Shannon, when I make my cranberry orange relish I use 1 bag of cranberries, 1 orange, about 1/4 cup walnuts (could add pecans), and ~1/2 cup splenda. My mom does the same except sugar, not splenda. I've heard of also adding apples with the oranges, or I bet pineapple would help to sweeten more "naturally" so you could cut down the splenda/sugar.

In the past I've omitted the butter entirely in the sweet potato apple bake, and gone light on the brown sugar when making it just for me, and I think it tastes delicious. The recipe does call for a "greased" pan and I just use a quick spray of cooking spray. I added a little extra water to the bottom for the batch I made for today's lunch and it came out nice and moist.

Even sticking to smaller portions and mostly veggie sides I'm still full and sleepy after our Turkey lunch today! I caved to temptation and had slivers of pumpkin and apple pie, but I'm still glad I stuck to one plate, didn't eat til I was so full my stomach hurt, etc. Now I must get me to the gym!

ETA: I just noticed that Lily checked in to last week's thread! Sorry to hear that you've been sick Lily, but I'm glad you're still out there. We've been wondering where you went, hoping everything was ok with your family. Stop by again!

Happy Thanksgiving

TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING,

BUT I JUST COULDN'T SLEEP
I TRIED COUNTING BACKWARDS,
I TRIED COUNTING SHEEP.



THE LEFTOVERS BECKONED -
THE DARK MEAT AND WHITE
BUT I FOUGHT THE TEMPTATION
WITH ALL OF MY MIGHT



TOSSING AND TURNING WITH ANTICIPATION
THE THOUGHT OF A SNACK BECAME INFATUATION.



SO, I RACED TO THE KITCHEN, FLUNG OPEN THE DOOR
AND GAZED AT THE FRIDGE, FULL OF GOODIES GALORE.
GOBBLED UP TURKEY AND BUTTERED POTATOES,
PICKLES AND CARROTS, BEANS AND TOMATOES.



I FELT MYSELF SWELLING SO PLUMP AND SO ROUND,
'TIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, I ROSE OFF THE GROUND.



I CRASHED THROUGH THE CEILING,
FLOATING INTO THE SKY
WITH A MOUTHFUL OF PUDDING
AND A HANDFUL OF PIE.



BUT, I MANAGED TO YELL AS I SOARED
PAST THE TREES....
HAPPY EATING TO ALL - PASS THE
CRANBERRIES, PLEASE.



MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY,
MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY
HAVE NARY A LUMP,



MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS MAY YOUR PIES
TAKE THE PRIZE,
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY
OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.



MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING BE BLESSED!!

I don't need Thanksgiving day temptations to derail me, I can derail myself just fine with a normal lunch... My nice sensible lunch turned into nice sensible lunch + brownie. And I wonder why I'm at my redline this month. Geez.

Megan - I checked the last thread for Lily's post but it was a quote from bargoo, from a post of 10-01 so october 1st, not last week. I guess Lily is still sick...lily, if you are lurking: get well soon!

Is thanksgiving today or tomorrow?

have a great day anyway,
Rabbit

Hey Rabbit Thanksgiving is Thursday, and is seen by way too many in the states as the kick-off to about 6 weeks of partying and overeating. It's certainly an uphill struggle to be social and yet keep eating a clean diet and exercising on a regular basis. Sigh. I'm so glad we have each other for support.

Wow Pat! 6 weeks holiday season...Ouch!
I'm with Birch ...I can just about stand the 1 week period between christmas and new year, look forward to it every year, and I'm always glad when it is over and we can go back to routine.

There is something like too much of a good thing

Canandians are smart - no, really ! We have Thanksgiving in October so there is a clear break between it and Christmas. Whew!

Dagmar (I feel like I'm living in Vancouver)

Happy day before Thanksgiving!

I'm mentally preparing myself for dealing with a day of baking. The rule is NO bites, licks, or tastes! Then I won't be tempted to eat any of it. It's always the first bite that kills me.

And I keep repeating to myself: it's a holi-DAY. Not a week. So there's no reason for off-plan eating today, or Friday, or Thanksgiving morning, or any other time this weekend. One meal only. Moderation.

Hang in there, gang! Let's all focus on enjoying our friends and families and think about what we're truly thankful for. Pie doesn't make my Top Ten list, though no longer being obese certainly does.

Have a wonderful day!

Meg, I am with you on the NO BLT'S rule. I'm making pie tonight which has to freeze overnight and I have a long history of licking the bowl. NOT TONIGHT. That bowl is going straight into the sink and full of soapy water as soon as I pour the filling into the shell. If I want to eat my pie, I can wait until tomorrow.

I have a question for the other hypothyroid ladies on here. How often do you get your thyroid tested? How long did it take to get on the right dosage and have you had to adjust your dosage since then? If so, was there some triggering event (pregnancy, menopause), or did you just randomly need an adjustment even though nothing else changed? I'm considering calling my doctor for another test since I've had a couple symptoms coming back lately, but like all hypothyroid symptoms they can be explained away by other things (am I excessively sleepy because of my thyroid, or because it's cold and dark outside?). I've been on the same dosage now for about a year and my last three tests were normal, and my last test was less than six months ago.

Jessica, typically I only get my thyroid tested once a year, once a dose is correctly regulated. But yes, I've had the dose change for no good reason at all. I expected a big change with weight loss, though in reality it hardly dropped at all (225 mcg to 200). Then it fluctuated for a year and settled in at me alternating between 175 and 200 mcg daily. Two summers ago, for no reason that I can figure out, I went hyper (but didn't lose any weight!!) and after trying several new doses, I now alternate 150 and 175 mcg daily (on odd and even numbered days ).

If you have any doubts at all about your dose, call your doctor and get it checked out! A little change in dosage can make such a big difference in TSH and how we feel, as you can tell from my crazy alternating dosages. It's such an easy test and there's no reason to suffer needlessly.

Let us know what you find out!

Jessica,
Most of the time since my diagnosis ten years ago, I have been fairly stable and tested once or twice a year. If I have symptoms or my levels have been off, then I've been tested every 3 or 4 months. For me, if I get muscle cramps or spasms, my thyroid is low so I can almost tell the doctor and I'm right. If you are having symptoms, I would suggest another test. I was done having kids when I was diagnosed, and I'm too young for menopause, so I can't answer that part of your question.

I worked Weight Watchers last night and it was slow as to be expected. However, we had a new lady join last night. I thought she was quite brave to join 2 days before Thanksgiving but very smart!

I live in a house of saboteurs! Not only do they buy all the Thanksgiving fixings yesterday but they bought ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies today! Is that really necessary?!?! I must stay strong....

I agree, get it checked, Jessica.

HoliDAY, holiDAY, except today is DD's birthday so I got breakfast burritos...but I threw part of mine away. Small victory.

We're keeping Thanksgiving pretty simple round here. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, broccoli/rice casserole, yams, cranberry sauce, salad, rolls, pies.....hmmm...oh yeah, green bean casserole. That's simple? Could be worse (my motto lately!). I'll stick to salad, turkey, and one serving of a starchy side----probably the broccoli rice casserole. The yams will be those awful marshmellow things. Mashed potatoes aren't that special. And I've had enough green bean casserole to last me a lifetime.

DD wants cupcakes from a gourmet cupcake bakery tonight (a la Mandalinn!) for her birthday, so nice portion control and minimal leftovers there! An hour at the gym today, plus lots of cleaning. Tomorrow a 5K turkey trek. Controlled, planned food the rest of the weekend. It'll be fine, right?

Jessica, I was on the same dosage for years and years, then menopause hit, and the dosage has gone down quite a bit from when I was in my 20s, 30s and even most of my 40s. I get tested yearly. However, I was never hypothyroid that I know of--I just had my thyroid removed because of adenomas so I never experienced any symptoms, at least none that I could identify.

Meg, as always, good advice.

Shannon, I think I actually do better around holidays because I'm so focused on staying OP. It's all the other times that I forget to watch what I'm doing.

Our shelter had to put down a bunch of cats yesterday, even after offering them for a donation instead of the regular fee. People just keep bringing in cats and kittens, and they don't seem to care what happens to them. When did we develop such a cavalier attitude toward animals (cats in particular)? Anyway, I ended up taking home a 6-week old orange kitten that I'm going to foster until she's old enough to be spayed (2 lbs.) and adopted. My own cat is not very happy with this situation, and she's letting me know that in various ways. Oh, well, it's only a couple of weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Off to make a pie and do some cleaning. When searching for the kitten after I let her out to play, I discovered that there's a lot of dust under my furniture!

Edited: Michele, that's interesting about the muscle cramps. I've been experiencing muscle cramps at night in my feet. It's really annoying. I do notice that if I take calcium, magnesium and Vit D before I go to bed, it doesn't happen as much or at all.

I am also doing a lot of baking today, but it's all bread, so it should be easy enough to avoid. Every year, I home bake all of the rolls...three kinds this year. Most years that was all we did, but since Aunt Pat used to cook and is no longer with us, we're bringing mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce as well to take some pressure off her kids and widower...did I mention this is Thanksgiving for 40??? So that's a lot of cooking, baking, and prep.

Tomorrow we're off with all of this food in the car, then celebrating Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, it's the first one without Aunt Pat here, and another aunt isn't coming "so she can sit home and pout"...one of the main arteries in her heart has a 95% blockage, and she's decided not to get bypass surgery, possibly because she wants people to beg/plead with her to get it (that's my dad's theory, and she's his sister, so he'd probably know better than me). I really don't know what to think, but had hoped that for this first Thanksgiving without Aunt Pat (it was her favorite holiday) we could all be there and get along. What is it about the holidays that bring out the family drama???

Looking forward to the long weekend, though! Happy day before Thanksgiving, everyone!!

Midwife - eeeeee, birthday cupcakes?? YAY!