It's OK to Say NO; Turkey Day Strategies; Holiday Recipes

Wednesday, November 25, 2009



(1) You know, I have been living the motto in terms of food, It's OK to say NO, for a long time now. If you ask any of my family members or friends, they will definitively tell you that I do NOT eat just because it is there. I often, if not 99% of the time, carry food with me to get togethers just in case. It is not that I do not enjoy, BUT I have learned to plan ahead and make choices about what I really want to eat or splurge on. It is just not worth it to me to feel like crap for 2 days after a holiday & have my pants & upset tummy screaming bloody murder at me as to "why I did that"!!!

Diane, over at Fit to the Finish, had this as one of her Fab 50 Holiday Tips (check it out cause she has plenty more to go!) & that is what made me think about writing about it. I think it is really important to realize that this is about you & your health goals so make your choices and you can say no if you want to!!! I may take a bite of something that interests me or even eat something that I really want BUT I do not eat everything in site. At the end of the day, I still feel good & I always keep my exercise up through the holidays even if I have to make it a shorter workout. I make it a QUALITY workout!

You can make it through the holidays with just some planning ahead & making choices about what you will & will not eat..... and just keep up the exercise or just keep active as much as possible. You can also offer to bring a dish or two to a gathering & then make it a healthier dish so you have choices for yourself. If you don't tell people it is "healthy", most of the time they never know... and then when they ask for the recipe, you can tell them how good it is for them too!

(2) Turkey Day Strategies along with the above one: I have to just share this great post from Diet Tired. I thought the analogy would really hit home with a lot of you! Drew made a great comparison between our money budgeting & our budgeting of our calories. He wrote: "Everyone has a daily budget of calories required to sustain a healthy body weight.  In order to stay within your budget you must carefully balance your ‘wants' and ‘needs' through planning, label reading and prioritizing. Sounds simple enough, so why is it so hard to budget your daily calorie intake? The greatest challenge is that your caloric bank account has limitless overdraft protection."

Yes, our calorie bank account will go on & on if we let it. We all know what it is like to keep on eating WAY PAST the point of fullness ... and then we feel like crap! Drew talks about how this overdraft or going over the "budget" continues on until we can't get into our clothes or the scale hits numbers that scream at us... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!???? He also talks about how going on too "strict a budget" can be just as bad.. meaning not eating enough calories to sustain us. I have been there & it is NOT a good thing to do!

The full post below, Does Your Diet Need a Bailout?

Imagine for a moment that you've been given a 1000 dollar gift certificate to spend as you wish. How you would spend that money. Would your purchases reflect your ‘needs’ such as items for your home and family or would you treat yourself to some ‘wants’ that you've had your eye on? More than likely, you would end up with a mixture of all of the above. This would be a result of careful planning, price checking and prioritizing so that you are ultimately satisfied with your purchases. Our financial friends might call this budgeting.

The budgeting concept can be applied to your daily caloric intake. Before you grown, I promise that I will not refer to calorie counting! Everyone has a daily budget of calories required to sustain a healthy body weight.  In order to stay within your budget you must carefully balance your ‘wants' and ‘needs' through planning, label reading and prioritizing. Sounds simple enough, so why is it so hard to budget your daily calorie intake? The greatest challenge is that your caloric bank account has limitless overdraft protection.

Thus, exceeding your daily budget usually goes overlooked until your clothing feels a bit snug or the scale has increased another few pounds. Add to this the availability of calorie expensive foods, huge portion sizes and lack of regular deposits in the form of physical activity; no wonder many of us are well over our calorie budget. If you are active, you likely have 2000 calories to spend a day or more. Why not spend them wisely, enjoy and savor each of your purchases and treat yourself strategically to the occasional ‘want’ rather than diet ‘needs’. Finally, a stricter budget does not equal a better budget. Think of your bodies basic calorie needs like utilities. Not paying those bills promptly results in mounting charges, anxiousness and ultimately greater expense. In this case, a hunger binge might be better thought of as an overdue bill collector.

Do you have any tips for bailing out your budget? Share them below in the comments section. Subscribers: Be sure to print your updated free tools by clicking the link located at the bottom of this post in your inbox or reader. From Jody - Go to Drew's site at the link above for these. I think this post is a very innovative way to look at this & may help some of you!

(3) Healthy Recipes: Lastly, I want to share some links for some healthier recipes.

  • From GirlGetStrong, lots of link for recipes to look at. As always, you can make your own modifications to make them yours, suit your taste more OR if you even want to make them a bit healthier. It is always nice to have a start though.
  • From Fit to the Finish, two awesome dessert recipes that I am drooling over!!!
  • From Feed Me I'm Cranky: Check out her last few posts on vegetarian recipes for the holidays!
  • From Finding Radiance: This is an awesome recipe for left over turkey OR a turkey day meal OR a to keep for future meals!!! Looks YUMMY.. Raspberry Turkey Salad!


Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!! Have a safe & fun one. If you do get on the computer, I will have some turkey day funnies for you tomorrow!

Posted by truth2beingfit at 11/25/2009 1:00 AM
Categories: Motivation/Support, Tips, Recipes

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