What a great post!! You have summed my feelings about the Holiday Feasts to a "T" , I am hosting our Thanksgiving feast and have spent much more time planning IP friendly dishes. There are 4 family members on IP so it will be fun! Check out my menu on today's daily chat!
Have a great weekend with your Family

Jackie - I'll add my kudoes here. Your post shows me that it's not so strange after all, to actually feel at peace about the upcoming holidays. I feel exactly the same way.

Hey All,

I'm so glad you liked what I said in the post. Thank you so much for your kind words of appreciation. It really is interesting to watch how my approach to things is changing on this weight loss journey in a way it never has before. It definitely feels like the right road to be my "last diet."

Journeysend, you and others have posted some great menus for Thanksgiving, both here and on the daily chat. I think we'll be doing a small roast beef this year. My sister is a vegetarian, and I just don't like turkey enough to wrestle with one for just my mom and I. I'm bringing 2 nice cauliflowers (I always bring lots of the food when I visit so my mother doesn't exhaust herself with shopping before I get there). I'll be using one for a pureed cauliflower soup that tastes creamy but isn't for us to have on a few days, and the other for steaming, or chopping up in things, or making pseudo mash because there's going to be gravy! I can't believe how excited I am at the prospect of using a real onion with the roast after 9 weeks of leeks instead! I won't be eating it, but it's flavour will be welcome.

I'm taking a pile of IP packets with me 'cause I have a feeling my mom and sister are going to want to try a few things. I've also been thinking that introducing my elderly mother to protein powders, how easy they are to use and how yummy they can be might be a good thing, so I'm bringing some non-IP protein foods as well.

Have a great weekend, and happy feasting and festing to my fellow Canadians!


Jackie

Bump!

One suggestion for gravy... I noticed my first week when I didn't use enough water that the IP chicken soup reminded me A LOT of gravy - for Thanksgiving, that will be my gravy. :-)

Bump....Carla's opening post is great....and I was beginning my search for recipes for Turkey Day......need to find ones that I can have with the whole fam-damily!

Thank you for this very very good advice! I was planning on sticking it out. I am going to hunt through my recipe books for some sexy gourmet veggie dishes to take as sides to go with the turkey. I am however, going to freeze a plate of holiday dinner to eat when allowed. I think it will taste better without the guilt!

Happy Holidays!

one carrot for every 5lbs destroyed!

Just an observation--

After reading on this and other threads about holiday eating plans, I think this is really all about control, isn't it? Are we going to stay in control, each with our own plans, or are we going to let ourselves eat out of control again? I don't think any of us want to go there.....so it's all about planning, and being able to control our own bodies and weight.

My 2 cents.....

Bump!

Thanks for all the great ideas. I guess the good side of cooking for 35 will enable me to make sure I have plenty of choices that are IP friendly!

Is anyone on twitter? we could twitter through the day.. get instant encouragement and "Will Power dust" right from our phones, no matter where we eat?
I am @susiemiller5

This could be a fun and sane way to navigate the events in real time!
ex:
tweet: my MIL is suspect of the "mashed potatoes" on my plate, can i move to the other end of the table?

tweet: why do families push food... oh come on just one bite..."
tweet" step away from the bite of pie... it ='s 3 days to get back to ketosis!

just an idea... anyone in?

Cheers, Susie

I'll follow you! I'm @jdiettrich

Let's see, should we have our own hashtag?

#IPinsanity? :-) #cauliflowernotpotato? #thinkskinny? #justsaynotopie?

love the idea of a hash tag...
how about #IPsanity (i would be insame if i didn't try this- it is bringing sanity and health to me.
or just #IP so there is more space for tweets?

i will follow you too

Choose to be Well,
susie

I'm already thinking about Christmas dinner and struggling with the idea of it. This will be our first Christmas after my Opas (Grandpa) death and I know it's going to be sad, depressing and difficult for the whole family. The emotions part is what scares me, because I am an emotional eater. Not to mention holidays with everyone can get a little drama filled. And our food isn't very IP friendly at all. We are Austrian so schnitzel is huge and salads (cucumber, potato, bean). I know I can make it work. But the food alone is bloody torture, then adding the emotional aspect on top of it..... I'm just scared & nervous. I almost just wanna skip the whole holiday and avoid it all but that's not doable. Anyways, thanks for letting me express my worries.

Holidays really aren't just about food, are they? Undercurrents can be as staggering and energy-debilitating as the full-blown, calorie- and fat-laden meals.

Maybe you could take a laptop with you, or get someone else to bring one, and start a file where everyone contributed their nicest remembrances of your opa? and you could keep yourself busy monitoring and contributing to it -- especially if some members of your family aren't keyboard friendly? Or some other project? I hope this isn't too far off the wall. But I think you're correctly sympathetic to the potential to be derailed. And good for you.