Have A Plan For Turkey Day!

[livetheatre]

For those trying to lose weight the holidays are often a war zone. Littered with bombs and booby traps that could spring up and wound the most hardened of dieters. My solution? Have a plan!

Here is what I plan on doing:
1. Make sure that there is a healthy salad option for me. I will then fill most of my plate with the salad (putting it on my plate first). After that it is white meat turkey and two SMALL helpings of sides of my choice. Pic your favs and splurge here...but keep the portion small. It's about having a taste of these food so you don't feel like you are neglecting yourself.

2. Make a choice on dessert. I know I am in the minority on this one but I don't like pumpkin pie or pecan pie...so this makes it an easy choice for me. But for most people you need to decide ahead of time what you will do when dessert is served. If you feel like you HAVE to have a dessert do ONE and keep the portion small.

3. Move! Get up early and go for a walk in the morning or plan on doing so after dinner. Even if you watch what you eat on this day you will, more than likely, be consuming more than normal. So...get moving!

This is what I plan on doing heading into the holiday...what's your plan to stay on track?

[Belease]

I don't know if anyone on here is in charge of preparing Thanksgiving, but I am, so I'm making sure that I cut back on calories where I can in preparing the meal. For example, I checked out Libby's site for the pumpkin pie recipe, and they have loads of options for people who want to cut calories out, such as pumpkin tarts which are 100 calories each, low-cal pumpkin pies, and the best one (IMO) which is the crustless pumpkin pie, which saves so many calories! Even if you're not preparing the meal, you can always eat around the crust if you're eating pumpkin pie! I've never liked the crust, so I'm happy to sacrifice it!

I've also cut back the calories in mashed potatoes by using quark - do you have that in America? (I'm not actually from the US, I'm English, but I love Thanksgiving so I celebrate it every year anyway!) Also, I'm making creamed spinach with light cream cheese instead of the usual sauce.

I'm lucky because a) I'm making it myself, and b) no one I'm serving it to has any Thanksgiving experience, so I can't ruin people's old favourites by making them low calorie. It might be harder for others, I don't know.

The salad tip is a good one!

[livetheatre]

I've also cut back the calories in mashed potatoes by using quark - do you have that in America? (I'm not actually from the US, I'm English, but I love Thanksgiving so I celebrate it every year anyway!) Also, I'm making creamed spinach with light cream cheese instead of the usual sauce.

I'm lucky because a) I'm making it myself, and b) no one I'm serving it to has any Thanksgiving experience, so I can't ruin people's old favourites by making them low calorie. It might be harder for others, I don't know.

The salad tip is a good one!

What is 'quark?' For my mashed potatoes I will use chicken stock to add flavor and richness so I don't have to use as much butter and cream/milk.

[Belease]

It's a very low-fat cream cheese: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_%28cheese%29

Very tangy, almost like sour cream, actually! Good idea to use stock, though, I never thought of that!

[Huddler]

Thanksgiving will be a cheat day for me. The key is to not let a cheat day extend into a cheat week. I have to get right back on the diet tomorrow. And I will eat alot today, but will try to eat turkey and salad before I eat anything else. Smaller portions of the sides than usual. I will be drinking water/crystal lite all day too to keep me full. I will keep the nibbling to a minimum. Also, I am going for a run this morning so I will have burned some calories. I have to have a piece of pecan pie, but only 1 small piece and thats it. Thats the plan anyway...