THANKSGIVING: HAVE SECONDS, BURN FAT

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and with it comes one of my favourite things, gathering the family together for dinner. Favourite foods, games, laughter, catching up and spending time together, are some of my favourite memories. Unfortunately for a lot of people, the only thing Thanksgiving serves up, is a side of stress. That turkey and pumpkin pie you may look forward to triggers thoughts about overindulging, “falling off the wagon,” and how far in advance they need to start cutting calories and skipping meals in the hopes of balancing out what they might eat. Definitely not a recipe for an enjoyable holiday.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to deprive yourself, white-knuckle your way through Thanksgiving dinner, or give up your favourite foods to keep that Thanksgiving dinner from sabotaging your weight. What you do need is a little strategy—and I promise, it’s simpler than you think.

When I talk with clients about holidays, I remind them that Thanksgiving is the kickoff to what I call “the season of food.” Starting with Thanksgiving here in Canada, the calendar is packed with food-filled gatherings clear through until spring: a possible second Thanksgiving if you head south for the winter, Halloween, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day, finally winding up with Easter. Add a winter getaway cruise or all-inclusive and that’s a lot of opportunities to either fuel your body well and enjoy making memories, or get caught in the cycle of deprivatioin, overeating, dieting, and feeling frustrated.

The trick is not about avoiding your favourite holiday foods, in fact just the opposite. It’s about learning how to eat them in a way that keeps your blood sugar stable, your metabolism turned on, and your energy steady so you can actually enjoy the occasion rather than feeling stressed and anxious leading up to, and hit with guilt and shame afterwards for partaking.

So let’s talk turkey.

Most people approach Thanksgiving dinner with one of two mindsets:

1. “I’m going to eat everything I want because it’s a holiday, and I’ll deal with it later.”

2. “I need to be good, so I’ll skip the mashed potatoes and pie and just load up on turkey and salad.”

Neither works. The first leaves you stuffed, sluggish, and with blood sugar all over the place. Hello turkey coma followed by guilt and shame and a strict 1200 calories or less approach, or “I blew it so it doesn't matter what I eat, and it's bulky sweater season now so..” Sound familiar?

The second, a diet mindset, puts you into deprivation mode where you start cutting back hours or even days ahead, and it usually backfires. You arrive starving and the hormonal imbalance causes you to dive into the chips and crackers laid out. You load up at dinner by the time pie shows up your appetite is like a runaway freight train and you end up having two pieces instead of one. Diets lie, and willpower is not a strategy.

The smarter option is something you probably haven’t thought about: instead of piling everything on your plate at once, start smaller and allow yourself to have seconds.

Here’s why this works.

When you load up your plate with big servings of mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and rolls, you’ve got a massive amount of carbs hitting your system all at once. Pair that with a little turkey and maybe some veggies, and your blood sugar spikes like crazy. That spike leads to a crash, which is what has you unbuttoning your pants and heading for the couch to sleep off that food coma.

Your body can only metabolize a certain amount of food at a time. So, when you start with a smaller plate and think protein first - a good portion of turkey, plus veggies and one or two of your favourite sides - you’re giving your body a balanced mix that stabilizes blood sugar. The protein slows down the absorption of the carbs, which keeps your metabolism humming and fat burning switched on. A difinite benefit to help metabolize that pumpkin pie.

When blood sugar is balanced, you are better able to make decisions that serve you and ones that you will be happy with later, rather than beating yourself up on top of feeling bloated and stuffed.

Frequent fuelling times are what keeps blood sugar stable, metabolism turned on and burning fat. Which is exactly where the second helpings come in. As your body is easily able to metabolize that first meal – you'll know this by the lack of turkey coma – so later you can go back for seconds. No coma, crash, or bloated belly, which also means not guilt, deprivation or Monday diets.

Eating this way actually trains your body to work with you instead of against you. You enjoy the meal, you stay satisfied, and you can push back from the table feeling good rather than groaning.

Remember, food is your foundation. Thanksgiving isn’t just about the big dinner. If you skip breakfast and lunch thinking you’re “saving calories” for later, you’ve already set yourself up to store fat and energy crash. Nothing thrives in a deficit, not your energy, not your mood, and definitely not your metabolism. Fuel consistently throughout the day with protein, healthy fats, and colourful carbs, so that when you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, you are calling the shots, rather than hormonal chaos dictating your choices.

The most important thing to remember is this: one meal won't sabotage your results, just like one meal won't get your to your goals. Memories are made around the table. So why not do what you can as we head into this season of food to not only enjoy those moments, but feel better doing it.

Head over to Tania's website for more information and to watch Tania's free video on how to use food to create hormonal balance and stabilize blood sugar.