Free Diet and Weight Loss Plans

How To Survive Thanksgiving Dinner While On A Diet

It?s the dreaded time of the year ? the food filled holidays. It?s not that you don?t like food. It?s just the opposite. You love food. But you are working hard to lose those extra pounds you have been carrying around and you don?t want the holidays to undo all that hard work.

Many weight loss experts will tell you to not bother trying to lose weight during the holidays and to just try to maintain your current weight until after the holiday season. They probably think that because the average person gains three to seven pounds during the holidays that maintaining your current weight means you are doing great. I do agree to a point. Being able to not gain weight during the holidays is a pretty good feat considering all the delicious foods many of us have available to us in staggering amounts.

But I think a person can continue to lose weight during the holidays without feeling cranky the whole time or feeling completely deprived. I lost weight during the holiday season and I have a friend who was so determined to lose the extra pounds she was carrying around that she started her diet on Thanksgiving Day (yes, on the one day of the year that people traditionally pig out the most) and went on to successfully lose 40 pounds and keep it off. And nobody was even aware she was starting her diet that day.

So how did I survive Thanksgiving dinner while on my diet and how did my friends successfully start her diet on Thanksgiving Day?

It?s all about choices.

First of all I?ll tell you what I didn?t do. I didn?t have any alcoholic beverages because I wanted to chew my calories that day and not drink them, and because alcohol tends to weaken my resolve. And I?m not the only person whose resolve weakens after having a few drinks. Who do you usually see dancing on top of the pool table or bar when you go out ? a sober person or a person who has had a few drinks?

This is what I did do:

?Had small portions of the foods I really like so that I wouldn?t feel deprived (turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and half a dinner roll).

?Had large portions of raw vegetables from the veggie tray and lots of the steamed cauliflower and green beans that were served that day.

?Drank lots of ice water.

?I love pumpkin pie and whipped cream but I ate a small piece of it later on in the evening when everyone else was pigging out on leftover turkey, potatoes, stuffing, etc. The pie along with more of the raw veggies completely satisfied me and the scale was still my friend the next morning.

This is what my friend did:

?Took reasonable portions of everything she really liked but didn?t go back for seconds and thirds like she did other years.

?My friend enjoys cocktails and she had a few, but to keep the calories down she had Jack Daniels and Diet Coke which meant each drink she had was less than 75 calories.

?That afternoon when everyone was watching football, she went for a long walk.

?She politely declined taking home leftovers.

You can survive Thanksgiving dinner while dieting. And it doesn?t have to be a painful experience. Make smart choices, have small portions of what you really like, skip the things you don?t really love, and fill up on the low calorie veggies and salad. And, if the Thanksgiving dinner you attend doesn?t traditionally offer any low calorie foods like raw or steamed veggies, don?t be shy about starting a new tradition and bringing them yourself.

Dorrie Ruplinger is a featured writer for http://www.LoseWeightForChristmas.com. Visit the website for a free report on how to lose 10 pounds before Christmas.

MORE ARTICLES:

Diet Pills - Its Time to Know Your Diet Pill
It would be wise to ask yourself all questions about your diet pill before actually using them Ask them or those who can provide you with the information you might need in selecting which one would be best for you

Cabbage Soup Diet - The 5 Realities Of This Fad Diet
The Cabbage Soup Diet is a fad diet that has caught on for years now Often called the ?Sacred Heart Diet? and the ?Military Cabbage Diet?, the Cabbage Soup Diet?s real origin has yet to be determined

Why High Fiber Diet Is The Best Diet
Dieticians and physicians agree that a high fiber diet is the best diet not only for a healthy weight but also for a healthy heart and over all health and general well being. According to the Surgeon General, the American Dietetic Association and the National Cancer Institute, fiber should become an essential part of your daily diet, and adults should consume 20-35 grams of fiber everyday for optimal health. For children the standard rule of ?age plus five? applies, for example a child of six should take eleven grams of fiber everyday.

Diet Company HMR Celebrates 25th Anniversary with $30 Discount Off Diet Kits
To celebrate 25 years of innovative weight and health management programs and low-calorie diet foods, HMR is offering dieters $30 off a Healthy Solutions Diet Kit when they join the HMR Kit Club with automatic delivery of HMR weight-loss foods.

Fad Diets Why They Are Bad: 3 Reasons Why Your Fad Diet Didn?t Work
Everyone starts a diet with only the best of intentions When you chose your last diet, maybe it was one that you?ve heard a lot of good things about

Hoodia Diet Pills: A Perfect Way to Lose Weight Without the Hassles of Dieting
Hoodia Diet Pills are made up of the finest active ingredients such as hoodia gordonii powder, stearic acid, and magnesium stearate, which greatly contribute to their efficacy as appetite suppressants These diet pills are perfect supplements for people who want to lose weight in a safe and natural manner

Dieting 101 - Choosing The Right Diet Foods
Diet fads come and go but the Food Guide Pyramid seems to continue to stand the test of time (even though they have reissued a new, up to date one. We know that we gain weight because we move less or burn off less energy than we consume. Therefore, if only we eat just enough or burn more energy than what we do now, we will lose weight right? Well, that is the ideal situation. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as that. In the end, it is not just about limiting our food intake and exercising more. It is really about making that conscious decision to eat the right kinds of foods AND to lead a more active lifestyle.

The Effective Diet Regimen by Alli Diet Pill
The Alli diet pill is a more effective weight loss regimen since it comes with a myalliplan program that constitutes a detailed and complete diet plan that allows its users to closely monitor their progress while obtaining online support from diet health experts Dieting is not an overnight process or with a short term goal

Healthy Diet Plans-How To Establish A Healthy Diet To Achieve Your Goals
Let?s cut right to the chase-most people?s diet today is pathetic. The reason that so many people end their lives in poor health and disease infested is due to a lifetime of poor eating habits.

Fibromyalgia Symptoms Helped by Following New Weight Loss Diet Revealed in The Ultimate Diet Handbook
By following the diet outlined in The Ultimate Diet Handbook by Dr. Raj Banerjee, fibromyalgia symptoms can be helped. Fibromyalgia is a disorder classified by the presence of chronic widespread muscle and joint pain. By following this new fat loss diet, fibromyalgia victims are able to create a natural healthy balance allowing their body to automatically lose weight and get healthy.

Diets, Diets, Diets…Do They Work?
Almost everyone has attempted to follow diets and weight loss programs at some time in their lives. The trouble with so many diets and low fat diets is that they are hard to follow.

Frozen Options For South Beach Diet/ South Beach Diet And Frozen Food
South Beach diet has taken America by storm. Many are swearing by its ability to knock of those unwanted bulges and the knack of keeping cholesterol in control.

Atkins Dieting Basics - Discover How Atkins Diet Can Help You Lose Weight
The Atkins diet has been created since the last 1970s and became popular in the recent years due to the low-fat diet craze. Because other low at plans does not give a perfect solution to the people who search for weight loss, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution book provides them a new hope for losing weight.

Diet And Acne: Diet Tips For Acne That Work
Diet And Acne ? There Is A Deep Relationship Between The Two, But Still No Diet Can Cure Acne Find Out More From A Lifelong Acne Researcher Medical profession had long believed that acne and diet were never linked together