Navigating the Feast

First and foremost, I want to let you know I WILL NOT be posting how many calories a ½ cup of stuffing is or how many hours on the treadmill you’ll have to endure in order to burn off a piece of pumpkin pie. That is just cruel, tortuous, and wrong. My fitness magazines have been throwing that at me lately, and I just skip it. There are just some things in this life I’m happier not knowing, you know?

From Personal Training pics

I’ve just come to terms with holiday food with this: IT IS ALL HIGH IN CALORIE. There. I know it. You know it. I’ve made the sweet potatoes laden with butter, brown sugar, and marshmallows. I’ve made the green beans dripping in bacon grease. I’ve made it, so I know it’s all a killer. Even the healthy stuff is amazingly transformed into fat bombs. I’m needing no reminders, thank you very much.

When my family gathers for Thanksgiving dinner, it is an intense eating experience. The standards are high and it is done right. Everything is the real deal; my aunts have taken a stand and no sub par food will be allowed on the serving table. Frankly, this is how Thanksgiving should be. Sort of a performance of sorts for good, fattening, old fashioned, traditional, comfort food.

I have three strategies for navigating this amazing meal:

Strategy #1 – Moderation. Try a little bit of everything. Nothing should be off limits on that table. Deprivation not necessary. Eat what you love. It is a holiday for crying out loud, just eat! The trick is to not go nuts, but be responsible and have sensible amounts.

I am the sugar queen. I can pass on nearly everything except that dessert table. During pregnancy #3, an overly observant family member feigned admiration at how much dessert I could pack away, because if he even ate half of what I was licking off my plate he would be ill. Thanks a lot. That reminder (however rude) actually helped me. I realized I needed to calm down, come up for air occasionally since the world wasn’t going to end and all that dessert was not going anywhere. I have since visited the dessert table much more responsibly: visiting often, but taking bites instead of entire slices, scoops, or servings. I do, however, always try to have whip cream hanging off my chin when that certain family member comes by :)

Strategy #2 - Don’t forget the green stuff. What? No one is bringing a green salad? Pipe up and volunteer and bring one of your favorites. Load up on that, add some turkey to it, and you’ve gotten several servings of veggies that day along with some protein.

Strategy #3 – DRINK YOUR GALLON OF WATER. If you are loading up on water, your appetite will be much more reasonable and you have less chance of overdoing it and regretting your eating decisions.

Most of all, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! Enjoy the food, the family, the day. You deserve it.