Thanksgiving 2023

(cheryl) #1

So Wondering how you all are planning on handling Thanksgiving…

I want to indulge a bit… but not open the floodgates. Got any recommendations???

Thanks!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #2

Well, I’m carnivore, so I’ll be eating turkey, probably either with butter, or with the carnivore gravy my sister has worked out how to make.

Unfortunately, there is no meat-based pumpkin substitute, so pumpkin pie is off the table, so to speak. :grin:

(Edith) #3

I’ve been following this way of eating for 6 years. I plan my indulgences but usually only for one meal , and then I go right back on track the following day with a breakfast of bacon and eggs.
Holidays and birthdays are usually the planned indulgence days. If I am the one doing the cooking, I keep things as keto/Paleo as possible.

I do have the added “advantage” that I have gluten and dairy intolerances so that makes it harder to really go crazy. :laughing:

(Bob M) #4

I have worked out while eating very low carb (usually add 50g of carbs after my body weight workouts). That should lower glycogen, so the first hit of carbs has somewhere to go.

I’ll attempt to eat meat first (lowers post-prandial blood sugar and insulin even if eating carbs later).

I’ll try to remember to chug some apple cider vinegar and water beforehand (also lowers BS and insulin).

A salad with vinegar works well, as the first part of the meal, but who wants to eat that? :wink:

My wife thinks red wine will help lower blood sugar, but I think red wine in the middle of the day (ours is about 1pm) makes me want to go to bed.

A walk afterward is planned and also helps lower BS and insulin.

I plan to have Thursday and Friday off plan, then jump back on Saturday.

My carbs will be bread, potatoes, stuffing, then dessert. The bread and stuffing I make myself, all sourdough. (Which I’m sure someone will say helps with blood sugar, but I haven’t found that to be the case. Tastes good though.) Made from Einkorn or European flours. Potatoes, my daughter will make those using a ricer. Dessert will be vanilla custard (which I’ll make from scratch).

(Pete A) #5

Recommendation? Don’t do it.

#6

While we don’t have Thanksgiving here, we do have other holidays…
If you don’t want to go too far, focus on meat. I would need the attitude that I eat carnivore plus extras. The extras would be generous enough, if I go with a more carb accepting mindset, it probably wouldn’t end so well. I would start with my turkey (and some red meat for satiation as fowls don’t work well for me but I do like them here and then) and later I may add this and that in moderation. DON’T start to eat even slightly carby things when hungry if you are anything like me! I have plenty of experience about that not being the best idea.
And it’s fine not eating everything tasty looking or special holiday food. If you really desire something that isn’t too bad (no added sugar, that’s basic), eat some. But eating just because “it’s there” and it won’t be available later… I did that zillion times but I know it wasn’t right and I got a bit better.

It’s easiest if you make your own food, at a relative things can get trickier. I will bake for Christmas just to avoid the temptation at the family dinner (and providing some better options for my SO who hates added sugar but doesn’t say no to his Mom’s baking - and for his Mom with diabetes. maybe it will be all in vain regarding them but I do try)…

I would think in advance (well it’s what you do now I suppose). Think over your priorities, make plans, such things may help a lot.

Good luck!

Not a bad idea! :slight_smile:

(KCKO, KCFO) #7

Doing a fondue with all low carb items for dipping. Keto bread, broccoli, cauliflower, ham cubes, and apple slices, keeping it simple. We also no longer drink a bottle of wine with a holiday meal and I no longer have to cook for family and friends, so this is my DH and mine’s favorite meal for holidays. I used to put on a few lbs. over holidays, now I often lose a couple.

(Chuck) #8

Thanksgiving day will be a free day for me. Free to eat my favorite holiday food.

#9

Eating lots of Turkey, and a med amount of all the stuff I’m not supposed to :rofl: Planning on having a couple pints of protein ice cream for when I get bingey after the initial sick to my stomach thing subsides.

(Bob M) #10

Protein ice cream?

Ice cream is a downfall of mine. Last time we had it, I ate multiple servings. That’s not unusual, and is why I try to have ice cream only a handful of times per year. What is unusual is that my stomach got upset. That’s odd.

#11

There are many different kinds of ice cream. Mine is a very fatty protein source. Or fat source with some protein. With sugar, sure, all main ingredients are a bit sugary but considering no way I would eat more than 30g at once (and often don’t even make much more), it’s fine :slight_smile: I don’t care about sugars on carnivore anyway… And I don’t want ice cream since carnivore, sadly so I very rarely make any. It’s edible but my other food is so much better.

I am mildly interested in the protein ice cream myself :slight_smile: I wouldn’t like it as ice cream must be super fatty if you ask me (helps with creaminess and tastier) but I still can be curious.

#12

Yup! 40g per pint the way I’ve been making them. Has 95% the correct consistency. If you didn’t know it wasn’t “real”, you wouldn’t guess that by eating it. So 2 of those bowls per pint! Eat one (pint) everyday, sometimes more, always have some on deck.

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(Robin) #13

Do you make it yourself, if so…how.
If not… brand please.
Looks awesome.

(Alec) #14

Live in Australia… we don’t do Thanksgiving. Just waiting for Christmas on the beach! :grinning:

(KM) #15

I do my favorites. I prefer stuffing to mashed potatoes. I like green bean casserole, not so much on the relish and ambrosia. Turkey, with gravy. Ham without. Dry red wine. “I’m full, thanks” for dessert. Keto? No way. Worst meal ever? Not that either. Edit: we eat at the inlaws house, I don’t cook these things but I’m Thankful to be invited and do what I can with the enormous spread already there.

(Geoffrey) #16

There will be no indulgences for me. I have absolutely no desire to eat anything that doesn’t provide nutrition to my body.
I’m a carnivore and have no appetite for anything but animal products.
So for thanksgiving I’ll be eating whatever meat is served and it will be drowning in butter. That will totally satisfy and satiate me.
I did look up some recipes today on making carnivore gravy that I may make for my turkey. I’m going to make some tomorrow as an experiment to see if I like it. I’ll be trying it on some venison steaks.

#17

Big family gathering at a very nice Chinese dim sum restaurant this weekend followed by a big italian dinner that night. Planning on taking the entire day off, will eat whatever I want and start a 48-72 hour fast immediately afterwards to clean out those evil carbs and get back on track.

Will do the same at Christmas, one full day off to enjoy some of the devils finest carbs.

#18

I like to do that all the time :slight_smile: I try to push a tiny bit here and there but that’s not the hedonistic way for me… But I do love my right food the best. I am somewhat lucky AND I trained myself too, patiently, for many years…
I suppose it explain some of our differences here. Some people are perfectly content with keto every day all year long, some miss carbs a lot but they know what is good and healthy for them… And most of us are in-between. I strongly prefer carnivore food and feel best on that days, I don’t even enjoy the food on carby days more (it’s all over the place, it depends. I have meh, okay and great days on every diet I can do)… But I do want non-carni food sometimes, for quite many reasons. Like because it’s there and tasty, I don’t crave it but harmless joy is good :slight_smile: I very rarely eat things I consider unhealthy, it’s not hedonistic, after all. Maybe a tiny bit as I can handle it but it’s still not something I like to do, it’s too far from perfect and wholesome… I don’t miss out on anything if I ignore the really bad things.

But I wasn’t always this good. I used to have extremely cake-y days, a few times a year on low-carb. I never wanted them normally (I ate cake all the time on keto, to the point that I got bored of them for good, I only can enjoy a few special kind, extremely rarely), I went to a cake shop with the choir and only drank mineral water… Well that wasn’t homemade stuff like on festivals, our village is very good at handmade cakes…
But that was 10 years ago. I have changed very much.

So we can’t tell what is best for the OP as we are different people on a different journey. Some people say we should never eat sweet things. I always will eat sweet things all the time and why wouldn’t I? It’s just most of those are carnivore now. And my off days are fruity :wink: I doubt I can lose my fruits ever but they never caused any problems, the carbs came from other sources. If we had Thanksgiving, I probably would eat tropical fruits there. I do that at Christmas instead. But Thanksgiving has a better timing with our last fruit season that has just started :slight_smile: It’s always over before Christmas. But December is “tropical fruit season” for me anyway, it started in my childhood and I still have it, of course it’s zillion times milder now.

Of course, it matters how well we can handle carbs too. If one gets super unwell from them or if they probably trigger a long carby period, they probably won’t touch them, understandably. If we know a little is fine but much feels bad, we may indulge a bit if we want to.

Some people only can imagine how they would feel. I saw people who consider eating “strict” (it means something else for everyone, of course) a stupid thing on holidays. It’s NOT stupid if it keeps you from suffering. It not if you feel zero desire for eating all the “tasty” things available (we may not even find them as tasty as the person who just doesn’t get it). We don’t necessarily feel restricted just because we eat close to our more or less strict normal diet. Some have it even on holidays…

(cheryl) #19

this looks really good. I would also love to know brand/recipe!

#20

Great question. I will do an off-set. A pre-meal before the big meal. I will have a whey protein drink with a small handful of walnuts about 45 minutes before hand. The day before, I will also start increasing my water consumption right up to the big dinner. I have used this strategy for about 4 years now, and it works every time. I also make sure that when we set the table, we do not use the really big plates. You could also supplement with berberine. I also take my dogs for a walk after dinner.