Thanksgiving, we are having somewhere around 25 people here. But I'm cooking- so it's my menu! We'll do the normal stuff that people like, mashed taters and mac and cheese, etc, but I won't eat any of that. I'm doing 2 turkeys, one on the smoker, one in the oven, and a ham. Brussels sprouts with garlic and olive oil will be my main side dish, and we'll probably do a big salad.

Christmas is usually quiet here. We go to my sisters Christmas eve, but Christmas day is just my wife and I and our 2 adult kids will be around a bit, but we don't plan a big dinner.

what is high in carbs with that? I think cauliflower is an awesome low carb food because the fiber content is nearly as much as the carbs, it nets out very low.

We did mashed cauliflower recently. A lot of calories for sure, but relatively low in carbs. I used a big head of cauliflower and microwaved it until it was tender, then added some butter, heavy cream, and cheese with some salt and pepper.

what is high in carbs with that? I think cauliflower is an awesome low carb food because the fiber content is nearly as much as the carbs, it nets out very low.

We did mashed cauliflower recently. A lot of calories for sure, but relatively low in carbs. I used a big head of cauliflower and microwaved it until it was tender, then added some butter, heavy cream, and cheese with some salt and pepper.

It was the cream I used the first time, just found a much lower carb cream yay which brings the carbs down a lot more

Halloween is no problem for me...we don't give out candy as we live on a very dark road in the country. Thanksgiving, I have already picked out a couple of low-carb side dishes to have but I am sure there will be stuffing and potatoes in there too for my non low carb family members but my plan is to stick to my low carb as much as possible. Christmas might be tougher as I am not sure what we will be serving and which family members we will be with. I think my biggest weakness will be the cookies, but I don't plan to make any for our home and I am hoping that friends/family don't give us a huge container of them. I will definitely indulge here and there during Christmas but don't plan to do it the whole week for every meal between Christmas and New Year's. Hubs and I have an anniversary in there as well, so that will be a special dinner. I really don't feel good when I go all out and cheat more than a couple of times so that makes me not want to do it.

Halloween is no sweat. I have a big bowl of Reeses Peanut Butter cups that have been in my cupboard for over a week now -- I haven't been tempted at all. I prefer the keto PB fudge I've been making lately anyway!

Here's my game plan for the next two months:

*I'm busting it full-on intense keto between now and Thanksgiving! I've been doing great this week -- hitting under 10% carbs every day and over 75-80% fat ever day this week. I've also be exercising intensely (running a few mornings a week + P90X). I plan to maintain this level of focus for the next 4-5 weeks until Thanksgiving.

*I really want to learn to do refeeds every 7-10 days -- but this has been extremely unsuccessful for me thus far. 1 refeed turns into 1 day and then 1 week and sometimes longer of carb binging. But I know that for this to work as my rest-of-my-life lifestyle, I need to find a way to have an occasional cookie, scone, slice of cake, pizza, etc.

So I think the holidays are actually a great opportunity for me to try to refeed but limit it to 1 day or 1 meal a week. Game plan outline:

Oct. 27 - Nov. 28----100% keto
Nov. 28

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Carb refeed
Nov. 29 - Dec. 7----100% keto
Dec. 8

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Carb refeed (this is my birthday!)
Dec. 9 - Dec. 24----100% keto (I might need to do 1 refeed in here as it's major holiday party season...)
Dec. 25

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Carb refeed
Dec. 26 - Dec. 31---100% keto
Dec. 31 into Jan. 1--Carb refeed (boozing it up, I'm sure)
Jan. 2, 2014

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Back to keto 100%

For Thanksgiving, I am visiting my best friend's family and having Thanksgiving with them. I have met my friend's mother before, but that is it. I don't plan to consume 5k calories or whatever, but so as to not appear like a disrespectful guest, or too odd, I will be having the traditional Thanksgiving food, including the carbs. For Christmas time (also my birthday), I will be with my parents and family, and will be going keto the whole time. With my family I have a lot more say about what goes down :-)

-Tom

Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas/yule is approaching, I'm curious to hear how you are going to handle the holidays in terms of food? Are you gonna declare it a free day? Limit your portions with a few treats? Make a low-carb friendly meal?

I know I want to make a keto friendly thanksgiving foods for me when the time rolls around. Still debating on the other Holidays because I know I'm gonna want some candies.

Tell me what you plan to do!

I've really thought a lot about this. Halloween is here, and I do not think it will be hard for me.

Thanksgiving is not a super day for me, I've never enjoyed the majority of the foods but we go to my best friends house every year, so this year I will enjoy my day but I do not plan to go overboard.

The week of Dec 9th, I'm taking my daughter to Disney world for her 10th birthday, I'm sure it will be VERY hard to stick to low carb while @ Disney. So I'm planning on staying focused until then, once I come back I will go low carb.

Christmas is very non-traditional for us-we make enchiladas every year. I still plan to continue this and enjoy my holiday.