Thanksgiving Survival Strategies
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I just finished doing all of the estimates for the dinner I'm putting together for my parents (and which we'll be eating a different day). My dad has some special dietary considerations due to his medical issues, and I wanted to make a somewhat "lighter" spread for the holiday. Dad also requested something "different" instead of the usual turkey, stuffing etc. So here's what I came up with:
- Crown lamb roast
- Mashed cauliflower
- Baked sweet potatoes
- Cloverleaf rolls
- Roast brussels sprouts with blue cheese, cranberries and pecans in a balsamic dressing
For dessert we'll have baked apples and pumpkin-chocolate chip cookies.
I added up the calories and it comes out to roughly 1,000 calories (assuming you eat a full serving of each thing...but you probably wouldn't if you're putting it all on one plate, idk) which is about a third of the "average" Thanksgiving meal, I think.
Anyway. I'm pretty excited for it. The jury's still out on whether or not we'll go to the in-laws for their Thanksgiving, which will be much more traditional. Gotta see what the weather's going to do.
Umm.. Can I come eat with your family? Haha. That sounds delicious!!0 -
I plan to continue to not have to worry about Thanksgiving because I'm not American
...but if I did (this is what I'll do for Christmas) I'm not going to worry about it. It's one day and there's no reason we can't get right back on track afterwards. Though my family eat a lot on Boxing Day too, so two days >.> it's not going to make me gain more than a few pounds of mostly water weight.0 -
We will have two, one the Sunday before and one on the day of. For the Sunday before we will be at future in laws...I will exercise in the morning and watch portions. For the one on the day, I am cooking. Luckily when I cook the meal by the time I eat I am not hungry after smelling the food all day. I will have steamed shrimp for an appetizer. I love shrimp and its low cal. I can eat that with veggies and fill up before the meal.0
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Since one of my kids is working and the other is spending the holiday with her in-laws, I will survive Thanksgiving by working...and packing a lunch/dinner. With retail, nursing, fire fighting and law enforcement all covered, we seldom have holidays off together so I often volunteer to do duty exchanges with co-workers who have small kids at home so they can be with their little ones.
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I'm one of those that's doing TWO dinners that day.
I'm going to take a little of all the things I love, and skip the things that I could do without (my dad never makes homemade mashed potatoes, so they're nothing special, etc)
As far as logging- I may not bother, just because it would all be estimates anyway. Or I might, just for the novelty of knowing what I might be consuming.0 -
my strategy is going to be eat a little less main course, so I can crush the all the pies….
seriously, it is one day a year…enjoy the day with family and friends, and eat, drink, and be merry without having to worry about calories, and then get back on track the next day...0 -
I'll be sharing the dinner with 30+ folks at my sons home, so I think I can control myself and eat reasonably. However, when the desserts come out I am afraid my discipline will go out the window. I have reached about half of my goal in weight loss and don't want to throw this opportunity away. A saving grace here is that he has a full gym and I may be able to save the day, or I can have my jaw sewed shut for the week.0
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My strategies:
1. Pick one of the days/meals to go overboard. I have a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and another one on Saturday. The Thursday one is with Mormon family, so there won't be alcohol. I've decided that Saturday will be my day of excess[ive wine].
2. Make good decision the rest of the day. In my family, Thanksgiving Dinner is served around 1 or 2 pm. You don't really eat beforehand. Beforehand there's tea and coffee and light fare like celery with cream cheese or a bit of shortbread. I'll stick with that plan and fast in the morning.
3. Exercise. I am going to make an effort to get an extra workout on Monday or Tuesday (swing dance or zumba, depending on class schedules). Weather permitted, I plan on taking a long hike with our dogs on Thursday and Saturday.
4. Eat until full, not stuffed. Instead of loading my plate and challenging myself to finish it, I'm going to start with smaller portions and then only go back for seconds of my absolute favorites.
5. Focus on conversations and catching up. Instead of shoveling food, I'm going to try to talk to all of my friends/relatives as much as possible.
These have been my techniques for all "endless food" gatherings as of late, which has served me well.0 -
I'll be in Missouri with the in-laws.... i don't think there will be a vegetable on the spread if I don't prep it myself... i'll probably get some nasty looks, but I'm not eating any chicken or red meat at the moment and don't tolerate dairy or gluten. So, I'll be busy cooking some healthy sides that won't put my system in distress! Cauliflower Puree. Baked Pumpkin puree with pecan crumble, etc.0
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I don't think the food itself is the problem, I think it's the culture of stuffing ourselves silly that's come to be associated with this holiday. As I've "re-trained" my brain around food issues over the past couple of years, this meal won't be any different than any other. Moderate portions, balance things out with some exercise.0
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I absolutely love the combination of the turkey, potatoes & gravy, rolls, yams, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce. It's heaven for me. This will be the one day I'm not going to count calories. I will get up and do my normal workout routine before my family is awake, but then I intend to fully indulge myself in the feast!
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I plan to enjoy the day (or, in my case the 3 day span of a different Holiday party each day) and to eat in moderation. Years past I would eat a big plate full, then get seconds, then have one of each dessert. This year the plan is one plate that is heavy on the veg with ONE dessert, and once I'm full, I'll stop eating. Also, not having 3-4 servings of bread/buns, I seriously would eat 1000 calories in crescent rolls, this year I'll have 1, and then be done.
I don't plan on weighing food out, though, my logging will be guesstimating. I am planning on a good workout each day. As long as I stay within maintenance, I'm not concerned. Thanksgiving comes around once a year.
Edit to add: I will be out of state for the entire weekend (Wed - Sun), and I already have a workout plan. Both my parent's house and my in-laws have an elliptical in the basement, my cold weather running gear (because it will be Minnesota) and my set of resistance bands are coming with too. I am confident that I can get a good combination of strength and cardio training done, even with the travel.0 -
My strategy is to eat the things I love and are 'easy' to keep in target first, then follow up with the things I love that are undoubtedly going to put me over, knowing I'll naturally eat a little less of them because I'll already be partially full.
For example, I'll start out with turkey, a little cranberry, some steamed lima beans, and only after that go for the potato stuffing, pineapple bake, other starchy sides, and rolls. Usually I'm full enough that I end up only wanting a couple of bites of the higher calorie stuff. Pie, of course, is much later and I eat what I want. It helps that we only eat the one meal and dessert all day long.
Other than that, I don't worry about it. It's one day. And then a couple of days with much smaller portions of leftovers for dinner or lunch. Those I'll be careful about.0 -
Thanksgiving is at my house and I'm cooking most of the meal. Holiday's are the time I get to try all those recipes I wouldn't make for just the 5 of us at home, you need 20 people to split it! I'll make all the foods we love knowing it's just 1 day. I'll just not go back for seconds (or thirds, darn you sweet potato souffle!). I'll make sure to save room for dessert (my favorite part) not try and stuff it in on top of all the other food I ate. I'll do a workout before everyone wakes up so I'll feel better about that whip cream on top of the pumpkin pie. I'm usually exhausted by the end of hosting a holiday, so all that cooking, clean up, prep, and making sure everyone has everything they need has to be a good workout 0
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I am going to celebrate and enjoy. I will eat slow and enjoy each bite; when I am full, I will stop. I'm not counting calories on holidays, but it will be different than the past because I don't plan on binging.0
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Here's a fun little link to add up Thanksgiving calories (not sure how accurate it is, though)...
http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blthanksgivingcalories.htm
But I plan to go with light eating throughout the day, and enjoy my Thanksgiving dinner with moderate portions. Then back to the grind the next day.0 -
I just enjoy the day without eating to the point of discomfort. It's not an ordeal to survive, it's meant to be a holiday. If it stresses you out, it defeats the purpose.
If you eat every day like it's a holiday, that would present a problem, but if it is a treat out of your regular eating habits, just enjoy it. And enjoy the people you're with. 0 -
I'm Canadian, we already had our thanksgiving last month. I have taken over the cooking from my mom, 1) because she's 55 now and needs a break, 2) I like to cook and 3) I know what's going into the food I'm making. This year, I winged it and did pretty good. I had purchased 2 pies for desert with frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. I know everyone talks aobut the "desert" so I figured I'd attack that one first. However, the year before, I got a recipe for a coconut cream pie that was out of this world and all 'natural' foods - no processed sugar. If anyone wants the recipe - message me.
I also made a quinoa stuffing that was deliscious instead of with bread - this year, I made it with bread - whole wheat (never EVER WHITE!) and had maybe a tablespoon. I never put anything but seasoning on my turkey. For added flavour, I always put chicken stock at the bottom. I also roasted broccoli and cauliflower with coconut oil, s/p, garlic and thyme. If I do mashed potatoes, I use Greek Yogurt and maybe almond milk (if I need it) and I add s/p. However, I tend to prefer carrots and sweet potatoes in with the turkey itself.
I work my way around my family and 'inconvinience' myself to make sure I'm getting the right foods.
I forgot to add... cranberry sauce, my family doesn't enjoy it so I skipped it this year, but I made it last year - homemade it's SO EASY... Orange Juice and Cranberries. that's it.0 -
I'm definitely going to try to stay on point, no cheat days for me. We will be having dinner at my parent's house, I am not too concerned with what they will have. HOWEVER, at my work, they have a lunch, everyone brings a dish and the company supplies the turkey, stuffing, biscuits, the basic stuff. Well, lets start out with the fact that everyone brings so much that it takes up TWO rooms, that means, one room for the food and an entire.room.of.desserts. I'm terrified!0
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some of the response in this thread make me sad...
It is one day people! Eat all the food you want and do not worry about it. One day did not make you obese, and one day is not going to make you skinny; therefore, one day is not going to ruin your progress...!0 -
I checked my calendar this morning and just realized that I have 5 Thanksgiving meals to eat in the next twelve days:
1 with each kid at their school (2)
1 at my work
1 with my husbands family on the actual day
1 with my family on the Saturday after
Guess how worried I am about it? Not at all... with that many opportunities, I won't feel the need to gorge myself at any one meal. I'll make a plate of food - some of it will look better than others (I mean come on - Thanksgiving from an elementary school cafeteria?), eat a piece of pecan pie every time it is offered, drink plenty of wine at the two family events as a survival tactic, and make smart choices the other 30 or so meals I eat in this time frame...0 -
As far as the sweets and pies go, I don't really care for them, so that's never an issue. I have a rule (have had since I was about 10 years old lol) that on big eating holidays, I leave enough room on my plate so that none of the different foods touch each other. It's my way of making sure I don't eat myself sick but still get to have everything I want lol.
As far as counting calories go. I don't both on holidays. It's 1 day a year. It's not going to kill me or make me gain 100 lbs.0 -
Oh lord, Thanksgiving and Christmas are two of the most food-filled holidays in my family. I look forward to Thanksgiving, though, because of the leftovers. I plan on saving up some calories in the days leading up to it. We don't eat breakfast or lunch on Thanksgiving day to prepare. I volunteered to bring the salad this year and I plan on covering my plate in salad and TURKEY TURKEY TURKEY. We also plan on hitting the gym to show our thanks for having such an awesome gym.
I love taking home leftovers because of the creativity that comes with it. One year I made potato and turkey pancakes. Sounds weird but was pretty good. Potato, chopped turkey, and egg white to hold it all together! Turkey and eggs is probably our most common dinner after thanksgiving and my Love takes ham sandwiches to work. 0 -
yellowlemoned wrote: »I have a rule (have had since I was about 10 years old lol) that on big eating holidays, I leave enough room on my plate so that none of the different foods touch each other. It's my way of making sure I don't eat myself sick but still get to have everything I want lol.
Brilliant!0 -
blktngldhrt wrote: »I have two dinners to attend..so I'll probably swap my big breakfast for a big dinner. I'm also going to make a sugar free dessert to take with me for my diabetic aunt and my hypoglycemic self. I can't have stuffing, cranberry sauce, or mashed potatoes anyway so I should be fine. I won't be weighing my food. Thursday isn't a rest day so I'll have exercise calories to eat as a buffer.
If you're making sugar free dessert....make your aunt some no sugar added cranberry sauce too.
Homemade cranberry sauce is really easy. 1 Bag of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of Splenda. Throw into a medium sauce pan and boil a couple of minutes....done. If you want to get fancy, spices (cinnamon & ginger) are a nice touch.
Strain it if you want the jellied stuff.0 -
I'm gonna eat all the food and drink all the drink.0
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blktngldhrt wrote: »I have two dinners to attend..so I'll probably swap my big breakfast for a big dinner. I'm also going to make a sugar free dessert to take with me for my diabetic aunt and my hypoglycemic self. I can't have stuffing, cranberry sauce, or mashed potatoes anyway so I should be fine. I won't be weighing my food. Thursday isn't a rest day so I'll have exercise calories to eat as a buffer.
If you're making sugar free dessert....make your aunt some no sugar added cranberry sauce too.
Homemade cranberry sauce is really easy. Bag of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of Splenda. Throw into a medium sauce pan and boil a couple of minutes....done.
Strain it if you want the jellied stuff.
Add some orange zest and juice of an orange as well as cinnamon sticks - makes it WAY better.... I never used to like cranberry sauce because my family always just served it out straight out of the can. One year I volunteered to try to make it from scratch and it is so much better, and really not difficult at all!
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I think about the Skeksis in the Dark Crystal, all eating at their long table - and I don't do that.0
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