What's on your THANKSGIVING Thursday Menu?

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!

Not sure if anyone will come on to post today, but for some unknown reason I have been up all night and so I decided to start us off out of sheer boredom.

We have no real plans today, but I am insisting that we serve our dinner on nice china, even though it is just the two of us :) Then we have a Zoom call with the entire Thanksgiving Gang at 5pm. Some of the kids have put together a family game to play together. No idea what that will entail but it should be fun. Hopefully I can get a nap in first, because I am already exhausted.

I'm going to try to eat relatively normally today, and not overdo it. It would have been next to impossible to eat on plan if we were hosting, but with just us, I think I can make this work. I have been on a roll with staying under my calorie limit and I may as well stick to it.

QOTD: Post-op, do you let yourself over-indulge on holidays? I didn't at all for the first two years, but since then I really let myself get back into the mindset that I am allowed to overeat on "special days" which was a slippery slope for me. It might be fine if it was just 3 or 4 major national holidays a year, but there have been too many days that I started to deem "special". Hopefully this year of solitary holidays will be a reminder that food does not need to equal fun.

Yesterday was on track with food but I didn't end up exercising... :( But I will get on the treadmill right after I finish this post!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Good morning JB and Happy Thanksgiving!

I am super tired from yesterday but couldn't sleep much. There will be 7 of us here. We see the kids regularly since we watch them so we figured we might as well do a feast. Ugh. I made an apple cake, egg custard pie, pumpkin pie and a GF & DF sweet potato pie(that's also very low sugar). I made my "stuffing" a few days ago and it's thawed. I made my low sugar cranberry sauce yesterday too. My mom did the ham last night. Today will be a turkey breast, fried okra for the others, rolls, sweet potatoes and my mom will do mashed potatoes. I may make a very small amount that I can have of those but not much as I have some coconut milk left from the pie. I won't be able to go to crazy as my pouch has been pretty small feeling the past few days.

I'm really in a lot of pain so it's going to be a long long LLLLOOOOOOOOOOOONG day.

qotd: I allow one treat really. This year it is my sweet potato pie. Not necessarily low calorie but lower carb than the regular version. Since my diets changed so much with the gluten free and dairy free thing it's easier not to eat bad things I guess!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Wow that's a feast! I think you picked your one indulgence, well...sounds delish! Have a great day with the family :)

I had a little of overflow baked in a very small dish. So so good! Really spiced well.

I did end up making a little bit of mashed potatoes that will last prob two meals as it isn't much.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Definitely try for that nap if you can!

QOTD - it's usually the only day I have mashed potatoes, my sister's holiday potatoes, but this year I won't be.

I'm making a turkey breast, some roasted butternut squash, roasted Brussels sprouts which I will eat 1 because I think they are nasty but I've never made the before, and cheesy corn, plus I made a SF pudding/pumpkin/cream cheese concoction for dessert.

It's going to be a very low key day around here, I might get in a walk but otherwise I'm treating it as a rest day; do some reading, watch some TV, maybe work on a puzzle..

I hope everyone has as an enjoyable day as they can!

Exercise - Roller-skating the island twice back n forth ( about 10 miles ?) Maybe a botanical garden or beach walk after lunch with the 'rents

Actually my menu's pretty healthy. FF homemade Matzoh ball soup , Roast chicken, ff stuffing, ff fresh green bean casserole , and LF SF homemade fruit pies .. probably mostly crustless w FF whipped cream

I'm more worried about my Dad acting out - he got real testy yesterday 'cuz I asked him to refund me $100 bux I had to spend on Thanksgiving food supplies .

Asking for money I spent NEVER goes over well ... I have to remember to never lay out money from my own pocket or it results in an endless fight ( and partial reimbursement at BEST )

Re-training behavior by say... not feeding an 86 year old ... until he takes me shopping and pays feels kind of cruel too ... so its either be mean to Him or allow him to be mean to ME

Families !! And it Hurts that Mom doesn't take my side ... but she's 85 years old, they've been married 63 ? years ... and she's European/traditional wifey submissive ( kinda - except when it comes to HER - then she's a TIGER - heh )

There will be wine at lunch ... there often is, its part of our culture . I say I'm on a diet and that alcohol bloats me. Its not an issue now because my Dad serves the cheapest plonk ... but if a dude ( say on a date ) pulled out a gorgeous expensive wine ... yeah I have a reservation . Yes I'm just Tellin' You Guyz the Truth.

I NEVER had a problem with wine ( or booze ) pre WLS. EVER. AT ALL.

Never frequented bars ( they're Totally frightening places for GRRLz ... aren't they ?) or even clubs ... though I worked as a Manhattan Club doorperson sporadically when I was young FOREVER ( part of the endless series of Stoopid jobs when I couldn't keep my weight down enuf to model) and I Never got into drugz OR booze then destructively though it was constantly in my face ( and I DID experiment - but never purchased it ) .

I still feel very weird saying I'm an alcoholic in AA considering I only drank ten years. Before that I basically never set foot in a liquor store or bar Literally.

Yes I Totally get that I'm an addictive personality and that my choices would have been SO MUCH better had I not been acting out in other ways ( not Booze ) all my life ...

but I don't know if you guys get this -or can identify

I almost feel that having "conquered " excess food addiction through peeling the addictive onion if you will through many years of Overeaters Anonymous and other twelve step groups ( like CODA , ACOA, Underearners ...etc) that keeping away from alcohol shouldn't be a huge issue now - like it wasn't all those years pre-op .

Now I know I'm sensitive to it ...that the meetings help but require that I identify as an alcoholic ... and unlike most people there I have Zero Issues 1/3 of a year sober keeping cooking wine and even vodka for vodka sauce in my home now .

It would be AWESOME to perhaps ..somehow ...get back to normal with substances just as I am a very normal intuitive eater .

Eating a few homemade chocolate chip cookies does not lead to a binge for me anymore ... because my body and mind no longer Need or Crave the serotonin boost provided by excess calories .

Those mood hormone levels have normalized through many years of disciplined eating and exercise .

I'm Living the Payoff ... I have Great Freedom in my everyday food choices and a Real Lack of Fear of Regain after so many years of maintaining pretty much the same weight.

Wouldn't it be AWESOME to be able to be a disciplined "Quasi-Normie" again ? I don't think its worth experimenting and risking another alcohol run now ... its just an idea .

What do YOU think based on your own experiences post op with booze and pain pills and excess food ?

TY !!

Families !! And it Hurts that Mom doesn't take my side ... but she's 85 years old, they've been married 63 ? years ... and she's European/traditional wifey submissive ( kinda - except when it comes to HER - then she's a TIGER - heh )

I take umbrage to this. European submissive wife? Are we talking about east bloc? Like Melania? Then yeah, they are submissive. But in a true European family the wife runs the family and is the true power and rule enforcer. Don't bunch us all in one group.
Also, if you are in AA, no matter how far back or how little you drank you are still an alcoholic. It doesn't go away. Stay away from wine whether it's a cheap one at dinner table or an expensive one on a date with a dude!

My Mom is Different. In many good ways too. And yes , we're from just around the corner from Melania lol :)

Well, I definitely ran into issues abusing alcohol post op so I'm not trying to attempt controlled drinking again in the near future.

It just seems like ... if controlled EATING is possible after a lifetime of overeating and binging despite full-on willpower application trying NOT to ... why is drinking any different ?

it's different because you have to eat in order to stay alive. No choice in the matter. That's not true of alcohol. Plus alcoholism is a true addiction - as in a substance addiction. Overeating (for most of us, anyway), is a behavioral addiction - so to control it you're changing the behavior rather than getting rid of the substance.

Mornin' All!

I'm feeling hopelessly stuffed already - I've gone over my calorie limit the last couple of days, and I had this very salty sausage for lunch yesterday - and that plus the Premarin I'm on - all blowing me up. UGH. Oh well - maybe this will keep me from overindulging today. Although I've told myself I can enjoy all the things - just not eat like a pig. So we'll see...

I made sweet potato casserole, a pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce yesterday. Today it's the turkey breast, stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes. MIL is bringing a Brussels sprouts concoction, as she does most Thanksgivings and Christmases. I also need to do some intense cardio this morning. Maybe that Vietnamese Zumba class that doesn't seem like the Zumba we do here n the US, but kicks my butt nonetheless.

QOTD: I do let myself eat more than I normally would on holidays (well, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and my birthday), but I try not to overdo it.

TSS: 5y5m

B: plain Greek yogurt with a couple tablespoons of cranberry sauce, coffee with half & half

MS: pumpkin Fit Frappe

L: either cottage cheese or protein pumpkin yogurt pie topped with a couple more tablespoons of cranberry sauce

D: 3 oz turkey breast, whatever the Brussels sprouts dish is, a couple tablespoons of: gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and sweet potato casserole. A piece of pumpkin pie with whipped cream.

we're eating around 3:00 or 4:00, so if I get hungry later on, maybe some more turkey - or more cottage cheese or yogurt with cranberry sauce

have a great Thanksgiving (to those of you who celebrate it!)