Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 43: A Thanksgiving Pardon
"Butter, cream, sugar, pie, stuffing, gravy, biscuits. These are the tools of the Thanksgiving eater's trade."
I was all set to write a short post telling you of my decision to avoid the scale the day after Thanksgiving, that I was going to delay getting on the scale until Monday. Surely serious eaters would understand, was my instant rationalization. My daily interim weigh-ins leading up to Thanksgiving were not cause for alarm. As of Thursday morning I was even (236) for the week.
I knew you all would understand if I took a pass today. Then I decided that it's easy to rationalize too many decisions to go off the dieting reservation, as it were. In fact, I remember all too many times in recent years I would use Thanksgiving as a rationale to eat a lot every day in the week before Thanksgiving.
There are rationalizations aplenty out there to pig out, aren't there?
It's Thanksgiving, the unofficial glutton's holiday. Even cardiologists give their patients a get-out-of-eater's-jail-free card for Thanksgiving. Butter, cream, sugar, pie, stuffing, gravy, biscuits: these are the tools of the Thanksgiving eater's trade.
And this year I have a whole host of fresh excuses. We are feeding about 15 members of my wife's family, and they count on me and my wife to overstuff them with delicious goodies. How can I look these folks in the eye and tell them I'm not going to stuff them and me on Thanksgiving? Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
Well, I vowed not to use Thanksgiving as an excuse this year. So I tried reciting my mind over manna, no mas, mantra. It's asking a lot of a mantra when there are six pies and so much stuffing to eat. Nonetheless, I did it. Or I think I did it. Let's find out.
The Post-Thanksgiving Weigh-In
238. Up two pounds. Damn. I only had one not-overflowing plate of food, but I think all the stand-up tasting I did cooking and clearing the table did me in. Damn that stuffed bird with the crisp skin and the mashed potatoes and the Pioneer Woman's sweet potatoes with the streusel topping. Just wait until next week, serious eaters. I'm getting right back on the horse, or should I say the bird. And next year, I may just ask all of you for a three day pass a reprieve, so that I'll post about the diet on the Monday after Thanksgiving.
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7 Comments:
ed, two pounds is no big deal.
so, don't beat yourself up.
instead, pat yourself on the back for bravely jumping on the scale.
then, go enjoy your holiday and all the tasty things that come with it.
praise the lard! ;)
gastronomeg at 10:59AM on 11/28/08
I agree with above, it take a lot of courage to jump on the scale after thanksgiving, I definitely would not have been that brave...and I agree 2 lbs is no big deal and it is only 2 lbs.... so in the spirit of gratitude be happy with all the progress you have made....and you actually did pretty well considering it was turkey day!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jbout at 11:28AM on 11/28/08
I'll be jumping on the scale on Sunday so I have two days to redeem myself, but it still takes courage. You'll see that those two pounds will come off really easily!
I read Pioneer Woman's site and am yet to try one of her recipes, they all look so good!
Before Sunrise at 11:50AM on 11/28/08
Ed, you're still doing great. You'll probably find that the 2 pounds is more a full tummy than 2 pounds of fat gained. You have a positive, can-do attitude that's reflected in your posts. You used to sound resigned to the whole process of weight loss as a chore, whereas now you sound excited to embrace the challenge of change. Way to go and enjoy the remainder of the holiday weekend!
holdthemayo at 12:08PM on 11/28/08
When we're dieting we tend to get very close-focused on the day to day or week to week ups and downs.... so gaining two pounds during Thanksgiving seems like a setback.
Sometimes we need to force ourselves to step back for the wider view... I know for me I could easily gain 5-10 pounds during the holiday season, year after year. And it didnt drop back off after the new year either! This is true for many people...
So the first marker of your success should be when January comes and and you didnt gain any weight during the holiday season. The second marker should be the fact that you continued your progress with steady loss during that period. And the third marker? Looking back and realizing you didnt feel slighted, that your enjoyment of the season wasnt dampened by exercising some restraint...
hmneilson at 1:43PM on 11/28/08
Anyone who's ever struggled with eating understands the tendancy to rationalize and make excuses . Your ability to overcome that on this tasty, tasty holiday is very inspiring to me!
redzerostar at 2:41PM on 11/28/08
Ed, it's probably a food baby - two pounds of food in your belly, not on it. Unless you seriously think you ate 7,000 calories more than you burned? Even at Thanksgiving - even if you eat like Michael Phelps - that's tough to pull off.
piccola at 10:00PM on 11/28/08