Planning for a Big Meal

It’s Holiday Season

In honor of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to write an article with suggestions about how to deal with meals and indulgences over the holiday season. I think many of us equate the holidays with big meals and weight gain. With a bit of planning and consciousness though, there’s no reason not to be able to enjoy a great meal and either not lose weight or have a very quick recovery after gaining a few pounds.

Here are some tips that might help. Remember, planning is the key to navigating all of these challenges during your weight loss journey!

1. Have a rough idea (unless you are cooking, in which case you will know) of what food will be served.
In the case of the Thanksgiving meal, we can pretty much bet on the traditional turkey with all the fixins that come along with it. Pumpkin pie is my absolute favorite!

2. Plan to be diligent with your meals the week of the “Big Meal”.
In the case of Thanksgiving for example, I might plan low calorie days Mon-Wed that week. I’ll be sure to drink all my water and most likely big salads will be on the menu for lunches. Mind you, we’re still being healthy here. We’re not starving ourselves on these days, BUT any thoughts of pizza or dessert will be pushed back with the reminder of the Thursday meal ahead.

3. Plan to be diligent with your exercise the week of the “Big Meal”.
Make your exercise plan for the week and stick to it! It may also be a great idea to plan a little extra.  I know last year on Thanksgiving, I enjoyed a wonderful (and long) morning bike ride the day of Thanksgiving. I was able to think about how thankful I was in regards to my health and how far I had come in my weight loss journey.

4. Don’t go “unconscious” while you are eating the “Big Meal”.
Sit at the table with the intention to be present while you are eating. Personally, I think you should eat what you like at special occasions such as this, BUT keep portion control in mind and be conscious of eating to the point of satisfaction and not until you are feeling so stuffed that you can hardly get up from the table. Save room for that piece of pumpkin pie or the dessert that you have your eye on. Enjoy the company.

5. The day and week after, get right back into your routine!
Plan to get right back to it the next day. If you’re the one cooking, give away your left-overs. If not, accept only turkey which would be great in a sandwich or on your nice big salad the next day. Do not use this meal as a complete deviation from your weight loss plan. You can eat this meal on Thursday, be back to routine on Friday and not have gained any weight (maybe even lost lbs) by Monday. Trust me, this can happen AND you can enjoy the meal and indulge just a bit.

I think too often we just equate the holidays with weight gain and accept defeat in this area and there is absolutely no reason to have this mentality. Your weight loss challenge is all about small changes that have big effects in the long run of your life. Planning for the holiday meals is just one of those life events that will keep on coming. And if you do gain 5 lbs, it’s not the end of the world. You know how to lose it, and the key will be losing those 5 lbs right away and not going the other direction, using it as an excuse to gain another 5 lbs.

Let the festivities begin!

What? I Can Have Taco Bell For Lunch?

I believe that much of my 140 lb weight gain was due to eating fast food. Taco Bell, McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut…the list goes on and on.

Confession time: At the peak of my self-sabotage, I would go through multiple drive-thrus to get exactly the food I was craving - rush home, sit in front of the TV and devour the food…stuff, stuff, stuff myself until I had that weird satisfied (full!) feeling.  I hated myself at those times but in the moment it was the only thing that I thought would make me feel better. (ok, consciously I may not even have been thinking about it at all…habits can be SO powerful)

Today I no longer feel the need to do a multiple drive-thru run but I do sometimes allow myself a bit of fast food or whatever it is I may be craving.

Before beginning my weight loss, I had tried to diet many times and I really believe that my all-or-nothing mentality is part of what led to failure during those attempts. When I set out to lose the weight this final time, I vowed to be more realistic with myself. Yes, I wanted to add good healthy foods to my diet BUT I really didn’t want to say goodbye to my favorite junk foods forever.

I did know starting out that for me I needed a period of time though when I would be very strict on myself with the dieting…I didn’t want to chance the pull of the habit. So I did give up all eating out for the first month or so. The more times I said no to my cravings during this time, the stronger I became. You’ll get there too, I promise.

2+ yrs into this healthy eating and exercise gig, guess what? I’ve discovered that I really can have pretty much what I want and am craving…ok, not allowing myself to go crazy or anything.

If I’m sticking with my exercise for the week/month and eating healthy choices 80-90% of the time, I really do find that if I’m having a particular craving one day I can plan for that meal and be perfectly fine.

Here are some planning suggestions…I count calories so that is what this is based on.

1. Know what you are going to order and what the calorie count will be. (roughly) Guess what? Taco Bell has their full menu online with all the nutritional information. I wanted to have 2 Volcano Burritos (I know disgusting! lol ), but since those babies were 800 calories a pop, I settled for 2 chicken soft tacos and 1 regular/beef soft taco - calories count 610…not bad and totally doable. (NOW if I had decided to have the 2 Volcanoes - which I might do on a given day, I’d try to eat 1200-1300 calories most days of that same week and definitely not forego the exercise!)

2. Plan your calories for the rest of the day. Big calorie meal out may require that you adjust your calories for the rest of the day - know what you’ll be having for the other 2-3 meals throughout the day.

3. Exercise! Exercise! Exercise! Don’t feel bad after you eat that pizza once a month that you’ve been craving! Commit to an extra great cardio day before, of and after! No sweat! No guilt! Trade for it! It’s allowed.

4. No guilt! Vow to enjoy the meal that you’ve planned for. Guilt is NOT necessary here. Do you know why? Because you are conscious…not eating on autopilot. You’ve made the decision to indulge and tomorrow you will make the decision to be completely on your healthy track.

I’m really trying to keep it real here with you all…hope you know that! I’ve been known to eat a small pizza and chicken wings (all of them!) on the 1st of the month after a successful weigh-in…and the next day, I get up do my cardio and plan a salad for lunch!

Enter the no guilt zone and enjoy!