Finding satisfaction at Thanksgiving

by Mary on November 23, 2011

Thanksgiving dinner setting with red napkin and fall leaves

The Thanksgiving table

My wish for all of you on Thanksgiving is that you will end the day feeling satisfied and yet not discouraged about your health and fitness goals. You’ll have to decide how. Maybe it will be by having a huge feast, and just accepting that it might take a week or so of being careful to work it off. Or maybe you will be able to enjoy family and friends and be happy with a just a medium to large meal.

My least satisfying Thanksgivings, food-wise, have involved sitting around for hours before the main course, with a drink in hand and abundant nibblies in reach. Things like nuts, cheese and crackers. My inhibitions about not pigging out vaporize with the alcohol, and by the time the main meal arrives with the items I really want to eat, my appetite is gone. Which hasn’t prevented me from carrying on.

I haven’t faced this scenario for a long while, so I can’t say for sure how I’d do. Not drinking before the meal is one strategy that could work for me in this situation.

My more recent challenges have less to do with the Thanksgiving meal itself, and more to do with the leftovers. By the time I’ve knocked myself out cooking all day, I want a break from the kitchen. So I make lots of food, and whatever we had for Thanksgiving dinner we’ll have again for lunch and dinner the next day, maybe even for lunch the day after that.

So whatever’s right or wrong with the Thanksgiving meal multiplies itself. How about you? What are your strategies for Thanksgiving? Does the holiday leave you satisfied?

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