A Guide to Guilt-Free Holiday Eating: How To Have Your Best Thanksgiving As You Pursue Your Goals

Now I'm sharing what I know with you fitness , nutrition and all the deeper stuff to help you discover your strongest body . Hello , hello , welcome back to another episode of your Strongest Body , betsy , here . Happy holiday week . This episode is coming out on Monday , the Monday before Thanksgiving , the Monday of Thanksgiving week .

I want to make a programming note that there will be only one new episode this week . This one no new episode on Thanksgiving Day , and I just want to say how thankful I am for you . Thank you for tuning in , thank you for sharing , thank you for rating and reviewing .

I so appreciate you and I appreciate what you're doing to improve your health , your wellness , your fitness . I am glad you are here , and so what we're going to talk about today , because I want you to live your healthiest , fittest , as well as most pleasurable , most fun , most fulfilling life .

We're going to talk about three things that you don't have to do to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal and still reach your fitness goals . There is a lot of information out there that's going to make you feel guilty about enjoying yourself for Thanksgiving or is going to suggest making these really quote unquote healthy changes to your Thanksgiving .

And I want to give , as always , some nuance to this topic to let you know that it's totally understandable that you would have some fear , apprehension , maybe some even .

Maybe it's not even fear or apprehension , it's just sort of like thoughtfulness around how you will handle holidays that center around food , center around , center around things that can bring up some weird diet and food hangups that others have that you'll be around .

So what I want you to do is just relax as much as you can , acknowledge those feelings , and then I'm going to talk to you about these three things that you don't have to do .

But it's natural to feel that way when we're talking about a holiday that centers around food and where you're going to be interacting with people If they're not your like closest , most immediate family .

You're going to be interacting with people who may have different values about food , different concepts , and in those instances you also get a real look at people's sort of deep-seated feelings about their body and about food .

So I want to fair warning , just let you know that that's natural to feel that way and that you may have to balance some of those conversations at meals like that . Here are three things that you don't have to do If you're focused on reaching a health or fitness goal , reaching a body composition goal , reaching a strength goal , reaching just a lifestyle goal .

These are three things that you don't have to do this Thanksgiving in order to keep maintaining that progress . So , number one , you do not have to starve yourself preemptively for your holiday . There is nothing you have to do right now to prep your body for this holiday . You do not have to flush out anything .

You do not have to reserve calories for this holiday . You don't have to not eat carbohydrates before this holiday . You do not have to do anything that is keeping yourself from your normal everyday eating habits and those habits might be a little different on a holiday week too , because you might have some other events included .

There's nothing you have to do to manipulate food prior to this meal in order to still reach your fitness goals . Why Any sort of big changes ? We do any sort of restriction that we participate in before . Something like this only exacerbates our need or urge to binge on these foods at these meals .

It also throws off our normal energy levels , our normal sleep patterns . All the feelings and experiences we have regularly , on a daily basis , are impacted by what we're consuming and when , and so if you're doing something drastically different , you're gonna feel the effects of that . There is no . Nutrition is best seen as a complete picture .

It's best seen as something that we are aiming to make strides in over time . That means that one meal one week , one month of different kinds of foods is not going to rock the boat entirely .

If we don't let it , if we don't say , screw it , I'm gonna just go extreme because I have already failed , then all it is is another day and we pick up on the next day and do our normal thing , and maybe for the holiday season everything is a little bit richer and everything is a little bit more and maybe there's a little less time for movement .

If we look at that four week period , in the grand scheme of life it's not that big a deal , and if we have that every year or so , we have a little bit of a dip in our sort of progress and then we get back to it .

We get back to it , but if we give in to the idea that restriction is coming , that we shouldn't quote unquote shouldn't be eating this way or shouldn't be doing this , then we lean , as I always say , to this overindulging , to this extreme , to this almost punishing ourselves for enjoying things and in preparation for what we are creating in the new year as some

sort of extreme diet , extreme restriction . So the same philosophy applies to this week . There's no need to restrict in order to be able to enjoy foods on Thanksgiving .

The best thing that you can do is go about your life normally for these days , eating the foods that you normally eat , moving in the way that you normally move , realizing that there's a lot of things that are schedules , sort of shift . But as much as you can keep things routine , the better off you're going to be .

So , no , you do not need to starve yourself or restrict yourself this week . Number two you do not have to eat foods you do not like on Thanksgiving . So there's , this is twofold . One you do not have to eat something because it is the quote-unquote healthy component of the meal . You do not have to eat something in preparation .

I'm gonna just like eat a ton of veggies right before we eat the meal so that I don't eat as much . You do not have to eat a food because we only have it this day . I don't really like it , but I'm going to eat it .

In the same way that , let's say , you are presented with something at the meal that you don't like but everybody else likes it , they're gonna eat it . You don't have to eat it . You don't have to eat it . I know this can be tricky in terms of sort of people who are hosting and you're trying to be polite and things like that .

If you don't want to eat something , you don't have to eat something . You can show care and appreciation for things and for people without eating the food . And I think sometimes and I'm going to tentatively use this as an example because I don't want to create a connection between dessert and it being something quote-unquote bad I don't believe that at all .

I love dessert but sometimes at holidays , let's say you don't like the option presented . You don't have to eat it if you don't want it , just because this holiday typically involves a dessert . If you don't want to have it , you don't have to have it If you don't like the salad presented , you don't have to eat it .

If you don't like the starchy option , you don't have to eat it . Remember that , despite our natural inclination I don't know Americans natural inclination to comment on what every other person is eating , it doesn't matter and I'm sorry if people do that to you .

I'm sorry if people comment on your food consumption and I realize this is much harder for those living in larger bodies because people feel like they have the right to comment on your food consumption . I am so sorry that happens . Don't comment on what people eat . Let them eat , and same for you . If you want to eat it , eat it . If you don't , don't .

I'm sorry if people comment on it . I hope that they don't . But realize that when people are commenting on your food , it says more about their own perceptions of food or their own perceptions of their own eating than it does about you .

And in some cases it's because if you are someone who is really focused on your nutrition , really focused on sort of achieving some fitness goals , people might be looking to you for some guidance .

Maybe they are aspirationally wanting to achieve what you achieve and while they don't mean anything by it , they don't quite necessarily know how to ask or how to begin that conversation . So you can think about that a little bit too .

Remember , we have been existing in a culture where we have been generationally given hang up after hang up after hang up about food and bodies and movement . You are not going to be able to escape that entirely at a holiday gathering , so do what you can to let it roll off .

Think about what you need , think about how it aligns with your goals , and then let people say what they say .

Again , easier said than done , but you don't have to eat foods that you don't like just because it's a holiday and just because they're served to you . You get to enjoy this holiday and the foods that you want to eat , in whatever way you want to do that .

Lastly , the third thing that you don't have to do is change anything about your nutrition the day following the holiday , so you don't have to cleanse , you don't have to fast , you don't have to do anything different , you don't have to restrict your food and take the day afterward . You don't have to do anything differently .

If you have access to leftovers and you like them , you get to eat them . The great thing about having access to leftovers is remembering on that day that you actually are going to get the opportunity to eat this food again . So you don't have to make yourself uncomfortable .

But some days are for making yourself uncomfortable , but the next day you don't have to do any extremes . No flushing , no , your liver is fine . You don't have to . I mean a quote .

Let me say quickly I don't know if your liver is fine , you may need to speak to a doctor , but these sort of what I'm referencing is that there are a lot of these sort of cleanses that are promoted , or the idea that your body needs to get rid of toxins , and your body is actually very good at getting rid of whatever toxins .

That's what your body is designed to do . So I just want to note that every person's body is different and you may be dealing with something , but there is nothing about your Thanksgiving meal that you need to get rid of the toxins from .

You just go back to this next day and you eat breakfast like you would eat breakfast and you drink water like you would drink water , and you do most of the things that you would do . You just keep going . You keep going in the direction that you were going and you have no , I think , penance .

You don't have to apologize or you don't have to do anything differently the next day . If anything , the best thing you can do is just get right back to your regular , every day everyday habits , and that just means that that one day was a holiday . Boom , you're back to it . Here are a few things I like .

Whenever I do a list of things you shouldn't do , I like to give you some things that you should do , and these are such basic , simple things that are gonna be low barrier to getting them accomplished and are gonna help you feel your best around a holiday time and take advantage of the seasonality of life .

So we know seasonality provides us an opportunity to experience different things at different times , based on how sort of things change . For in America it gets colder , it gets darker in the winter and we have a lot of these holidays . So here are some things that you can do . You can drink water . Your body needs water . Drink water .

At these holidays , you might be drinking alcohol , you might be having sort of things other than water that you wouldn't normally have . So making sure that you're still drinking water is really important , and I find it pretty hard , when I get pretty cold .

Drinking enough water tends to just be something that I have to be a little bit more intentional about Taking walks . Taking walks so on a holiday like Thanksgiving , you could spend your whole day sitting down and that is totally fine .

If that's what you want to do Sometimes , in order to increase energy , to make you feel your best , to sort of bring some alertness back as well as help you digest , taking a walk can be really helpful and that's pretty low impact , exercise , low stress , but get some movement in , help your body feel better .

This is a great time to catch up on sleep , to catch up on that rest . So maybe you are going , going , going and maybe you're a little sleep deprived and maybe you've been training pretty hard .

You can take this time , this holiday time , as a moment to get some of that regenerative work in that you need , which means sleep , stretching , mobility , stuff Anything that can sort of give back to your body . Schedule that massage . You know who you are clients . Schedule that massage and , lastly , enjoy yourself .

Think about what real enjoyment does for your mental health , for your physical health , for all of it . You deserve to enjoy yourself . So enjoy yourself , take it all in . You know I'm trying to take it all in . I have a five year old who's almost six , and then a two year old . This time of year is so delightful .

It's also super stressful and overstimulating , for sure .

But what I'm trying to do is just take this time to slow down , realizing that these days that we have where we're off school , or these days where we have where we can't you know , I don't have the ability to get to the gym this day because we just have X , y and Z on our list Maybe that is a tiny little gift for me to enjoy this moment and to not

let it slip through my fingers and me be looking back , not remembering these incredible times that we have . I am not someone who spends a ton of time talking about , like I was gonna say I don't know . I just think that this is a time for you to really relish life . You can reach your goals and relish life at the exact same time . So take a moment .

If there's anything you do on Thursday , on Thanksgiving , just take a moment and remember what , or think about one of the most like fulfilling moments of the day , and maybe that's just the taste of food and that is a totally incredible fulfilling moment , and maybe it's a hug , and maybe it's a reconnection with someone , and maybe it is getting to have conversation

over a walk . Whatever it is for you , just remember that these moments are far more important than any sort of nutritional stress that a holiday like this could cause .

All right , let me remind you the three things that you're not doing starving yourself in preparation for Thanksgiving , eating foods that you don't like that day and then , third , changing anything the next day in order to make up for what you did .

The things that you can do to recharge , to refuel , to refresh are drinking water , moving when you can , taking walks , catching up on sleep or any sort of restorative actions you can do , and then really enjoying yourself . All right , that's all I have for today , but I want to remind you that I am having a Black Friday sale .

I'm only doing it for 24 hours . Starts on Black Friday , ends on the night of Black Friday . You got 24 hours to purchase the push-up program and the pull-up program . 12-week programs you can do on your own . You do not need a lot of equipment .

The push-up program you really need a mat and it'd be great if you have dumbbells and a bench available to you the pull-up program . You need access to a pull-up bar . And then there are some other equipment that is great if you have it some bands , some dumbbells but these are 12-week programs .

If it takes longer than 12 weeks , there are options to extend it . There are options and instructions to adjust it to your ability level . It is really thorough . It has exercise explanations . It has links to videos . These are awesome and I'm very proud to have made them . They are deeply discounted for Black Friday , but only for these 24 hours .

So each individually is $40 for the 12-week program . If you purchase them together in the upper body bundle , it's $60 together . So you have , until you just have on that Black Friday . I'm going to send out the link to my email list . If you're not on my email list , get on to it .

If you have questions about it , you can email me , betsy , at bfosterstrongcom . That's the letter , bfosterstrongcom . Or you can send me an Instagram DM at foster , underscore strength . You can share it with anybody that you think might need it or want to purchase it , and then on that day I'll release the link to the sales page .

I'll have a way for you to access it on Instagram , but it's 24 hours only All right , as always . Thank you for being here . Until next time , go build your strongest body and I'll talk to you later . Bye .