To Log or NOT to Log...on Thanksgiving day...

24

Replies

  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    Here's my plan:

    I am going to log my food, but I am not going to get out a food scale or measuring cups - I will eyeball it. I also plan on only indulging in the foods I really love - mashed potatoes (which I will be making as they need to be dairy free, so I will be able to better control the junk that will go into them), turkey, and 2 slices of that icky (but yummy) canned cranberry sauce. I don't like sweet potatoes, don't like stuffing, and don't like pie, so those won't be a problem for me. I am also bringing steamed broccoli to the dinner and a fresh salad - both of which I will consume lots of - and am going to get a good workout in that morning and plan to take a walk after dinner.

    I expect to go over my sodium, but I should be ok on everything else - the mashed potatoes are really the only thing I have a big weakness for at Thanksgiving, and I am committed to limiting myself to no more than 2 helpings of it (though I fill up quickly these days, so I might just have one - I just would rather overestimate than the other way around).
  • selbyhutch
    selbyhutch Posts: 531 Member
    What do you gain by not logging it? I am curious if those that are planning to not log it do not log every meal or every day? Just seems really bad to not log a day and then be behind and really not knowing it.

    I typically have a "cheat" meal every couple of weeks. I don't use it as an excuse to eat with wild abandon. Realistically, I won't be logging my food every day for the rest of my life... so it's an exercise in reality. I also think that it is healthy mentally to take a break every now & then. We are all trying to incorporate healthy living & eating into our daily lives... however, most are also here to lose weight which is very stressful. I will say that there is a fine line between having a "cheat" meal & using food as rewards. It's something you have to come to terms with & decide if you are not logging as an excuse to eat poorly & in excess. If that is the case... logging or not, you will not be successful.

    Also, a "cheat" meal for me is eating typically whatever I want, but in moderation.
  • I'm NOT logging in. However i'm going to eat more sensible and have a little bit of everything instead of having a lot of everything.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    I haven't decided yet. I probably will because I want to see what aThanksgiving feast looks like on paper. But I will be good. Now that I'm learning portions it will help. I WILL BE HAVING SOME SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE!!!

    The male host at the house I will be going to is disgustingly obese and he does all the cooking. I'm not saying obese is disgusting - it just looks that way on him.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    What do you gain by not logging it? I am curious if those that are planning to not log it do not log every meal or every day? Just seems really bad to not log a day and then be behind and really not knowing it.

    I typically have a "cheat" meal every couple of weeks. I don't use it as an excuse to eat with wild abandon. Realistically, I won't be logging my food every day for the rest of my life... so it's an exercise in reality. I also think that it is healthy mentally to take a break every now & then. We are all trying to incorporate healthy living & eating into our daily lives... however, most are also here to lose weight which is very stressful. I will say that there is a fine line between having a "cheat" meal & using food as rewards. It's something you have to come to terms with & decide if you are not logging as an excuse to eat poorly & in excess. If that is the case... logging or not, you will not be successful.

    Also, a "cheat" meal for me is eating typically whatever I want, but in moderation.

    You did a wonderful job of explaining 'cheat days'!

    Overeating on occasion is good for your metabolism and for weight loss. When we take in the same amount of calories every day our metabolism adjusts. I believe that applies to exercise too. When you do the same routine everytime our bodies adjust and the workout goes stale. I noticed when I deprive myself of foods I love - including junk food - the cravings get worse and I give in by overdoing it. WE CAN'T DEPRIVE OURSELVES!

    But I agree - everything in moderation!
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
    I won't be able to log much next week, since I'll be camping Thursday-Saturday for Thanksgiving. So I have no way to log those days, but I plan on making the most of the camping environment- going for lots of hikes, long walks on the beach, and swimming! lol... so I'm hoping that the added exercise will help offset the extra cals.

    However, as a general rule, I DO log on holidays. Easter was my first big holiday after I joined in January, and it was REALLY important for me to log everything when I got home. I planned on going over, knew that I would, but it was really illuminating to see that even though I thought I ate SO WELL, I STILL went over my maintaining cals. What was scary is that I ate probably a third of what I used to eat on holidays!

    So when it comes down to it, I say, eat as best you can, log it at night. Don't stress about it all day, but be reasonable and eat things in moderation. But seeing those numbers are really good so that you are aware of what you ate and how easily things can get out of hand! lol

    Hey, that's cheating! You're supposed to be sitting at a dinner table until you stuff yourself then move to the recliner and pass out in front of the TV! :laugh: Just kidding!
  • leah660
    leah660 Posts: 15 Member
    :blushing: i will log on Thanksgiving however I'm not going to worry about how many calories something is. I am going to try and just 1 serving of my favarite foods but not go crazy. We will see how successful I am. I will be taking a nice walk after eating and maybe before to help but I expect to go over..........I don't mind going over on special occassions, as long as those special occassions don't become everyday occassions. I agree that we all need a cheat day and what better time than Thanksgiving.
  • boweg
    boweg Posts: 16 Member
    I plan on logging in my oatmeal that I am going to have for breakfast but then that will be it. (I dont want to lose my logging in count) I will try to eat less but I am not going to worry about it. I'll start again on Friday! :happy:
  • diet45
    diet45 Posts: 392 Member
    I'm not sure, but I'm curious. I may try and do a prelog in that morning and see if it will help me stay on track. I don't plan on going crazy and I usually eat the same thing every year!!!
  • I'll be logging....good or not, it will be accounted for :)

    This is my 3rd Thanksgiving while on my healthier lifestyle. I already know my plans for the day.....lots of outdoor playing with the kids, my on plan breakfast, smoked white turkey breast, a nice big salad & minimal amount of whatever else.

    We visit my in-laws in Florida for Thanksgiving & they won't let me cook anything but Christmas is at my house (everything is cooked much healthier lol)
  • I will be here.
  • ErinMarie25
    ErinMarie25 Posts: 733 Member
    Eh, I won't. I am going to take a tiny spoonful of everything and have 1 plate. That's it.
  • At this time I plan to not log on Thanksgiving Day, but my trade off is NO DESSERT or sweets.

    For Christmas I will do the same, except I'm having sweets, BUT making sure to log the sweets and stay under my calorie goal NOT counting Christmas dinner.

    Hopefully that makes sense lol.
  • definetly Log on for me!
  • giventofly__
    giventofly__ Posts: 21 Member
    To Log or NOT to Log...on Thanksgiving day...

    Abso-freaking-lutely. I'm not here to lie to myself.

    That's exactly it! I'm not here to lie to myself either. I had my official thanksgiving meal yesterday and I thought i would go over, but planned yo log either way. I had everything I wanted including desserts, but I watched portion size and didn't do seconds. I was full and happy, and when I added up my calories for the day I was under my limit. Proof positive it can be done and you can do it without being deprived. I think taking just "one day off" is a slippery slope I'm not getting on.
  • I am logging for sure - for better or for worse.
  • Laceylala
    Laceylala Posts: 3,094 Member
    I'm going to stick to my usual smoothies and a light lunch, along with the gym in the morning. And later that night I am going to a five course Indian food restaurant for dinner...I have no idea what we'll get but am going to stay away from fried food and too much booze. And then attempt to log it later that nit good or bad!

    The next day we are cooking for Feast Friday and I'm not sure what that will be yet so I will have to be especially careful on portions and again log. But I think I will be happy to stay under maintenance both of those days overall with rally watching portions.
  • i think i'm going to work out and log as best as i can being that i'm not doing the cooking this year...
  • chatal36
    chatal36 Posts: 167 Member
    I plan on having a great work out in the morning ....i will log the best i can.. Im not going to whip out a scale and put it on the table next to my plate...(Thats rude right ??) cuz if its not i might lol
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,253 Member
    I doubt I'll log my food Thanksgiving day. I use my food diary as a tool to plan my meals before I eat them, not as a way to be accountable to myself for what I've already had. This time last year, I was only a few months into my fat-loss journey, and Thanksgiving and Christmas put me into a bit of a panic mode. I feel pretty comfortable now with my ability to handle deviating from plan a little bit without going crazy, but I admit there's still a lingering bit of nervousness. I actually think it will be a better test for me to prove to myself I can have a decent eating day without having to track every morsel.

    Best of luck to all of you, and I hope you have a wonderfully happy and healthy Thanksgiving!
  • JulieTX86
    JulieTX86 Posts: 303 Member
    I plan to log my food as well. Last friday it was my last day of nursing school clinicals for 1st semester, and I had a TERRIBLE food day, my classmates and I grazed pretty much all day long in celebration. (Pizza, beer, etc). However, I came home & logged it all. I clearly was not deprived of what some are calling a "cheat" day by logging because I celebrated first & logged later. The caloric intake was insane, and I vowed that I would not be having another day like that again soon. Even though I knew that the calorie count was going to be high and that the "damage" was already done, it was really great for me to see exactly what the count was, and it motivated me to workout more the days following. So for those who plan to not log on Thursday, maybe Friday when you log on you should go back and add in the calories for the previous day. That way you are not focusing on it Thursday, but it may be a good motivator to get you right back on track. :)

    Happy Holidays!
  • hewhoiscd
    hewhoiscd Posts: 1,029 Member
    Whether you log it or not...it still happened.

    I'll be logging everything I eat, every day, no matter what that day may be or how bad I am on that day, until I reach my goal. But I am a detailed oriented type of guy. I can't adjust what I am doing to reach the goals I want if I don't know what happened. But that's just me :)
  • I AM LOGGING, BUT... I AM NOT GOING TO HOLD BACK ON THE DELICIOUS PECAN AND PUMKIN PIE I WILL WORKOUT IN THE MORNING, I HAVE BEEN EATING SUPER HEALTHY THIS LAST 2 WEEKS, ITS A SPECIAL DAY AND I PLAN TO ENJOY IT. : )
  • ymamyma
    ymamyma Posts: 227
    I will be...even if I'm over for the day. I still want to know how bad it is : )

    Hahahah. My thoughts EXACTLY.
  • I'm going to log. But to be honest, I probably won't go over my cals much, if at all, anyway. Veganism cuts out a lot of calories and fat. LOL
  • Cytherea
    Cytherea Posts: 515 Member
    Hey, that's cheating! You're supposed to be sitting at a dinner table until you stuff yourself then move to the recliner and pass out in front of the TV! :laugh: Just kidding!

    hahahahahahaha :laugh: I know right?! Tell me about it! I love it!! :laugh:
  • mgaither
    mgaither Posts: 115
    DEFINITELY going to log, otherwise I'll take too much advantage of knowing I'm not accountable for that day.

    I'm with ya. Definitely have to log. Not being accountable to myself about the things I eat doesn't work for me. I tend to estimate in my head anyway, and MFP makes sure those "estimates" are accurate and that I'm not rounding down on things to make myself feel better. I always have some guilt associated with bad food choices, so while I won't deny myself Thanksgiving dinner, I can remove some of the guilt by keeping track of everything.

    PLUS, when I stop paying attention for just ONE day, it's SO easy for that one day to become two, and so on.
  • DawnOf1969
    DawnOf1969 Posts: 726 Member
    Definitely logging and exercising that day (5k). I am already entering my recipes so I can tweak as needed.
  • DawnOf1969
    DawnOf1969 Posts: 726 Member
    Double post
  • krystie99
    krystie99 Posts: 42 Member
    Logging! Don't want to start a downward spiral because it's a "holiday"...
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