I was thinking about guilt on turkey day...

Calorie-wise, I kept myself in check. But the way the schedule was on turkey day didn't leave me time to exercise. (I do plan to exercise again friday!)

Anyone feel guilty out there? Either on eating or exercising or the lack of either on turkey day?

nope. never guilty. I know that I need to treat myself once in awhile, and although I probably didn't even eat 1/4 of what I used to in past years, I don't think I'd feel guilty even if I did!

...I work overnights, long shifts. I had to work wednesday night and thanksgiving night---so I didn't really have much of a chance to eat a nice, big dinner. Haha... What I did eat, I was so tired that I could hardly finish it.

Not really "guilty" -- but I am feeling "gross" lol. Too much food! And we're going to continue to eat the Thanksgiving food for the next several days because we have so much left over. That's the bad thing about holidays -- you think "oh it comes once a year, and I can treat myself for one day." But you end up eating the leftovers for a week!

Time to detox (aka work out and drink lots of water).

This may be the first Thanksgiving that I did not play "guilt" mind games with myself. One of the things I changed in this current weight loss journey (as opposed to all those I failed countless times before) is to give up guilt. Oh, I tried to do it in the past, but I always felt that even if I wasn't "supposed" to feel guilty, I did anyway or even if I didn't feel guilty, some part of me thought I "should."

This time IS different. I am super morbidly obese, but I am not a serial killer. I do not have to beat myself up for being human. I've failed a lot more than I've succeeded "this time." In the past, that would have meant that I'd have given up long ago. My usual pattern for weight loss was to be "perfect" until I couldn't be perfect anymore. Each mistake made me feel less worthy and less able to suceed, and I would give up, convinced that I couldn't succeed.

This time, I've "failed" my way to a sixty pound loss, and I plan on failing my way all the way to my goal weight.

So how was this Thanksgiving Day different than every other. I ate a completely regular meal. I didn't even eat until I was even the slightest big uncomfortable. It was literally, just another meal to me. I still almost can't believe it. I ate what I wanted. There luckily weren't any super high calorie temptations, because I don't care for pumpkin pie and the other dessert was a jello salad.

Hubby's step mom is not a great cook, so every year she asks my husband to help her plan the meal. He suggested a cooking bag (cause it's hard to screw up), and plain baked sweet potatoes (for the same reason) with butter and brown sugar at the table (which I didn't use - I don't like sweetening sweet veggies, I never have), and I brought roasted green beans (my favorite, a bit of oil a sprinkling of ranch dressing powder and baked at 400 until tender and starting to carmelize).

It was just as yummy as any other Thanksgiving Dinner, but because I didn't feel like it was my "last chance" to eat what I want before "going back" on my "diet," I could let it be just another day.

Giving up weight loss guilt was the best thing I ever did for myself.

No - I refuse to feel guilt about food anymore, since I make the choice of what goes into my mouth.

I grazed a bit too much yesterday, but I sure enjoyed it. I found without the guilt that it is much easier to get back on plan right away, and I have great memories of the food I ate.

Plus, running 5K yesterday didn't hurt

NOPE....guilt gets in the way of my goal

I am quite capable of knowing that for every mistake I may make, in my journey, I can correct it or minimize it ~ learn ~ and better my efforts for the future. I can add a mile or so to my schedule.

Now, I just have to do it!

Count me in the no guilt club. I had a normal breakfast, filled my plate once at dinner & sampled a little of everything. I had a moderate piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream for dessert. Was not stuffed, but satisfied. I did not measure, count or even attempt to guesstimate what I ate. I logged it as "Thanksgiving Dinner" 500+ calories and stopped. For supper I weighed out 3 oz turkey and made a sandwich and had some veggies and an apple. To get rid of left overs I bought a party pack of glad wear and sent a lot of it home with the in-laws. It was a good day, and I'm totally happy with my choices. Like Kaplods I have decided food is not going to run my life...I am.

PS: In the past I would have used at least a pound and 1/2 of butter (6 sticks) to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. I only used one stick this year, besides what I put on the table for rolls. Seriously, I thought everything tasted wonderful without all the extra added fat.

Nope, no guilt, and I even got a *little* overfull. Didn't mean too, but it sneaks up on you! But ... way better than years before, and will be even better next year. And bottomline, it was a great day with family. Perfect!

And ... I had apple pie for breakfast . That's my own little tradition, and I love it. And I refuse to feel guilty over one apple pie breakfast. Yum!

Amen to both of these.

Also, like someone else above, yesterday I cooked differently from how I've cooked for Thanksgivings past. I used less than a full stick of butter for the whole meal. The turkey got rubbed with olive oil, but I don't eat the skin anyway, so no biggie.

Probably the two richest things I ate were the gravy made with turkey drippings and a slice of pecan pie. (It's my kahlua pecan recipe and I only make it twice a year and I'd already told myself that I was having some.)

But I just refuse to feel "guilty" about food. I ate what I ate. I stuck within my plan - to not deprive myself, but not go overboard. I didn't eat until I was miserable, I enjoyed the day. And today is just another day (with turkey sandwiches on whole grain ... mmmmmm!)

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I'm not sure if guilt is the right word for what I was feeling yesterday... Maybe confused? I was careful about what I was putting on my place and how much of it I was putting there... I didn't eat 5 rolls like usual or load up plate with filling and candied sweet potatoes (with extra sauce)... I ate one roll (with no extra butter) and had the sweet potatoes but with only the sauce that was soaked into it no extra... and instead of eating 1/4 of a coconut pumpkin pie (mmmm...) I had a sliver of pie without the crust and only enough to get the taste satisfaction.

I also had to go to a 2nd Turkey day diner later in the day with my future in laws... I was also mindful....

I think the confusion came from eating so much less than I ever have before and making smarter choices... In some ways I was proud of myself (I used my WiiFit for 45 min in the am and wasn't gorging myself) and other ways I was missing the days when I just loaded up my plate with all the yummy goodness... I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted but just (much) smaller portions which also confused me b/c in the past if I was dieting I was super strict... All in all... I survived the day, for the most part felt okay about it, and made the choice not to take any leftovers (a.k.a. temptations) home.

No guilt. I ate pretty much how I planned to, which for me mostly means avoiding the sugar and simple carbs. I ate normally the whole day before dinner. Yeah, I ate too much in -quantity- at dinner itself, and my stomach wasn't entirely happy about that later, but I avoided all the stuff I wanted to avoid and I enjoyed my dinner. I wasn't in pain, though, and I feel totally fine this morning. In past years I would have felt overloaded on simple carbs and physically unwell...but I'm quite OK today. And the scale stayed the same, which is extra-reassuring. Phew!

Nooooo....I didn't jump on the guilt machine. Although I ate more than usual, it was certainly much less than previous, uncontrolled feasts. I indulged in certain things, and bypassed items that weren't my favorites. Brought home the leftovers of the dishes I brought, and unceremoniously dumped the leftover candied sweets and stuffing in the garbage. I have the leftover carcass in a pot, simmering, and when the broth gets strained, I will separate out the fat and make a nice pot of soup. There only a wee bit of meat left, so no urges for open faced, gravy(and calorie-)laden sandwiches.

What's left after the feast? The pleasant memories of good food, fine wine, delightful conversations, and my sister's white boxer's fur all over my black sweater(dog is lucky she's cute!).

...And back to the real world today...

I felt this confusion a lot last year. Last year was the first year after a significant amount of weight loss that I went through the holidays with a mindset towards being "healthy" rather than dieting.

I especially relate to the whole "super-strict" thing. Last year I had a really hard time with the concept that I could have a piece of pie and it was ok. Or I could have stuffing and gravy and it was ok. I kept thinking "did I screw up"? And part of that, too, was looking for an excuse to just fling caution to the wind and gorge.

This year was different in that I didn't feel that sense of unreality about eating foods that I normally wouldn't. I truly felt ok about having pie and didn't look for a reason to just go whole hog and have 3 more pieces.

The longer you do it, the easier it becomes and I think that's where a lot of us have moved past the "guilt" phase. It's tough though and I remember it vividly.

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Not at all!!! I am not going to feel guilty about living life and giving my body food. I am soo done with that kind of thinking. I set out to make sure I didn't over do it on the sugar and I accomplished that. It was my only goal.

Not feeling guilty but my stomach is revolting. Not used to eating those types of foods anymore. Next year I will bring my own sides so I don't get upset stomach. I didn't overeat thank goodness and I got some exercise in, but I still feel gross today. Definitely a bland food day ahead of me to get back to normal.