Happy Thanksgiving. I
am thankful for clients who come to our offices throughout the year. I am also
thankful for this blog and especially the dialog that we often have in the
comments section. As you know, I welcome a good debate and so for those of you
who disagree or offer a divergent view, thankful for you all too.
Yesterday, I did a quick segment on Thanksgiving. It was
specifically about gluten free Thanksgiving options but the producer opened
with “What do you tell clients when it comes to Thanksgiving, is it a day to
enjoy everything and put your diet on hold or should they (and we) make an
effort to keep it healthy?”
As I see it, there are two camps on Thanksgiving. On her
show Kelly Ripa lightheartedly said, “I’m going to sit down to Thanksgiving dinner
and eat like it’s any other day because when you don’t you get into trouble.”
On the other hand, after the CBS segment ran with me and other chefs and
experts explain how to tame Thanksgiving the anchor concluded with the flipside
“I don’t know, it’s one day, I plan on enjoying myself.” And Clinton Kelly, of
The Chew, on a funny segment on table etiquette said whatever you do “don’t say
the D-word at the table.” D here refers to diet.
I don’t think these camps or viewpoints are as polarizing as
it may seem. The “it’s one day” folks really don’t want to end an evening
seeking antacids and elastic clothing. And the “Ripa’s” probably will not be in
a corner eating white meat turkey, crudité, peeling marshmallows from their
sweet potatoes. And I concur with Clinton whether you are gluten-free, paleo or
just run of the mill neurotic, nobody (except the host well beforehand in the
case of an allergy) needs to know your eating rules.
“It’s one day” sounds innocuous if it were really one day.
One of the things that work against Thanksgiving is its occurrence on a
Thursday. Many could recover from having two days (3500-5000 whopping calories)
of food at one pop if it was sandwiched
by regular consumption on other days. What typically happens is that
Thanksgiving acts as the starting gun for “it’s one day” folks that ends up
being 35 days and Thanksgiving is early this year, make that 40 until the new
year.
Some advice?
Thursday, stick to the One Plate Rule- you wouldn’t ask for
seconds at a restaurant and this food beats restaurant food in butter and sugar
content.
And Focus on Friday. If you have stuffing or pie or candied
(apt description) yams today, leave them today. Tomorrow turkey in a salad,
turkey soup…you get the idea.
Most importantly, relax and enjoy all you have to be
thankful for.
Which camp are you in?
Ripas or IJODS (it’s just one day-ers)?
Are you a leftover person? Do you think it’s possible to keep treats to
just one day?
My "why buy fresh if you can get it from a can" hostess just told me that she cooked, sliced, a refrigerated the turkey yesterday. Makes it easy for me to eat like its any other day (minus my usual preferred fresh food!). Hope your meal is more tempting. I'm thankful for your blog and your guidance and humor! Happy thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteHa Michele, beware nasty hostess food. While it seemingly makes life easier to "be good" come dessert you may be hungry and average pies can be more appealing than gross turkey. Pre-eat good, fresh, uncanned food. Thank you for chiming in and your humor too. Multiple schools, not easy.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving, Lauren. I hope you have a great holiday. I heard Kelly Ripa...I love her but today I will enjoy and I will keep it to one plate. Tomorrow is a new day :)
ReplyDeleteAn IJOD ayala but I'm thinking a one-plate IJOD is totally fine. Tomorrow is a new day just remember it's not a holiday tomorrow. Happy and a healthy and thank you for your words/poems.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is just another day to me. Nothing really appeals to me with regards to Thanksgiving foods...so I had a nice filet of cod at McCormick and Schmick instead. Along with Maya's pumpkin pie crust.
ReplyDeleteBut for those who love turkey, mashed, and stuffing? I can see why they'd overdo it one day a year.
I am in between the two. My aunt uses my grandmother's service, so the plates are old-fashioned (small), which I appreciate. As the one who can't pile food and have to keep things from touching, I eat a modest amount off the plate then when I go back for seconds I typically find I am too full for much. This repeats every year. I eat whatever I want, but I just can't seem to get much going. Then the leftovers stay at my aunt's house! If I'm at home, they stay at my MIL's house. That's not a bad strategy.
ReplyDeleteI think I am somewhere in-between too. I try to really enjoy what I do have and probably eat a little too much dessert--but return to normalcy, keeping only the leftovers that would make it into a normal weeknight meal, the very next morning.
ReplyDeleteI was bummed I had to return to work today, but honestly I think it ends up being an easy way to get back into a healthy routine before the weekend comes--so maybe I should stop complaining :)
Thank you :) Hope you enjoyed the holiday :)
ReplyDeleteOne plate for me of everything I love, but this was preceded by appetizers which is not a usual occurrence. Now up in the local mountains "camping" with family and enjoying the leftovers. Hope you and your family had a happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeletesometimes apps can put me over the edge, cheese/veggies that's a meal, right? Enjoy camping.
ReplyDeleteyes, work isn't the worst- enforces the normalcy vrs relaxing and eating all day, right?
ReplyDeletesmall plates, no leftovers...good strategy.
ReplyDeleteI with you Ameena salmon and a salad with pomegranate seeds. Some jeering from my sister but I was happy as can be.
ReplyDelete