[jtammy]

How did everyone do today for the Thanksgiving Holiday? I overate pretty badly. Too full to even want to eat dinner. I did do good on NOT bringing home many leftovers. I had made the food that I prepared as low calorie as I could, so I did bring that home. I brought home a bowl of cornbread dressing, which I can portion out a little at a time, and some turkey. My mom tried to get me to bring home some German Chocolate Cake - my absolute favorite dessert. She used the old "I'll have to throw it out if you don't take it" line. I told her to throw it away if she had to. Better in the trash than on my a**. Although I did eat three (!!) pieces while I was there.

Tonight, it's back on track, right?

[rakel]

I said in the accountability thread that on a scale of 1 to 10, one being that you shoved anything and everything in your mouth as fast as you could and felt SO full that you were in pain, and 10 being that you ate like an angel and no bad-for-you foods, then I was around a 7.

I almost had a little of everything (even the bad stuff and sweets) but I never got completely stuffed, and ate a lot of raw veggies before I sat down for the meal so I wasn't eating ravenously. I brought some left overs home, but I've decided I won't eat them for more than one meal in a day (but really there's only enough for 2 to 3 meals, and there are 3 people in the house, so I don't know if they would last more than 1 day).

Last year I was probably a 3, so I did show a lot of improvement and I don't think today set me back any. Tomorrow is back on the exercise bike and back following my diet.

[Purplefirefly]

I don't think I did too bad...surprised myself I had one plate of food, just a little taste of everything, and I did not go back for more! Mawmaw made a lemon pound cake just for me and there was a coconut cake that looked awesome...so I took a small piece of both, ate about half of the pound cake, and tossed the coconut because it really wasn't that good and I decided I could pass it up!

I have to say my mind wasn't exactly on weight today, but making better choices is becoming habit so I just did it. Felt nice to leave realizing I was actually a little hungry...when I usually would leave so overstuffed and zapped of all energy that I'd sleep all the way home and nearly cry that I had to walk in the house! I walked out feeling good tonight, and I only took one plate of leftovers home...and the kids ate that soon as we got home!

I wasn't goign to have sugar so the cake was off plan I guess, but I kept it under control and I just tasted and felt okay with that...progress for me! I think i actually did better today than I have been doing just on ordinary days for some reason.

tomorrow I plan to get up early enough to have my usual breakfast before going shopping...and it's back on plan for me. I have been struggling with food, so today has given me some confidence. If I can do it with all that food there, i can do it with regular food in the fridge, right?

[Cassie501107]

I ate terribly...but I have no guilt. It's one day, and I'm right back on track tomorrow. Okay, okay....I SHOULD have stopped eating before I felt so full that I couldn't move...I'll admit that much.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[midwife]

Ditto to Cassie's experience. I stayed on my plan with controlled portions and no seconds and one slice of pie.....but you'd think I'd never seen an appetizer before! Many of the appetizers are once-a-year treats (sil's baked brie), and I enjoyed more than I should have.....but tomorrow is a new day and it will be started with my run.

No regrets. Back on plan.

[jtammy]

Yep! No regrets, and we're moving on. I was trying to find room in the refrigerator for leftovers and realized that I didn't bring home the cornbread dressing after all. Guess I left it at mom's. Oh well, it will be even easier to stay on plan without the cornbread dressing.

Glad to hear that there is some part of the day that we're all happy about.

[NemesisClaws]

I did moderately well. For the most part, I kept myself really busy by doing tons of cleaning in between cooking. I avoided desserts, and did keep everything to a portion control.....then about 10 mins ago, broke down and had two turkey sandwiches. Ahh....well, the good thing is I have tons of leftovers sitting in my refridgerator, so I can portion that out for a while, especially when the money gets tight.

[boaterswife]

Hmmmm....started out the morning with a workout on the elliptical as the weather turned drastically colder overnight last night and I knew I wouldn't be going out for a walk after dinner. I ate VERY WELL at our feast today (2:00, too late for lunch, too early for dinner, ugh!) about 2-3 ounces turkey (white meat, no skin), steamed carrots and ONE serving of stuffing...drizzle of gravy over the stuffing and turkey, maybe two tablespoons. I was satisfied but not overstuffed and felt great! Then I blew it with two pieces of cake. Oh well....over all not too bad, as it was less than half of what I would've eaten in the past, so good for me! In addition, MIL served dinner buffet style this year instead of family style and I think that really helped as I would have had to go into the kitchen to get more of something rather than just take more of the bowls of food right in front of me. I never felt the need for the over-stuffed nap, etc., either. We just got home about 30 minutes ago, and when I'm done online I'm going to give the elliptical another run-through. Over all, I'm thinking I came out the winner between me and food today!

[Jpye]

I did pretty well. I had a little bit of ham and turkey, a good sized portion of green beans, and 3 deviled eggs! I had no dessert and really didn't feel the need to stuff myself on all the carbs (like dressing, mashed potatoes, noodles, sweet potatoes, cakes, etc!) I kept it pretty healthy. Everyone kept commenting on my weight loss and determination! It was a good day.

[rakel]

One of my fiance's nieces is 11 and a bit husky for her age, and I'll tell you right now that I relate to her a lot and see a lot of myself in her. Like me, she just enjoys doing things that don't require activity and, like me, she LOVES food. Well, today, she filled up on a lot of the appetizer things (chips, spinach dip, veggies, meat and cheese, etc). She came to me and said, "You know, I'm already full, but I don't want to miss all of the food! I mean, if I don't eat anything what would be the point of thanksgiving?" So I said to her, "What's the purpose of food?" and she just kind of looked at me and didn't really say anything, so I said, "It's to refuel our bodies. So if you are already full, then you don't need any more food. But if you really want to try some things, just put a little bit on your plate and nibble at it, then if you get hungry later there will be plenty of food left and I'm sure your mom will take some home too." So that's exactly what she did. I felt so proud of her!

[dek6]

OMG!!!!!! I love that statement... BETTER IN THE TRASH THAN ON MY A$$..... that is awesome that you didnt bring any home. CONGRATS

[Sandi]

I can't say I did well today (my stomach still hurts). But I agree, it's 1 stinkin day. Today doesn't matter, tomorrow DOES!! No leftovers here either. I plan to be 100% on plan tomorrow!!

[Marlies]

I stayed on my plan, which shocked me. My husband did really well too. It gives us a lot of hope that we can make it through the holiday season and stay on track.

[hellokitty81668]

I didn't do too well, ate alot of healthy food, but pie is my weakness, and I made some honey roasted pecans for it, and eneded up munching on that too , but it is one day, I have no more pie in the house, and am happy. I am going to be back on plan today, because I feel physically ill, I did exercise yesterday and didn't walk , because of feeling so full , today I am going to walk after I exercise. Yesterday is over and today is a new day in which I can do great!!
cheryl

[knitsforfive]

Well, after 2 Thanksgiving dinners (one on Wednesday and one on Thursday), I am DOWN exactly 1 pound, so I'd say i did pretty well. I enjoyed myself and even had seconds on both days. At the risk of sounding patronizing (not my intention at all -- I kind of just want to write them down for a Christmas reminder), here were my tricks:

For the dinner I hosted, I cut the variety down -- turkey (homemade gravy, but I am not a fan of gravy), mashed pot/cauliflower mix (you know, everyone commented on how creamy the potatoes were -- even though we used nonfat milk -- and I think it was the cauliflower), mashed sweet potatoes minus marshmallows (my kids don't know about the fluffy sweet potatoes and I don't want them to -- I make them with a small amount of butter, drizzle agave syrup on top, and sprinkle chopped almonds over it -- it is always the food that gets eaten the most), corn bread stuffing (it is homemade, wheat-free for my daughter, but I don't really like the stuff), roasted vegetables, and homemade-orange-juice-sweetened cranberry sauce -- which we forgot. Dessert was a frost your own cupcake (thereby making the portions obvious and left-overs non-existent).

I bought really pretty, Thanksgiving-esque 8.5 inch plates for everyone (one of our guests liked the idea so much, she served the dinner we attended at her place the following night on small plates). This meant that my second helping plus the first helping didn't add up to a FULL second helping, as in on a 10 inch plate. I think this might have been the single most helpful factor and I will be repeating it at Christmas (plus in all my meals at home). No one even noticed the small size because they are so pretty.

I did not taste or snack on a single thing while preparing (luckily DH did MOST of the preparing).

I worked out every day this week, except Wednesday (which was our hosting day) and did extra time working out.

I created a special atmosphere that was just as enjoyable as the food part -- candles, pretty music, a Christmas craft that kids and adults all enjoyed and that bought us all together (no, I am not Martha Stewart -- but I have been procrastinating on completing a project we need done by next weekend in order to sell these things to raise money for an organization we support -- so I basically exploited my kids and guests -- but we had fun).

Finally, I counted all calories eaten outside of the big meals to keep myself in check.

I have to say, I really really enjoyed my meals - 1, because I actually ate whatever I wanted, got seconds, and even had seconds of desserts; and 2, it felt so good not to leave the table feeling gorged or guilty or, worse, deprived (I have always been one of these with ALL other holiday meals of my life). I was satisfied and that is such a comfortable feeling -- and one I want to carry with me through all holidays.

Wow, can you tell how good I feel? I am just pattin' my own lit'l back right now!