My Thanksgiving Strategies

Wow!!! 2 posts in one day....how unusual. But since I didn't blog about Thanksgiving I thought I would jot down what helped me make it through Thanksgiving without gaining weight.

Besides gearing myself up mentally, my "best friend" was the measuring cup.


We were only going to have one Thanksgiving meal and since I was cooking it I wasn't too concerned...and then we were invited to my oldest daughter's grandparents family get together. It was pot luck style and I wish I would have taken a picture of the dessert table because it was loaded down with goodness. Pumpkin pies, chocolate meringue pie, apple caramel pie, a variety of cheesecakes and a pumpkin roll.

I used one of the strategies mentioned at our last WW meeting. If you are going to eat/indulge then do it with foods you don't usually eat or make. That's what I did at the afternoon meal at the grandparents. And of the food I took I only took enough for a bite or two and by the time I was finished I was satisfied.

Later that night at my house we had our big meal. I had gotten on etools and recorded my points before I ever ate them. When the time came I waited till everyone got their food and then I pulled out a 1/4 measuring cup and went around to all the dishes and only served myself what would fit in the cup. At first I thought it wouldn't be enough but considering we had 5 or 6 side dishes it all added up to enough. A fourth of a cup of potatoes by themselves would have been a joke but sitting next to stuffing and sweet potatoes and green beans and corn....it was plenty.

I liked that I waited till the end of the line because there was no one asking me why I was using a measuring cup...or making comments about how that wasn't very much...it's nice to just go about my business without the questions sometimes.

The best part of the day...I never once felt deprived. I ate whatever looked appealing but I ate it in a smaller quantity.

I even took this approach at the dessert table. At the grandparents I didn't even bother with a piece of Pumpkin pie since I was serving that at our meal later that night. I perused the selections and which ever dessert caught my fancy I just took a bite size piece....just enough to get a taste. And it was enough.