This is a SMALL piece taken from my 6 Week Holiday Insider Mini Series… just so you can get a taste of what you are missing!

What to eat, what to taste, what to fill up on and what to indulge on to keep your waist line ready for the upcoming holiday parties. Strategies for social eating and drinking to feel good, not overindulge but still participate in the act of social consumption while actually ENJOYING yourself and avoiding the guilt of feeling sick later. This is just ONE small excerpt from my 6 Week Holiday Series and one of the first week’s MANY insider tips and insight. I will not be showing this again in my blog or any piece of it from the remaining 5 weeks unless you subscribe to it! This is just a taste. If you are interested, you can still sign up here.  You will receive any past weeks you missed plus be on track to receive the new one each week!

Here’s HOW. (Wana know how I know all of this? Read about my experience here)

Thanksgiving, although it gets a bad rap – is actually a really healthy meal if you treat it as such. You have your turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes or sweet potatoes and veggie sides.  Eat those things that you can identify and you will be fine. Pasta does not grow on a bush. Can you identify that as a natural grown food product? No. Ok take it easy on that then.  Now if you eat all the fatty toppings and added unnecessary ingredients, you may be in a different situation (read: not good).

First load up your plate filling ½ of it with green veggies. Feel free to ask what’s in it or how it’s made to understand if you are consuming a whole lot of butter and crap on top of it. Then the next ¼ of your dish should be turkey. Go for the lean white meat.  Go easy on the gravy. Add some color like cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes to the remaining 1/4^th and you have a nice healthy and FILLING meal there.

Eat slow. Put your fork down between bites. Talk to others at the table and have a conversation. Don’t race and don’t scarf down your plate. Enjoy every bite and remember why you are so grateful.

The Devil is in the seconds and the dessert.

If you are drinking, (a lot) you are way more likely to over indulge. Take a break between seconds and assess how you FEEL. Are you stuffed, getting there or what?

If you do get seconds, try for YOU to serve yourself and do it next to a skinny person or no one at all. Serving yourself lets you choose what you like and what you want more of instead of feeling like you must eat everything on your plate that someone else puts there.  Choose one or two items you absolutely LOVE and wait all year for and put half of your original helping on your plate. At this point your EYES are way bigger than your stomach can handle, so tread lightly!

Serving yourself next to a skinny person helps with peer pressure, you will see what they are eating and try to keep in line with their portions.  Avoid the peer pressure to fill your plate just like everyone (heaver than you) else.

Remember- Thanksgiving is just ONE meal. There will also be dessert that you will want to try. There will be coffee, there will be more wine. Take it easy on the main course. I’m sure you have been snaking all day too.  Remember how you want to feel and look tomorrow.  Your body is NOT a trash can.  Just because typical American custom is to lay back in the Lazy-boy chair, un-button your top button, cradle your stomach and moan in pain does not mean this makes sense for YOU. Won’t you be more THANKFUL for the meal if you don’t have buyers’ (or eaters’) remorse?

Desserts.  Yes you can have them. Stick to items with fruit in the name. Apple pie. Pumpkin pie. Have a “small sliver” which you well know means a normal size compared to the heaping servings that everyone else will get. Thanksgiving puts people in a, shall we say “giving” mood. They want to GIVE you too much food because that is how they (a lot of people) show love and affection for you.  Tell them you want “a LITTLE”. This is the only way to score a normal size piece and make them aware of how much they cut. Show them if possible how big you want.  Take a little of everything. Sure you can try everything but in SMALL portions.  Want some ice cream on top of that apple pie? Make sure it’s warm (if you’re going to eat the cal’s you better make them taste the best it can be), plop ONE scoop of ice cream on top and slowly indulge in the delicacy.  SLOWLY.

There will be leftovers.  Chill the F out! You can eat more of this deliciousness tomorrow too so no need to eat as if the world is ending!

Coffee after? Sure. Sip it slowly.  Get regular (not decaf) to help you burn those extra calories off and give you more energy to move around a bit. Decaf is short for “Lets go into thanksgiving food coma immediately”.

If you have food allergies make sure you make everyone aware and stick to it. Just because it’s a “holiday” does not mean you are taking a vacation from protecting yourself from harm! Don’t feel pressured to eat something just because they say “oh a little bit wont hurt.” I deal with this all the time. Just simply replay “Yea a little bit will possibly get me sick for the rest of the night, a lot will send me to the hospital.” They will get the hint and steer that plate clear away from you and onto the next victim.”

Food is to be celebrated, honored, appreciated and used as sustenance, nutrition and to provide health and to SUPPORT us – NOT to binge and feel like crap after. Don’t take the Thanksgiving spirit and turn it into something it should not feel like (Guilt). Enjoy it and appreciate it.  There were many times in my life I did EXACTLY the opposite of this (just about every prior year). Now, I can view food on a totally different level, one of fuel to run my temple of a body, not as trash to stuff myself and torture my body.

I am fully aware that stress is a major trigger of why we over indulge, but I address that and many more ways to overcome stress, anxiety and create your calm back in my Mini Series.
Hope that inspired you to have a wonderful, THANKFUL Thanksgiving!

For more tips like this check out how you can get a hold of my Holiday Insider Mini Series information. Act quickly, the price has already gone up. 

Black Friday is TOMORROW!!
Shop MY shop on Etsy using code THANKFUL2014 to get 25% off ALL orders untill Monday!
Shop my Chloe and Isabel shop for the most gorgeous jewels to receive 30% – 40% off select items untill Monday.

Hope that inspires you!

xoxo
Emily

Follow me on Instagram @EmilyBrickel