Thanksgiving Survival!

Happy Thanksgiving! I have a few tips I would like to share with you for how I walked out of my Thanksgiving meal still feeling like I am on target with my goals and shameless! I have definitely over-eaten plenty of times prior to realize a small victory while walking away from my parents Thanksgiving without feeling like the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory blueberry girl!

My family celebrates Thanksgiving early. It is the oddest tradition but was set as such because of my years of travelling with soccer tournaments. Now, it just simplifies things since we all have in-laws to drop by on Thanksgiving day anyway! So, I wanted to share some tips and tricks with you of how to still enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner but stay on track towards your goals at the same time! And I already put them to the test this past weekend!

First off, we are going to compare two plates....

This is a pretty typical plate. Now, if you are familiar with the portion control containers that Beachbody has established all you see is A LOT of YELLOW containers going on.... in other words, CARB party! Haaaha. And, you probably don't stop at one of these plates but double down, right?! It's thanksgiving!

Ok, so just by changing tactics and mindset a bit, check out this plate:

This is a much better, balanced out plate. So, if possible... start with veggies served. At my dinner it was corn and a chopped super greens salad. My frst tip to you is to dish those veggies first and aim for half you plate covered with them. They took up about a 1/3 of my plate since they weren't as foofy as a normal salad. I was plenty aware that the corn had a decent amount of butter added so I took more chopped salad than corn because you have to remember to balance your oils (in 21 Day Fix it would be one of your teaspoons). From there, instead of going crazy on the stuffing, I did a "normal" sized scoop, and a few chunks of turkey with cranberry dalloped on top, followed by a scoop of yams with only a small amount of marshmallow. I drizzled a little gravy on my stuffing but didn't drown my plate. My second tip, don't drown your whole plate in gravy! Give and take on those carbs. I knew I wanted some pumpkin pie, so I took it easy on the stuffing, yams, and gravy, and passed up most of the chips. ;) (I did have a few as an appetizer.) Oh, and seeing as I do live in Utah, there was a jello salad to add to my plate as well! Haaaha. So, as you can see I had more than enough to fill my belly and make me happy! My second tip to you is eat your veggies first so you get full on the food that has fiber and will create satiety in your system. My last tip is to pace yourself. Conversate as you go, thanksgiving isn't all about the food... it's about family, relationships, and gratitude! Open up and talk with those around you while you eat. This will help food settle and make you happier anyway while helping you not to turn into a stuffed turkey!

My husband is so funny, after our dinner he said, "I actually got dizzy... I have never eaten that much food before to make me dizzy!" While in the meantime, I had attacked dinner with a game plan and was feeling great. I even had room for a small piece of pumpkin pie and it was delish!

On more gold nugget for you: I really liked this video made by the 21 Day Fix Trainer, Autumn Calabrese:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxFgEu2aNrc#action=share