A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

How I Thrive on Thanksgiving

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How I Survive Thrive on Thanksgiving


Thanksgiving used to be an extremely anxiety ridden time for me. As anyone who has suffered from disordered eating knows, when you are deep in your own messed up brain, a normal day is anxiety ridden- let alone a day that is set up to allow you to gorge on food!

When I was deep into disordered eating, I did everything I could to make it out of Thanksgiving Day without binging and hating myself. It never worked. The reason was, I was too deep in my sickness. There was really nothing I could do but get better.

This will be my third Thanksgiving where I feel like I am at a healthy place to just eat, enjoy, and not worry so damn much about the calories.

**Note: I am always sure to mention that I am not totally over my weird fear/obsession with food. But I have gotten to an extremely happy place where I probably only have those moments of “controlly-ness” 10% of the time. I cannot be sad about that at all**


My goals on Thanksgiving are as follows:


Have fun with my family.

Eat yummy food.

Be happy.



This is where I need my head to be to reach these goals…


THERE WILL BE MORE FOOD TOMORROW. 

Thanksgiving is not the last opportunity I will ever have to eat. There is no diet on Friday, there are no foods that are off limits on Friday. Anything that is here at Thanksgiving dinner can be on my plate again on Friday if I want it to be. Thanksgiving is not the last day to eat this food. There will always be more food.


ONE DAY OF INDULGING DOES NOT MEAN I WILL GAIN 5LBS. 

A pound is 3,500 calories. I normally eat about 2,500 calories a day. That means, to gain just one pound, I would have to eat 6,000 calories on Thanksgiving. Sure, that is certainly possible, but I would really have to try to binge to get that many calories in me. (I will admit, it helps that I don’t use gravy!)


FOOD IS FUEL BUT FOOD IS ALLOWED TO BE FUN, TOO. 

Yes, I said it. It is okay to enjoy food that is not particularly healthy for you! That being said, I can still use the extra calories consumed on Thanksgiving as fuel for training! The Thanksgiving meal can be a great way to refuel after a hard workout and to pre-fuel for a workout the next day!



I have been thinking about the workouts I can do on Thursday and Friday to put the Thanksgiving Fuel to good use... but I don't feel like planning! The truth is, I train hard. Period. I don't think I have to do anything "extra" or "special" to make up for one day of indulgence. I am just going to do my normal thang and trust that my body will even everything out for me.


Do you get anxiety for Thanksgiving?
Any fun Thanksgiving workouts/races planned?

19 comments:

  1. Love it, girl! So spot on. Thanksgiving is just another day as far as fuel and exercise. Like you said, even if you ended up eating 6,000 that day--when you take into account the entire month and average out your calories, it will all be OK! Plus, when you do over indulge in food, your body kicks up metabolism to burn that food (it's called the thermogenic effect of food). I am not saying this is reason to completely lose control, but it's one day people. I know for me it's rare I eat a meal as wonderful as T-Day dinner and I am going for it! I have never woken up on Friday morning and not fit into my jeans. But again, whatever works for each person. If someone wants to spend that much time thinking about calories in/calories out and planning out the entire day, then who am I to say that is "wrong". Just not where I am at this point in my life.

    P.S. cocktails help take away the anxiety of "I should not be eating this bad food".
    Am I right?!?

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    1. LOL yes cocktails sure do help!

      I am glad you are at the point where you can just eat and enjoy!

      When I think about the food I eat on Thanksgiving, it's not even that the food is not health... I mean, I feel like from a health standpoint it would be way worse to eat a huge McDonald's meal than turkey, potatoes, corn, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie... which is basically what I eat on Thanksgiving!

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    2. Exactly! The food we prepare is very healthy (OK, OK, we do make our mashed potatoes with cream cheese + sour cream....but honestly, you can only eat a bit because they are so rich). I think it is much worse to eat fewer calories of fake/processed food than more calories of real/natural food.

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    3. It's okay to have some creamy fat!

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    4. We learned our lesson 2 years ago when we tried to do mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. Ugh, wrong on so many levels and not good AT ALL.

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  2. I've never stressed out over eating a thanksgiving meal. I'm not a huge fan of turkey so I don't ever really over indulge anyway!

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  3. I'm not a huge fan of Thanksgiving food so I don't usually eat more than I normally do. My mom and I usually run a Turkey Trot together but I think this is the first we won't be :( I didn't know if I would be cleared to run yet or not.

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  4. I've never had anxiety issues around food, but could see if you did where that would be a problem holiday. :( I was just talking to someone about how we eat as if it was our last meal and if we just had the mindset that there is more where that came from, we might not eat ourselves sick. This week will be interesting though because my tummy has been acting funny and I've been feeling very bloated and full for weird reasons, so it won't take much to get to that point. I have no idea what is going on. :(

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    1. I hope your belly starts feeling better. I hate when I feel bloated like that, Usually I know the reason... I have my period, or I simply just have to go to the bathroom!

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  5. I have a million thoughts I can share about this, but most of them are depressing and gross, so I'll just say that I'm so happy you're going to enjoy your Thanksgiving this year! Me too!

    Gravy is no bueno. Keep it off my turkey and mashed potatoes!

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    1. I am sure you do! And I am glad you are going to enjoy your Thanksgiving, sans gravy! :)

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  6. Thanks Karen :) "liberated" is a great way to put it!

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  7. I am glad to hear your healthy thoughts about food. It doesn't hurt for anyone to read these points! I have not had eating struggles but I have friends who have and I've seen how dangerous it can be. I really liked your last point about how 'food can be fun.' It's good to get a reminder like this especially when I often joke about how far I'd have to run when I've had an indulging day. ;)

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    1. Yay for food for fun! I mean, I think especially as athletes, we need to trust ourselves. Obviously we eat properly most of the time so we can perform well. But what is life without a little bit of "fun" food each day!?

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  8. I admit that there are times when I get anxious during Thanksgiving because of all of the food. Plus, everyone ALWAYS calls out the person with the smallest plate (at least they do in my family). At least we are pretty healthy in what we cook and stay active throughout the day. I used to hate Thanksgiving when I was struggling with poor eating habits, but now have learned to appreciate the meaning behind it. I completely agree – one day of splurging and overindulgence is not going to result in massive weight gain. Heck, running the next day would take care of it for me. ☺

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    1. My family cooks pretty healthy food as well. The more I think about it, I would probably eat something junkier if we were just going out to eat or something! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Kristen! :)

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  9. I'm grateful that I've gotten to the point where I can eat until I'm full - a little bit of everything - and then stop. I just don't like feeling SO full that I'm in pain! But I do tend to nibble too many desserts after dinner, even if I'm full, so I need to be mindful of that tomorrow!

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    1. I nibble too! I pretty much have lunch, then nibble for the rest of the day hehe. I hope you enjoy your desserts tomorrow and are mindful!

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