12-12-13 -- Holiday Eating

The holidays are most definitely upon us --- we got through Thanksgiving already and are rounding the bend into the 12 days of Christmas ---

Blowing out your diet is no fun (well, it might be , who knows) ---  a recent nutrition article I perused stated that many many foods contain Tryptophan , not just turkey  --- the real reason our turkey day blow out makes us sleepy is the average of 4-4500 calories many of us will take in at a single meal  -

And that's not counting the piece of pie you will eat before bedtime, or the tub of popcorn you might munch on at the post Thanksgiving movie or football game party

As an overweight guy, how do I look at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner?   Easy -- I mainly eat single ingredient foods, - same as I do year round pre-dominately
HEre's a short list to think about

• Eat single ingredient foods is #1
• Avoid mashed potatoes, unless you made them yourself -- otherwise well meaning people load whipped spuds up with milk, sour cream, whipping cream, or whatever the heck else they learned from grandma ----- just mash up a few redskin potatoes yourself minus all that ,  add a pat or two of butter, and enjoy
• Casseroles -- more disaster lying in wait
• Stuffing - isn't this mostly bread crumbs and related stuff? - just concentrated calories
• I love Mac and Cheese and here is where i'll deviate a little from the single ingredient mantra -- I whip up some of this with a lower fat cheese variety and all is good , but again, I don't trust what others may put in their food,  -- people whip in velveeta , sticks of butter, milk, etc.
• Don't eat the turkey skin -- this is ages old advice, especially if the turkey is fried, -- the oil may not penetrate deep into the turkey itself, but it sure saturates the skin 
• Stay away from the sugar glazed spiral cut ham ---ham is a sodium nightmare that nobody needs

So whats an example of a Thanksgiving/Christmas plate that wont bust 2k calories?

How about this ----

1. 5-6 oz of turkey- no skin
2.  , broccoli/cauliflower mix (or either/or) or some other veggie medley 
3. , a fist sized portion of your own potatoes whipped raw with nothing extra,
4.  roughly the same amount of your homemade baked mac/cheese --

this should actually get you well under that mark, but I am anticipating any sane person is going to need a little bit of butter on their potatoes and steamed veggies ---- that is a sizable meal, and far more carbs than a training day meal would have- but it is the holidays -- also anticipating you'll have a glass of wine or two with dinner

Let this sit for a while and at least start to digest for a couple of hours  before hammering down some dessert

Dessert almost always demands a deviation from my single ingredient food mantra ,  because apple pie is awesome .  Have a nice piece of pie and another glass of wine and life is good

    You may be tempted to go for some apple strudel a'la mode as well  -----  or cheesecake with raspberry sauce ,  yum  --- a hard charger will demand both  (fine, but cut the portion size in half for both )

If your the one hosting the holiday dinners,  your going to get stuck with  a lot of leftovers most likely ---
    There is no shame in introducing something to the garbage disposal after company has gone -- if somebody brought their awesome, super-duper mac and cheese  casserole with the little bread crumbles on top , made with all the stuff that makes it taste good --- toss it,  you might be tempted to eat it later -- In fact, for the amount of time most holiday meal items sit around with just some saran wrap over the top for protection,  I'd dump everything but the turkey (and the other single item foods that aren't at much risk for contamination)

dealing with a turkey is a little bit of work, -- and eating turkey for days on end after the holidays is a drag,  -- so take 20 minutes, de-bone whats left of the turkey and cut all the meat into cubes , put in a large Zip-loc type bag and toss it in the freezer ---

    This thanksgiving for me  resulted in almost 3 pounds of meat saved this way that's perfect for making a nice soup or stew later , - but I rolled some up in tortillas and sprinkled the meat with powdered taco seasoning , and pre-made some turkey soft tacos

These are just some suggestions and guidelines ---- Anybody who knows me well, knows I am struggling with weight loss issues myself,  but one thing I have always detested is eating a big meal to the point that I feel like I will explode -- and the tips above have helped me enjoy the holidays while still staying true to myself

Thanks ,  and God bless