Thanksgiving was tough for me during the first few years of
maintenance. Even at times when I was doing fairly well distinguishing the
concept of nourishment from all of the other meanings I had assigned to food,
on that one day it seemed that no matter what, food was love, food was family,
food was belonging, and if I couldn’t eat all that stuff, I was alone and
forlorn. I did manage to get past that, thank goodness. The last few years, what
has worked best is to just be conscious and avoid a total pig-out. Being
conscious means that I don’t eat something just because it’s there. Avoiding a
pig-out means that I only take a second helping if it’s something I truly love.
Recently, we’ve decided to share the cooking duties for my
family’s celebration. My mother does the turkey and mashed potatoes, my
sister-in-law does desserts and appetizers, and I do the side dishes. This has
actually been a great thing because I get to have fun with vegetables – you all
know how much I love
vegetables! The first year we did this, I made my
favorite cold green bean salad. This recipe is nothing like the green bean and
mushroom soup dish I mentioned above. It’s full of crisp veggies and fresh
herbs, with a lemon vinaigrette dressing. Before I made it for Thanksgiving, I
had thought of it as a summer dish, but it worked quite well for the holidays and
so now I make it for Thanksgiving every year. Last year, I experimented with
roasted Brussels sprouts. Another big hit. So much so that I’m going to add roasted
cauliflower to the side dish menu this year. Having something delicious and
lower-calorie on the table is a big help to keep the meal satisfying without risking
a big weight gain.
All that said, I will still probably eat too much on
Thanksgiving. I will also probably gain a couple pounds. The thought of that
used to make me crazy because I equated gaining a couple pounds with regaining
the entire hundred pounds that I lost. Now I know that as long as I get right
on those couple pounds, I’ll be okay. You could say that this realization is
something I give thanks for.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Happy Thanksgiving Sandy! Thanks for the green bean recipe--that sounds delis.
ReplyDeleteAnd roasted veggies--yumm. If I can find some good brussel sprouts I will add those to my private Thanksgiving feast!
I hope you had a great holiday Debby! I made it through with minimal weight gain. All in all, a success!
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