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Ed Levine's Serious Diet, Week 43: A Thanksgiving Pardon

Posted by Ed Levine, November 28, 2008 at 10:00 AM

"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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Tags: diets, Ed Levine's Serious Diet, health, Thanksgiving, weight