Little bit conflicted about this Thanksgiving

(Cindy) #1

I’m just now finishing up my 2nd week of Keto. This past weekend was harder because we had guests here for a horse clinic. We weren’t eating meals together, but just the added need to be vigilant or wishing (unrealistically) that I’d lost an appreciable amount of weight…I don’t know. It just was.

This Thanksgiving will probably be my mom’s last one. :frowning: She’s my best friend. Always has been. I’m terrified of losing her because then there’ll be this gaping hole in my life. :frowning: To make Thanksgiving special, one of her grandsons (who lives out of state) is doing all the cooking and prep. He’s an event planner by trade, so I know he’s ordering in tables, chairs, glassware, flatware, flowers, etc…it be a much fancier event than our usual.

I’ve never been one to eat a lot at these occasions. I have a tbsp of this or that, pick my most favorite things, etc. It may be that I won’t even LIKE some of the foods, but this Thanksgiving will be a one of a kind, never to be repeated. I’m not sure that I care to make it about my staying keto. My mom really wants to see people enjoying themselves (and the food), plus I just don’t want to be mentally tallying carbs that day.

I also think that, if I’m dumped out of ketosis, it’s not like I’ve put 6 months into it. I didn’t have any major issues with cutting carbs, so no I’ll just have to get back to it on Friday.

My plan would be to eat wisely, but to not feel like I’ve failed if I have a bite of something “non-keto.” What are your thoughts? Advice? Opinions?

(Carl Keller) #2

I have the same plan, but I’m not worried if I exceed my normal carb count or even double or triple it. It’s not like we can’t go back to eating right after Thursday even if it takes a day or two to get back into ketosis. Some people say they feel like crap after eating their way out of ketosis, but it’s not like I didn’t feel like crap for most of my life by eating carbs. One or two days is not going to kill me.

I still will avoid sugary dishes and my carbs will likely come from mashed potatoes, gravy and green bean casserole. A pile of turkey and lots of deviled eggs will help it look like I’m not avoiding eating.

Most importantly, try not to stress about it. It’s a day for hanging out with the family. If they want to know why your food choices are limited, tell them why and tell them eating this way makes you feel good. That should be enough for them to understand.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

Just a reminder that a carb addict might not find it so easy. Anyone reading this who suspects a carb addiction should tread lightly. Just saying.

The rest of you, by all means, enjoy the day! :turkey: :turkey:

@cw2001 Cindy, sorry to hear about your mom. Enjoy as much time with her as you can, and don’t worry about anything else.

(squirrel-kissing paper tamer) #4

You cut the carbs without issue the first time. If I were you, I’d eat what I want, laugh, celebrate, love and cherish the day with my mom. If you look back will you care about the joy and happiness or day 10 of a diet you’re starting? What will matter to you more later? Best wishes and happy day.

(Cindy) #5

Darnit, PetaMarie, that made me cry. It’s sound advice though…I need to concentrate on what’s important on Thursday and that’s my mom. Even though she hasn’t verbalized it, she’s very well aware that this is probably her last Thanksgiving. That is so hard. :frowning:

(Cindy) #6

Thank you, Paul.

(Amy Ramadan) #7

Sweetheart, enjoy the day and the time you have left with your mother!!! Worry about getting back to Keto after the holiday is over!! Let the day be about making memories, enjoying yourself and your family!! If it were me in your same situation, everything else would come second to that!! As long as you don’t go on a major bender and stretch the holidays into weeks or months, you will be fine!! That’s my opinion, for what it’s worth!!!

(Cindy) #8

Thank you! I tend to be a perfectionist…want to do everything “right.” So I just kind of needed reassurance that this wasn’t an excuse. Or even if it is, it’s worth it. I’ll still moderate, but I’m not going to worry about it for the day.

(Laurie) #9

If you weren’t conflicted, I’d say, Great, that’s good that you’re staying keto.

But since you are conflicted, it would probably be too stressful to try to stay 100% on. Enjoy!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #10

If you can possibly be fully present for your mother and eat keto, that would be wonderful. But if the effort to eat keto is going to distract you from mom, then don’t even try. :heart:

(John) #11

Since you asked:

  • 2 weeks is not a lot of time investment. In a year looking back you won’t notice the difference whether you started next Monday or two Mondays ago.

  • You can still enjoy a wonderful meal and not go crazy. Eat small portions of “bad” food or get full enough on the keto-safe stuff where you won’t want much.

  • Worst case is you lose the progress you’ve made so far, gain 5 pounds on top of that, and then come back and start over. As long as you approach it as a planned one-day feast and then get right back to eating more healthy, it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

  • The pitfall to avoid is for it to snowball into a longer-term feeding frenzy when the carb addiction hits you again.

#12

Cindy, I really can’t improve on the advice already given here, but I did want to share a few thoughts.

Most of us are probably afraid of “falling off the keto band wagon”, because we’ve been in this position before–trying to follow some diet, only to fail and never look back.

Remember, we all came to keto from somewhere, and whatever brought us here, will bring us back. Either by helping us avoid high carb foods in the first place, or by helping us remember how good we felt after we started eating keto.

There is no doubt in my mind you will feel better if you avoid eating a lot of carbs this Thanksgiving, but there’s also no doubt in my mind that if you believe in the ketogenic diet you will come back to it, even after indulging in celebrations like Thanksgiving, birthdays, or weddings.

My Mom passed away in 2010, right before Thanksgiving, and it’s never been the same for me since. Please don’t stress about the food you’re eating, and miss out on the more important celebration here.

Bless you for being concerned about his, but fret not. Enjoy the moment. We’ll still be here for you.

(KCKO, KCFO 🥥) #13

^^^^ This is a great plan.

Just go back to bacon and eggs on Friday morning. Spend more time talking with your mom instead of chewing too, she’ll enjoy that.

(Stephanie ) #14

Enjoy your time with your mom and family. Don’t stress or worry about staying keto, you can get right back on the next day. Life is about cherishing these special moments. Hugs :yellow_heart:

(Cindy) #15

Hey everyone,

Wanted to post a bit of an update on this. We wound up having 24 people for Thanksgiving dinner. Beautiful set-up…flowers, linens, glassware, the whole shebang. Enough food to feed a small army. I’ve been going non-stop since about 9 am with only a short break to sit for dinner. I didn’t worry about what I had on my plate…I helped to a lot of prep, so I picked my favorite things that I just wanted to taste (since I didn’t cook them). Yeah, it was carb heavy, but literally I had like a tablespoon or less of each thing. I was holding out for lemon cheesecake, but once I had some, was like “meh, it’s good, but not THAT good.” LOL I skipped all other desserts.

So all in all, I’m happy. I’m not feeling the least bit overfull and all leftovers except keto friendly ones went home with other people. I’m actually looking forward to going back to keto tomorrow. I think that was one of my concerns…whether or not this would cause a major derailment. It hasn’t.

My nephew made a short speech at the beginning of dinner…had my mom in tears. She ate very little but was happy with the day.

(Kristin) #16

Glad for your update and how well the dinner went.

Bacon and eggs for us tomorrow and back on that horse. :wink:

#17

That’s pretty common, on keto.

Great job, Cindy. I’m glad you had a good day! :+1: