Thanksgiving week is here! Are you excited? Scared? Indifferent? I’m a little of everything. Of course, I look forward to the delicious food and desserts coming my way but on the flip side I do get a touch scared. It’s not Thanksgiving day that rattles me. That day is suppose to be filled with food and jugs of wine. I would never change that. For me, it’s the days following Thanksgiving that I get concerned with. Those days are filled with leftovers, parties, and more parties. This means a constant stream of food and drinks I need to be intentional with. I need to start practicing “no thank you” and keeping my hands away from the cheese and bread dip now. The struggle is real folks.
I did GREAT tapping into some serious willpower and discipline during Halloween. Did I mention this girl did not have one piece of candy? Yep. Yes I know a piece of candy won’t kill me, and neither will a little extra on Thanksgiving, but it’s the mindset I get into after the fact. I know if I allowed myself Halloween candy I would have another and then another. Same with the holidays. One piece of cheese turns into 10 and then one more piece of pie turns into 1 more piece the next day. It’s like a domino effect. I feel confident that if I can stay disciplined during the holidays I will start 2017 strong – which I plan to do.
Typically, I’m not a resolution type person but what the heck. I’ve learned a lot this year and see nothing wrong with starting the New Year with new goals to crush. I guess my point is I don’t want the time in-between Thanksgiving and New Years to set me back. I want to enjoy the holidays but use that time to practice discipline and plan for the New Year. I feel motivated just writing that.
I did get some questions on staying on track during Thanksgiving. For me, I plan to eat a little less during the week, continue with running, and then get a good solid run in Thanksgiving morning. On Thanksgiving I plan to enjoy myself but still keep food under control. I’ll plan my food around my must haves which are lasagna and chocolate pie. My family is Italian and a huge lasagna is the centerpiece to Thanksgiving. Yes we have turkey but lasagna is the star. I’m going to put the appetizers I want on a small plate and then that’s it. Well, of course, I’ll have a couple glasses of lambrusco too but after that no more. The next morning I will get up and run again. So that’s my “plan” to enjoy Thanksgiving without completely ruining my weight loss goals. Alexis wrote a post on this last week if you want so more tips.
Alrighty, let’s get to my meal plan. This week is a clean-out pantry and freezer week. I have a bunch of freezer meals I need to eat up not to mention a ton of random food in the pantry and fridge. All I need to go to the grocery store for are some basics like eggs, frozen fruit, and couple other things. I saved time and money this week.
Breakfast
Make-ahead tips
- This was made Sunday night.
Lunch
A variation of this quinoa salad using leftover vegetables.
Make-ahead tips
- Salad was made today and store in the refrigerator.
- Protein kits were made today.
Snacks
Siggi yogurt
Apples and peanut butter
Dinner
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Chili
Homemade pizza
Thanksgiving
Make-ahead tips
- the chili, meatballs, and clam sauce were made weeks ago and in the freezer. I love having individual meals in the freezer, makes life so easy.
- I got fresh dough from the grocery store.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
