I did great!!!! I’m full, but not stuffed. Very satisfied. Got lots of exercise today, and ate a little of everything. I’m guessing I had about 2200 – 2300 calories. I had planned for 2000, so I consider being just a hair over a great success. I also can’t believe how easy it was to eat a small amount for breakfast and lunch since I was so busy. I think being the chef for Thanksgiving really helped me eat less (if I was a guest at a more traditional (and more unhealthy) dinner, I’m sure I would have eaten more).
Our guests had a great time and we got lots of compliments on all the foods!
I do feel pretty full and uncomfortable, but I think I’m more full from drinking lots of water than lots of food!! I also did eat most of my calories at one meal, so it’s no wonder I’m full. I’m reallllly thirsty, but other than that, I feel like I just had a big meal, that’s all. Go me!!!
Here’s a recap…………….
Thanksgiving Run:
Woke up to a drizzle outside – so cozy!! After a small bite of banana and PB, husband and I set out on our run just in time to have the sun poke through the clouds!! It was a wonderful run (despite my aching hamstrings, which took a while to warm up!). 5.3 miles; 450 calories burned. Perfect weather: overcast with bouts of sunshine, 60* and a slight breeze.
Breakfast:
Since I’m obviously trying to eat light today, I just had an oatmeal pancake and coffee. Yum! The coffee made me rather jittery and my shoulders did their tension thing. I am giving up caffeinated coffee forever!
Breakfast calories: ~310 (including pre-run banana)
Morning Meal Prep:
We spent the morning prepping for afternoon cooking. Veggies were chopped, ingredients measured, and everything was put in tupperware so it can be dumped right into the recipe when we’re under time pressure.
Lunch:
Kept things simple and light with a smoked salmon sandwich.
And some sliced apple:
Lunch calories: 310.
Afternoon:
Of course we spent the afternoon cooking. I went for a 30 minute walk with my mom, sweet! Got in all my required exercise. I was pretty hungry after our walk, but I had a few grapes and a virgin tonic and lime and felt much better to make it until 5pm.
There are a few bites missing of things throughout the day, but I kept an eye on my bites and don’t think I had more than 100 calories of extra bites of things like Brussels sprouts and 1 bite of cornbread.
Afternoon calories (sips of husband’s beer, apple core, grapes, cornbread): ~100.
Chopping apples:
Virgin Tonic (everyone else had liquor in theirs!)
Table Decor:
Here’s our beautiful table….
Kitchen centerpiece:
Cocktail Hour:
I assembled the appetizer plate and put it out at 4pm. I only had a few grapes and one piece of cheese. No crackers and I certainly didn’t nibble. Nice!! The guests gobbled it up like turkeys!
Cranberry cheese, crackers, grapes, almonds, apricots:
5:00 Dinner is Served!
Pumpkin Bread and Blue Cornbread:
Vegetables on the grill:
Bleu Cheese Smashed Potatoes:
The most amazing wild rice, mushroom and sourdough dressing (with homemade bread!)
Apple-Bacon Brussels Sprouts:
Mom’s Corn Pudding:
My cranberry sauce (made with brown sugar…). And in the words of my 21-year-old brother in law “This cranberry sauce is DEE-licious!!! The best I’ve ever had!!”
Gravy..stovetop homemade
And our favorite: roasted vegetables:
Turkey!!!!
Carving the turkey!
My plate:
A little of everything, in moderation of course! I was full about 1/2 way through but kept eating. Was just perfectly full when I was done. Only had a little seconds on the dressing (which I usually hate) and the cranberry sauce, but not enough of either to do damage. Also had exactly 6 oz of wine – go me!!! Dinner calories: ~1,000 (including 6 oz wine).
Dessert:
We cleaned the entire kitchen before eating dessert, so I built up another appetite. I had the exact portions I had planned but they seemed SO SMALL!! I had a few more nibbles of pie, but not a significant amount (although with pie, it’s always significant!). But my initial pieces may have been a bit small, so who knows what my exact calories were! We also had a dessert wine with dessert (duh) and I had my planned 2 oz. I pretty much ate exactly as planned.
My grandmother’s Staffordshire turkey plates:
The pies!! Pecan and Pumpkin Chiffon (so much better than regular pumpkin!)
The table all set up with the turkey plates:
Dessert calories: ~500, including dessert wine.
Happy Thanksgiving to All!!!
Tomorrow is a hike up Crowders Mountain with turkey sandwiches at the top and leftovers for dinner. Can’t wait!
Hi Kath!
I found your blog on Eat Like Me and have really enjoyed the few entries I’ve read!
I do have a couple of questions if you don’t mind me asking!
1) What kind of food scale do you use and do you recommend it? I’ve been looking to purchase one for a while and want to make sure I get a good one!
2) I noticed that you use plain yogurt as a substitute for sour cream on things like taco salad…can you taste the difference?
3) When you lost your weight did you follow a specific plan or did you just make your own up?
4) Finally…what nutrition textbook do you use for your class? Sometimes I think it would be nice to read a textbook (as boring as that can be sometimes!) in order to find sound information about nutrition. Sometimes I feel like “diet” books are lacking in sound nutritional information!
Thanks!
Kath,
I also found your blog from Eat Like Me. Great job with it and the weight loss!! I think thats so great how you lost weight with eating well and exercise and obviously lead a very healthy lifestyle. Are you studying to be a nutritionist? I wasnt sure when you talked about the “Class” you go to…I recently got my “nutrition and wellness consultent” certification because i love healthy foods and exercise so much! Its great 🙂 I also have a couple questions….what is in this oatmeal pancake you make…looks delish. and do you top your plain yogurt with cran.sauce? i’ve never tried that but might be inspired to try!! your food looks so yummy!!!
Hi Kath! Your Thanksgiving food all looks AMAZING. And so nicely presented. Great job! I really want to get your recipes for the pumpkin chiffon pie, the brown sugar cranberry sauce, the dressing, the bleu cheese mashed potatoes, AND the corn pudding…but I’m scared to have any one of those things in my house when there aren’t a bunch of other people to eat them! I’m drooling on my keyboard, though.
AND nice job with calories (though it’s no surprise) ;).
Hi Kath!
Your blog is fabulous! I was wondering if there was a place you post your recipes? Your oatmeal pancakes look fantastic! Also, what do you top them with?
Hi Katie!! So glad you like the blog 🙂
I have a Salter digital food scale and LOVE it. It’s so easy to zero a bowl and not get measuring cups dirty or even put the container on the scale and take weight away from it. I got it at Linens and Things. All of the Salter ones are good. Just be sure you get 1) Digital 2) Something that can handle like 5 pounds of food (you never know!) and 3) One that has both grams and oz. But most of the Salter digital ones have all of these features, as they are pretty basic.
Plain yogurt makes a great substitute, but you can tell a difference. It’s not sour cream. I love plain yogurt, though, and it does have that cold, creamy flavor, so I think it’s a great alternative. However, the new greek yogurts (FAGE 0%) do make EXCELLENT sour cream substitutes. Fage is soooooo delicious, but it’s really expensive and we’re watching our grocery bill right now. Otherwise I would get that. See if you can find it, but make sure you get the fat free kind!
I lost my weight the old fashioned way 🙂 However, I use a site called Calorie King to log my meals and exercise, which follows a concept of Net Calories. In a nut shell, “The more you exercise the more you can eat,” so it encourages you to move more so you can eat more. The site does cost money, but it’s very user friendly and a great resource. I’d say I closely follow Barbara Rolls’ Volumetrics Plan(I’m actually reading the book right now!) and eat similarly to the Mediterranean diet (not much red meat, lots of legumes and seafood, fruits and veggies, plus nuts!). But I didn’t learn about them until AFTER I’d lose weight, so I wouldn’t say I “followed the diet.” But I believe both are excellent ways of life. My bottom line answer to people when they ask me how I lost the weight is this: I exercise my butt off each morning so I can eat the same amount of food as a person not on a diet. Less than 1500 calories just isn’t enough! Hope that answers your question!
And lastly….my nutrition class textbook is AWESOME but it was $160, so it’s quite a commitment to purchase. It’s called Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition by Rolfes, Pinna, and Whitney – 7th Edition. It is very detailed and is easy to read and very helpful in explaining the way the body works. If you’ve got $160 to spend, I would definitely recommend it.
Thanks for reading!
Jennifer,
Thank you for reading too!!
Here’s the oatmeal pancake recipe – they are amazing!!
Oatmeal Pancakes
Mix 1/3 cup each old fashioned oatmeal and egg whites (the kind in the carton is handy) with 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a bowl. Optional: add half a mashed banana to the batter.
Preheat a skillet, spray with non-stick spray, and pour your batter in while shaping it into a large disc “pancake” with a spoon.
When you can shake it around in the pan, it’s time to flip.
Once cooked through, top with syrup, peanut butter, canned pumpkin, fresh fruit or my personal favorite – mashed banana and maple syrup!