Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it's not a holiday for all of you but Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers. I meant to make a post earlier this week about my thoughts on "surviving" the holidays while on a weight loss plan, but I've been tired and busy and just haven't gotten around to it.

Tomorrow I am having my Thanksgiving dinner and I am really looking forward to it. Last night I was just thinking about how odd it is that family oriented celebrations have come to equal gluttony. I mean, it's common for people to joke about wearing their sweatpants to Thanksgiving dinner because they want more room to stuff themselves! Is it really that bad to be around family that we need to eat until we can't move?

Thinking about it- Thanksgiving should be a really easy meal to flex. At my family's Thanksgiving dinner, we have the usual items- roast turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, mashed sweet potato/carrots/turnip, steamed green beans, maybe a salad, and some kind of dessert. It's not too difficult to make this into an NS friendly meal as long as you continue watching portion sizes. I plan on having 3oz of white meat turkey, a small serving of mashed potatoes made with fat free milk and margarine, a little gravy as a free food, some veggies, and I'll probably have a little stuffing as a treat, which will be my going off plan. For dessert, I plan on making my apple crisp which I think will go perfectly. So as long as I don't stuff myself, I think I'll be fine.

I understand that some families tend to go more casserole style with veggies instead of eating them plain and that can cause a problem because the additives can add up really fast. If you're going to another person's house for Thanksgiving, bring at least one healthy side dish that you can enjoy. If you're cooking of course, you control the menu. We've seen how small additions can make veggie dishes much more tempting without all the fat and calories.

I think the biggest disconnect is that our society expects eating to be a social occasion. When we get together with friends, we eat. When we go out, we eat. It's become an activity, not just nourishment. While I agree that food should be enjoyed- I don't think it needs to be the centre activity anymore when I'm seeing family or friends. I see them because I want to enjoy their company. I don't want to use a family celebration as an excuse to eat anymore.

Whatever decision you make- whether you stick to your program or decide to have your favourite dishes, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving and lots of things in your life to be thankful for.