Thanksgiving Strategies

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! The mister and I are home together cooking for the two of us. We invited someone but they declined. Our anniversary was on Sunday and we've been celebrating since last Friday when I returned from Clear Creek to a bouquet of fresh flowers. On Saturday we went shopping in Park City and ate out for dinner. On Sunday we cooked ribeyes with baked potatoes. We had to work Monday and Tuesday, so our celebration paused ever so slightly, but Tuesday after work we ran away together to the Anniversary Inn. Yesterday we visited the Church History Museum and the largest Asian grocery store in Utah and picked up our wedding rings from getting cleaned and shined up at the jeweler's and then stopped off at Costco to load up! We made it home JUST in time before the wind, the snow, and the power outages seemingly everywhere around us, but we still had power.

So...this whole food thing. It's interesting. I grew up in an obese family. Both parents, all three older sisters, and both younger sisters, and me too of course...all afflicted. Sometimes our family would rally around Weight Watchers or something similar, but we all battle, and continue to battle to this very day. My husband grew up eating whatever when he wanted with a huge sweet tooth. He has never been on a diet or tried to control his intake whatsoever. One day I heard him say something like, "I haven't really had any vegetables in awhile, so I should try to eat some." And that's about it for his dieting experience.

My dermatologist told me about the ketogenic diet in October, so I'm kind of trying that, but it's not like I've been super strict. And I wake up at 4:30 a.m. to exercise. I try. I keep trying. I'm always striving to improve. My husband understands none of this. I would even call him guilty of sabotaging my attempts, "Just sleep in...you don't need to exercise." Or, "Would you like a peanut butter truffle from Harry and David's?" He doesn't get it, but my doctor says that people who haven't been obese their entire lives just have no way of getting it. They just don't and we can't really depend on them for the type of support we need (he, his wife, his daughter, and his son have all had weight loss surgery).

Yesterday morning, the Anniversary Inn staff brought a delicious breakfast to our door and knocked. I was starving. I ate everything (my half): a delicious ham and cheese croissant (how many carbs in a croissant? I don't know...), a yogurt parfait with granola and berries (sugar, sugar), and milk and cranberry juice (K got the hot chocolate and orange juice). After the museum, we went to Crown Burger, another challenge. I did order a cheeseburger, but no fries, and I always drink water. I did not eat the bun, just the meat and the cheese. I did eat one single French fry thanks to K's generosity, but I consider that to be a bad choice. And that leads us up to dinner.

Dinner was a fend-for-yourself-affair. I ended up eating some macadamia nuts and some chicken noodle soup. K made Loaded Bake Potato soup from Progresso, but he doctored it up with leftover baked potato from Sunday, some summer sausage he sliced up, and some grated cheese. He also had a plate of the leftover Suddenly Salad pasta he made earlier this week along with the remainder of the summer sausage he sliced up along with two large slices of provolone. Either the plate alone or the bowl alone would have been a meal in and of itself. I'm not usually the Food Police, but I had a weak moment and asked about it. His reply? "Stuff needs to be used up." I pushed harder saying, "But we've had a lot of food today...that whole big breakfast, lunch at Crown Burger...?" And he said, "I know. I'm trying to stretch out my stomach so I can really eat a lot tomorrow."

Well. This was news to me. I'm always trying to figure out ways to keep myself FROM eating a lot on Thanksgiving. For example, this morning's breakfast was a large green salad packed with veggies. I'm drinking a ton of water. I plan to measure most of my Thanksgiving foods with a half cup measuring cup. I plan to wrap a lot of presents today to keep my hands busy. I'm brushing, flossing, and rinsing after meals and I have chewing gum in good supply. I stepped on the scales again this morning. I have strategies!

He has a strategy too--to stuff as much Thanksgiving Dinner as humanly possible into his belly.

I'll probably die before he does.