EXACTLY How I’ll Lose Fat Over Thanksgiving AND Eat Dessert + My Menu

by | Nov 26, 2014 | Blog, Holidays

I absolutely cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by. It blows my mind. Here we are the day before Thanksgiving and less than a month from Christmas! Yikes!!! I know I’ve told you before how I used to write off this time of year. With all the sweets, treats, holiday parties and get togethers I would kinda figure there was no possible way I could lose weight so I might as well relax, eat and then “get strict” after the New Year. Go big or go home, right? I guess more like “Get big and stay home” hahaha – oh c’mon – laugh with me. Such a terrible plan!!! 

Here’s what I didn’t realize: You can thoroughly enjoy your holiday meal, dessert, even a couple of drinks and STILL lose weight during the holidays. Not just maintain! LOSE!!! I am all about that. It does take some planning and discipline but c’mon, it is SO worth it!!! You’ll actually enjoy the holidays MORE when you feel like you’re in control, empowered and proud. 

I’m not going to tell you how you should structure your Thanksgiving day but I’m more than happy to share how I plan to spend the day. Every Monday my strength coach measures my progress and I FULLY intend to go to the gym on Monday having made progress towards my fat loss goals. Thanksgiving is NOT an excuse (after all, it comes every year AND I could make any of these foods any day of the year, should I so choose). But, I’m also not going to skip out on my favorite things! No way Jose; I can do both!! Alright, so here’s how I plan to spend my turkey day and still lose fat. 

5am: Wake up. This is about my normal wake up time and Thanksgiving is no different. I like to start my day before anyone else gets up – even my sweet puppy. It gives me quiet time to do what I need to do, focus, and start the day without rushing. 

5:15-5:45: Meditate while walking on my treadmill or outdoors. This will depend on the weather – if its super cold I’ll hit up the treadmill. I like to call my practice of meditation “cognitive meditation” – I dunno if that’s a real thing or not. Haha. Everything I do could be labeled “cognitive” because I am totally unable to turn off my rapid-fire brain – its totally crazy up in there. But essentially, I spend my meditation time thinking about things I’m grateful for, imagining how I want my day to go and affirming positive things for my life and relationships. I’ll give you a little inside peak: tomorrow I’ll probably spend part of my meditation time thinking about how grateful I am for self control and the desire to pursue my goals. I’ll imagine the time I’ll spend in the kitchen preparing food and I’ll imagine the anticipation I have to enjoy my favorite things – turkey, brussels sprouts, ice cream. I’ll imagine the other foods around me – mashed potatoes, gravy, etc – and I’ll imagine joyfully preparing them for my family and feeling no temptation at all. In fact, I’ll think about the hundreds of times in the past I’ve indulged in them. I remember how they taste. Sure, they’re delicious, but not nearly as appealing as the thought of reaching my health goals! I’ll imagine myself enjoying dessert, savoring each bite and feeling supremely satisfied when its gone. I’ll imagine being able to leave the table happy, sated and not tempted to over indulge. I’ll think about all these things in detail knowing those sensations will carry me through the day and become my reality.

5:45-6:30: I’ll make a little time to work on Primal stuff. Check in with you guys on social, share how grateful I am for your support. I’ll take care of work stuff that needs to get done so its not in the back of my mind all day. Besides, everybody else will be sleeping 🙂

6:30-7:15: WORKOUT!!! Oh yes, I will workout on Thanksgiving!!! Why? Because I love it and find it really enjoyable. Besides, working out will help create the hormonal environment I’ll need to keep burning fat even while I enjoy some dessert! I’ll do this workout at home since the gym is closed and it’ll be the heart rate intervals my buddy Keri suggested to me. I’ll probably split it up between kettle bell swings and outdoor sprints. Here’s how it’ll go down: I’ll either sprint or swing until my heart rate reaches 85% of my max. (To calculate your max HR, subtract your age from 220. Take 85% of that number to determine 85% of your max). I’ll keep an eye on my HR and rest until it falls to 65% of my max. As soon as it drops to 65% I’ll go again, sprinting or swinging, until it hits 85%. I’ll repeat that process for the duration of my workout. 

Quick side note: the great thing about that kind of workout is that you can easily do it at ANY fitness level, with any exercise and without any equipment. For example, when I was 300 lbs, I could have reached 85% of my max HR by walking up a hill for 5 minutes. That would be perfect! Then you rest while your HR falls to 65% and do it again. You could do it with jump rope, burpees, jogging up and down stairs, rowing, you name it!! All you need is a heart rate monitor and you can get those pretty cheap. (Maybe a Black Friday wish list item?!)

7:15-8:30: Enjoy a cup of bulletproof coffee and relax. I’ll usually browse the internet, watch a show on my DVR, read a book or listen to a podcast.

8:30-10: Shower & get ready for the day. 

10-1:00: Food prep!!! Wanna know what I’m making? Here’s a sneak peak:

    Appetizer: Endive cups with bacon cream cheese & pistachios (my own recipe)

    Turkey – I cheated and bought it from the Honey Baked Ham store – don’t judge.

    Garlic mashed potatoes 

    Crispy Pancetta Brussels sprouts with Walnuts & Cranberries (my own recipe)

    Mashed Carrots, Parsnips & Cauliflower with nutmeg (my dad’s recipe, adapted)

    Grandma’s Apple Pie (my husband’s grandmother’s recipe that I usually burn. In fact, the first time     I made it for him he came into the kitchen, looked at it and said, “Is this a joke?”         Hahaha)

    Coconut Cream Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (I’m working on a recipe….)

1-3:00: I’ll be honest. I’m an introvert. Knowing there is “social time” ahead, I’ll probably retreat to my office with a second cup of bulletproof coffee and watch football. A couple things about this: I freaking love football. It makes me happy. I get depressed when the season ends. Second – my bulletproof coffee will serve as my lunch. Its got plenty of calories – probably a few hundred – and it will satisfy my hunger, increase my energy and I just so happen to love it. If you don’t love it, don’t drink it, duh!!! I do this a lot of days but I’ll definitely do it on Thanksgiving since I know a larger-than-average meal is ahead. 

TIME TO EEEEAAAAAT!!!!! I’ll probably enjoy 2-3 of my little endive cups. Gosh, I’m hungry just thinking about them! Super easy – I’ll just take some full-fat, hormone free greek cream cheese, stir in some cooked bacon, and spoon it into the endive leaf and top with a couple pistachios. Yumm!! I’ll absolutely enjoy some turkey. I’ll skip the mashed potatoes because I can have them any time and I’d rather have pie and ice cream. But I’ll load up on the brussels sprouts and probably have a 1/2 cup of the carrot/parsnip/cauli mash. That dish is as simple as it sounds: cook the veggies (I’ll steam them) then toss them in the blender with butter, salt, pepper and a dash (or two) of nutmeg. 

Before dessert, if the weather is nice, I’ll probably invite the family to take my sweet puppy on a walk with me. He loves to get outside and I’ll probably be itching for some movement. Not a speed walk, just a stroll, appreciating time with family and enjoying a quiet, restful day. And then…..MORE FOOTBALL PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

2014-11-18 20.37.07

Oh dessert. My happy time. I do love ice cream and hopefully my coconut vanilla bean ice cream will come out well. I’ll let you know. I am hoping it goes really well with Grandma’s apple pie – and that the pie isn’t burned…….

Will there be leftovers? You betcha. Will I be able to enjoy them? Absolutely!!! Because I’m preparing mostly fat-loss friendly foods, I’ll enjoy them to the fullest. You know what I’ll pass on? The potatoes, pie & ice cream. Here’s the thing – I’ve overindulged before. I’ve stretched the Thanksgiving feast over several days before. It didn’t work for me, so why do it again? I’ll have plenty of delicious leftovers to enjoy and I’ll make the most of them. No need to keep going for foods that won’t help me reach my goals. 

Alrighty guys….that’s my Thanksgiving plan!! I am totally confident that when I get to the gym on Monday I’ll for sure have made progress towards my goals. Thanksgiving won’t hold me back! I’ll enjoy it, make it special AND lose fat!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Tons of love!! Oh! And stay tuned this weekend for a BIG announcement and some giveaways!!!!!!! Here’s the thing though: If you wanna get the giveaway info and hear the announcement, you’ve gotta be on my VIP email list! Click here to get on it NOW. This news will be dropping this weekend!

The Primal Potential Podcast

[smart_podcast_player show_episode_numbers=”false” ]

Download a free chapter from Chasing Cupcakes.

Enter your first name and email below and I'll send over chapter nine from my best-selling book. 

Thanks! Check your inbox.