Thanksgiving Comebacks

OK, so "National Pig Out Day" is ... TOMORROW.  (Yikes!)

What are YOUR plans?

Listen, don't freak out.  It IS possible to stay OP on Thanksgiving.  It's all in your mindset.  Here's some tips that have worked for me:

1).  REHEARSE the day ahead of time, in your mind.  And by that I mean, think about the food pushers and what they will say, and what you will 'Come back' with....Here's some examples:

- "Are you EATING this year?" (this from my mother...the Champion of Food Pushing! LOL)....
  My comeback?  "Sure, Mom....I'm eating...I'm just eating what -I- want to eat, that's all."

- "Oh for Pete's sakes, it's only ONE DAY!" (again, from you-know-who!)
  My comeback?  "For normal people it's only one day, sure.....but for me?  That will morph into the weekend!  I am a food addict. That's the truth and I'm dealing with it.  So please respect my wishes and leave me be!  I'll be FINE, I'm NOT starving, LOOK!"  (and then I point to the huge pile of lettuce and turkey and green beans on my plate LOL).

- "But you look GREAT!  WHY do you still have to DIET?"
  My comeback?  "Thank you!  But I won't STAY looking good unless I watch what I eat.  EVERY day."

- "You know, restricting yourself that way only makes the food MORE important, and you're more likely to binge."
  My comeback?  "Not true....eating this way puts me into ketosis, a fat-burning state that actually has a REDUCED appetite as a side effect!  It works, and I love the food."

- Anything else?  Simple....Nod and Smile and CHANGE THE SUBJECT.  When you agree with people but continue doing your own thing 'anyway', people have no recourse!  What else can they do, right?  NO ONE can FORCE you to eat anything you don't want to.  REMEMBER THAT!  This is YOUR life and YOUR body and YOU decide what you will and will not eat.

2).  BE PREPARED.  Bring a veggie tray if you're going to a friend or relative's....the host/hostess will appreciate the contribution (less work for them!) and you'll have something to nibble on when everyone else is nibbling on fattening appetitzers. 
Make it out of bell pepper....green, yellow and red bell peppers are pretty, you can form them into all kinds of pretty patterns, and add some fresh mushrooms or broccoli or even carrot sticks (you don't have to eat them) and everyone will remark on how pretty it looks.  Bring your own diet soda or seltzer or sparkling water....and don't forget your own salad dressing....even the entire salad if you have to.  I've said this many times before...I bring a large ziploc bag filled with cut up lettuce!   That way I KNOW
I'll have my greens.  AND I bring my own salad dressing.  One year I brought mashed cauliflower, and everyone LOVED it, so now
I bring that every year! (See?  You never know!!!) 

DECIDE ahead of time what you WILL and WILL NOT eat.  And remember, it only takes one serving of stuffing to throw you out of ketosis.  And then you'll have to go through another 3-5 days of staying OP to get back INTO ketosis....again! 

Why DO that to yourself? 

3).  LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE.  Remember, it's just ONE DAY.  One day in your life....one day you DON'T eat sludge 'just because' everyone ELSE is eating sludge.  Right?  It IS possible to have an OP Thanksgiving ... and STILL enjoy yourself! 

I did it last year and guess what?  I'm doing it again this year!  You do what you have to do, right?  What WORKS for you.

There will ALWAYS be holidays....many every year!  And if you use each one as an 'excuse' to overeat....guess what?  You won't get to goal...and even if you do, you won't stay there for long.  Sooner or later it comes down to YOU and your body.  And doing what you KNOW is best for it.   It doesn't mean you don't have a good time, either!  SEPARATE OUT the food from the event.
Our culture has strongly associated food with celebration....but you can STILL celebrate without the sludge!

4).  DO NOT, repeat NOT, bring home leftovers....or store them if you're cooking...unless they are OP leftovers!  If you're cooking and you make off plan foods, at the end of the day?  Set out some ziploc containers and bags and tell people to please take some home.  My mother actually does this every year now...not because she's watching her weight, but because it's only her and my Dad and the food will go bad, they can't possibly eat all of that.  So family members load up the leftovers and bring them home (all
except me LOL). 

Leftovers are the DEATH KNELL for anyone with a binge eating problem or someone who eats more when they are alone.
They will 'call' to you....in the middle of the night!....if you bring them home.  So don't bother, unless they are something that you don't care for and your spouse really loves them or whatever. 

You can do it.  Keep telling yourself that....and don't get sucked into arguments, just focus on the DAY, and the PEOPLE, and the EVENT, and not the food.  Make conversation!  Keep moving (it's hard for food pushers to find a moving target LOL).  Use your mouth to TALK instead of eat.  Keep sipping from your water glass.  Worried about everyone drinking?  Have a big glass of seltzer water with a lime wedge.  It looks like a mixed drink so you're all set.  WINE and BOOZE in general give you a DOUBLE whammy....because not only is alcohol 'pure sugar' to the body, but it lowers your inhibitions....so that suddenly you're thinking, 'Why NOT have dessert?'

Best to not even GO THERE to begin with.

You CAN do this.  You can be your body's best friend this Thanksgiving....and instead of moaning and groaning over everything you ate, you can be PROUD of yourself for staying OP. 

I don't know about you, but I intend to LOSE WEIGHT this Thanksgiving week.  (REALLY!)

My health, my well-being, and my happiness with my slim body are MORE IMPORTANT than scarfing down 'whatever'. 

And I'll STILL enjoy myself.  In fact, I'm looking forward to it!

KEEP ON keepin' on!


Linda
alias Catlover77
Certified TSFL Health Coach
angiecat6@comcast.net