to reduce my intake, so I starved all day, started on the wine too early, got drunk because I was drinking on an empty stomach, and then ate far too much after that.

This year, my plan is to have protein for breakfast, go and do some exercise, actually have a small lunch, NOT stuff my face with cheese and nuts during the early afternoon, and then have ONE plate full of yumminess, and ONE plate of dessert. And not go crazy with wine. But I plan to enjoy my meal - for me, it's always the extras that cause problems - the second helpings, the appetizers, and alcohol. So if I pay attention to them, I can enjoy the actual food more, I think.

Forgot about this nonsense...lol....start on Monday and eat below your cals a bit each day, work out the days leading up to the big eating day (Im crazy enough to probably work out that morning)..have something light until the big dinner and then eat your face off (within reason)...lol