Holiday Consumption Interrupted

Another year almost over and I’m still working to reach my goals.  I haven’t noticed a big decline in the numbers on the scale, but I have noticed a lot more toning in my arms, legs and bum.  I’ve noticed a lot less fat to my fat rolls and more visible bones to my structure.  Yes, I can say it, I’ve come a long way and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.  And I’m thankful.  Thankful for the support of my family,  friends and co-workers.  Thankful to Ashley for the kick butt Zumba groupon that got me working out.  But I’m most thankful that I experienced an aha moment and made a decision to live a healthier lifestyle.

From Thanksgiving 2008 (above) to now (below)!

Here I am celebrating my 27th birthday Oct. 24 at Arbor Day Lodge.  I just wanted to see if I could fit!

Business trip to Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Va. – Nov. 2011

I’m going to try something completely different for Thanksgiving this year.  I’m not going to get upset about ‘messing up my day.’  In fact, I’m probably going to gorge myself on turkey, potatoes, noodles, fudge, shrimp, pumpkin pie, rolls…and the list continues.  I wait all year for three special days (my birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas) where I can eat whatever I want, how much I want, without even considering how terrible it is for my body and weight loss goals.

Now, I know you’ve heard me gripe on several occasions about overdoing it here, late night binging there, so on and so on.  But most of the time I’m overeating on healthy choices.  Even on my worst days I never eat the way I used to.

I can do this 1. because I’m seriously ok with it,  2.  I DESERVE it and  3.  I’m going to burn some of it off!

The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Caloric Control Council. Most of these calories come from the all-day snacking in front of the TV while watching parades, sporting events or as my family does…watching Christmas Vacation.  On a normal ‘good’ day, I typically consume between 1500 to 2000 calories, which is about average for a woman my size.  Now simple math suggests that I will be consuming twice the amount of food that I normally do, if not more.  But in reality my stomach doesn’t hold that much.  The problem is the selection.

BE CHOOSY

This Thanksgiving you can have your cake (and turkey and potatoes and stuffing and sweets) and eat it too.  You just have to be choosy.  One of the first things I noticed when I began my weight loss journey was not the amount of food I was eating but the amount of calories in the foods I was eating.  It’s a common misconception that fat people eat large amounts of food all day long. That’s not always the case.  More times than not overweight people are eating several normal sized portions of very high calorie food and they don’t even know it!

Here’s a little math problem to illustrate my point.

Women, ages 19-50, who are moderately physically active can consume about 2000 to 2200 calories. McDonald’s Big & Tasty (yes the ‘healthy’ one with lettuce and tomato on it), with medium fries and medium Coke is a total of 1050 CALORIES!  That doesn’t seem like a whole heck of a lot of food, but that is more than half the recommended daily calories in just one meal.

Now I don’t want to inundate my Thanksgiving feasting by worrying about how many calories I’m consuming.  I do that on a daily basis and honest to goodness, I need a break!  But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a game plan to make better choices, thus consuming less calories and being proud of myself for doing better than I would have!

•  Fill up on calorie free liquids. Lucky for me my aunt always has some delicious raspberry or lemon tea on hand that I drink pretty much all day long.  If my stomach is full with liquids, it’s going to be a lot harder to squeeze more and more food in as the day progresses.  Drink up!

•  Resist too many appetizers.  At my aunt’s house, the pre-eating is almost as good as the meal itself.  There are always tons of yummy appetizers around to nibble on before we say grace and chow down.  Instead of going back and forth to the kitchen or buffet, try filling a small plate with goodies and only eating that.  Spend your time playing a board game, visiting with family or checking out the Black Friday steals!

•  Take smaller portions.  Whether it’s one bite, two bites or ten, mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes.  Research shows that the first couple of bites are the most enjoyable anyway, so why load your plate with huge helpings when you can have just a little of a lot?  One tip I’ve learned is to use a small spoon to dip out YOUR portions.  Let everyone else use the big scoops and serving spoons.  A Cornell study found that people who used three-ounce serving spoons shoveled out nearly 15 percent more food than those who scooped using smaller two-ounce spoons.

•  Be selective.  My Weight Watcher leaders usually hit on this point at least once every holiday.  If the item in question is something you can have any time you want it, skip it.  For me that food is gravy.  My turkey and potatoes are just fine without it.  I don’t mind it but I don’t really have to have it.  In fact, I don’t really have to have a very big pile of mashed potatoes either.  I like stuffing, but it’s not my favorite, so I might take a small helping of it and save room for the more important things, like turkey, noodles and pumpkin pie.

•  Choose better options.  In addition to selecting the foods you love versus eating everything in sight, you can also shave off calories by opting for healthier choices of your favorite foods.  When you’re filling up your appetizer plate, add even a few pieces from the relish tray.  Your aim may not be to eat veggies on Thanksgiving, but if you incorporate veggies into your pre-dinner mindless snacking, you’ll consume fewer calories and not even know it! Or split a piece of pumpkin pie and a piece of pecan pie with someone instead of having a slice of both.  Gotta have turkey?  The leanest poultry is white meat from the breast with no skin.  One portion, which is about the size of an iPhone, is 124 calories versus the same portion of dark meat at 286 calories.  And if you remove the skin, you can skim off an extra 35 calories and 3 grams of fat.  Two tablespoons of gravy is OK at only 6-18 calories but use an actual tablespoon instead of using the spout of the gravy boat to measure.  Other suggestions? Sweet potatoes vs. mashed potatoes (because of the butter).  Even better if you scrape off the marshmallows and sweeten with Splenda and nutmeg!  Applesauce is half the calories (83.5) and one-third the sugar of jarred cranberry sauce, which has 209 calories and as far as desserts, pumpkin is packed with beta-carotenes, an antioxidant, and boost your immune system during the cold Thanksgiving weather.  Pumpkin is also full of fiber and will fill you up faster than sugar laden pecan pie or carrot cake.

GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN

For the past several Thanksgiving’s I’ve told myself I was going to do something active but in reality, after eating and eating, exercising was the last thing I wanted to do.  Instead of not doing anything active at all, I’m going to be prepared with several options. I can do them all or I can do only one, but having a list of possibilities makes it easier to rule out activity all together.

•  The easiest option is to walk.  I found this handy little website (I believe Google has one too) that lets me select various points in my community and tells me how far it is.  When it comes to my family dinner, we celebrate across town at my aunt’s house.  I’m from a really small town so across town for me is really about half a mile.  Now in order to get to my aunt’s house I can either drive, hitch a ride with my parents or walk.  Using www.gmap-pedometer.com, I’ve mapped out a one mile jaunt to my aunt’s house so my first goal is to actually walk to Thanksgiving.

A mile burns about 1oo calories, which, compared t0 the 4,000 or so I’ll probably be consuming it seems rather pointless.  Right? Wrong.

The Truth about Fat
So what happens to all those extra calories you don’t burn? Caloric intake above your total daily energy expenditure (calories in > calories out) is converted into droplets, which are gobbled up by your fat cells. One pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories. Luckily, following puberty, the body has developed all of its fat cells. Unfortunately, fat cells can never go away. Although they can shrink, you can never actually get rid of the cell itself.  So even if it’s just a few calories, BURN BABY BURN!

OTHER ACTIVE OPTIONS

•  If there are kiddos in the family and weather permits, lead a Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt.  I found a great one here or you can create make your own.

•  Gather the troops.  Since Thanksgiving is three days away, I’m a little behind on planning and promoting, but I’m hoping by Thanksgiving 2012 I can team up with people in my hometown community for a Turkey Trot.  It’s basically a 5k run/1 mile walk that takes place all over the United States.  Unfortunately, the closest one to us is in St. Joseph, Mo. about an hour away.  Find a turkey trot near you.

•  Pace out the meal.  Stop after the appetizers for a poetry reading or a game of Pin the Feather on the Turkey. Laugh off some calories with a joke-telling contest before dessert.

•  I found this unique idea that would take a lot of cooperation but would be fun.  If your family and friends live close, arrange an around the neighborhood meal: Have appetizers in one spot, the meal at another, and dessert at another person’s house. If you live close enough, walk or bike to each place.

•  Burn even more calories by raking leaves and helping clean up after the meal!  And if the weather’s crappy, there’s always Wii.

Speaking of being active, I wanted to include a few shots of the Zumba Flash Mob I took part in.  Yes, I can’t believe it, but I joined a group of crazy women with Zumba fever and started dancing in a crowd of Husker fans on a game day.  Go us!

Remember to take time to be thankful for what you have and to enjoy life.  Everything you want to accomplish can’t be done in a day because lessons wouldn’t be learned and life wouldn’t be nearly as fun. Take it one day at a time.  One step at a time.  One choice at a time.  Have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Before I leave you, I wanted to contribute at least one Favorite Food Find:

Caribbean Pork and Plantain Hash

Oh My!

My boyfriend ‘s favorite food is plantains and I wanted to make him a meal that incorporated them.  I found this recipe and it turned out to be a wonderful mix of sweet, meaty and spicy.  Nutritional information included. Enjoy!

More favorite finds (from Pinterest):