Thanksgiving (or other holiday) success??

[Robin Strathdee]

Hi Everyone!!

I'm working on a project and I'd like to hear your Turkey Day (or any other holiday) success stories!

How did the W30 program help you make your holiday a Good Food success? Did the program help shut down your cravings so that one piece of pie was enough? Did it help you identify the foods that really were, and weren't worth some off-roading? Did you change your holiday food habits?

Did you stay W30 compliant for the holiday? Why did you choose that plan and how did that work for you?

What were some of the biggest Eureka! moments you had this holiday?

Please note: I'm looking for stories I can publish online, so if you aren't comfortable sharing with the W9 community at large (via a username), please note that.

[mochuisle]

I went off plan on Thanksgiving and enjoyed myself. My successes were that I didn't have seconds, I didn't spin out of control for days after, and I didn't feel bad about my decisions. Thanksgiving is a special occasion, I ate foods I literally eat once a year, and then I got back on track.

[LRM]

I am not actually doing a full Whole 30 right now, but I am staying mostly compliant. I will do another strict Whole 45 from January 1 - February 14. However, I did not want to use Thanksgiving to go completely off the reservation and undo all of the hard work I've done over the last few months.

This year my family happily gave up pasta, pastries, and a lot of bread in lieu of a healthier holiday. After seeing how this lifestyle has improved my health and made me much happier, they were very supportive.

We mostly ate sugar free, gluten free, paleo dishes. I did indulge in a little cheese, some cold antipasto, a whole lot of figs (yum)and literally a mouthful of red wine, but went right back to my plan. No dessert. None of us were bloated or had a food hangover the next day. The best part of eating this way is that my jeans fit just as well the day after Thanksgiving, as they did the day before. A first for me. :-)

[Lisa K.]

Robin,

I started my Whole30 on November 8th and wanted to stay on track as much as possible during Thanksgiving even though it is my favorite time of the year to entertain. My husband was in town visting, and he brought a house guest. I made Whole30 or paleo compliant and non-compliant foods so we could all enjoy the meal. Prior to Thanksgiving I also planned any off-roading that would occur, and it was very minimal.

Oven roasted turkey (Whole30)

Sweet potato casserole (paleo)

Mashed potatoes

Stuffing

Gravy

Cranberry sauce (paleo)

Dinner rolls

Chocolate mousse tarts (paleo)

Cheesecake

White wine

I had turkey with cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, a couple of chocolate mousse tarts (all paleo or Whole30) and for my off-roading I enjoyed a glass of wine and a sliver of cheesecake. It was great!

[Handstands]

Robin - Thanksgiving was mid Whole30 for me. We joined a couple of other families for dinner and I was the only one currently engaged in the Whole30 (although I may have talked a few others into trying it over dinner). I brought a few dishes (sweet potato casserole, kale salad, guac deviled eggs) so that I would be able to eat a few things other than the turkey. I was very satisfied with the food I had to eat and had no trouble not over eating. I helped serve the pecan pie (yum) without feeling any need to have a bite.

The only thing I struggled with was the wine. It looked beautiful and smelled great. Today is the last day of my whole 30 and not having wine at Thanksgiving dinner was perhaps the only time I felt really bereft about what I had 'given up'.

[Susan W]

Robin, this is so fun. I just found this thread and am happy to contribute since I am so very proud of my W30 Thanksgiving. I just finished my 3rd W30 on Nov 30th. Actually, it was longer than 30 days, but I'd have to do some research to figure out exactly when I started. I did my first one a year ago August. They keep getting better and better. I didn't do a reintroduction this time because why bother. I already know what affects me and what doesn't. If I want to go out for sushi, I will and happily have white rice. For the rest of it, it will be quite rare and only when it's worth it.

I decided to include Thanksgiving dinner as W30 and my good friends all joined in. A couple of the husbands decided to partake in non W30 items (funny enough..I was the one who made them), but everyone else stuck with it and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Who needs wine when you have Sassy San Pelligrino. I did my Whole 30 differently this time. The food has always been easy for me. I actually don't veer off of W30 most of the time. I added no TV in my bedroom and only Kindle reading...late night TV and a healthy few games of Angry Birds are my guilty pleasures. TV..gone. AB..only in the living room. I have never been a good sleeper. I tend to stay up late and get up early. I really didn't think there was anything I could do about that. Wrong! I head for bed at 10pm with my Kindle. Read for an hour and lights out. I also gave up Caffein about 3 weeks ago. I'm a one cup a day person, but huge difference cutting it out altogether. I actually feel myself getting tired at about 9:30 and I'm ready for lights out at 10. That is amazing for me.

I will continue this W30 until my trip to San Diego for Christmas. I will mindfully have a dessert that my mom makes every year and a side dish that our friend Katie makes to go with the grass fed standing prime rib roast. The no TV and/or Angry Birds (Yes, I'm 12) will continue indefinitely. The positive take away for me is so worth a little AB craving.

I was impressed at how easy it was to continue my good habits during the largest food holiday of the year. Well worth it.

[Xandra]

Mom and I did a W30 Thanksgiving except for white wine and a splash of maple syrup on some unsweetened pumpkin custards. The kids got some regular apple pie. It was a great year for us to experiment with recipes. I learned that I really don't care for turkey that much at all, didn't like the sausage stuffing much either, and the broccoli cauli casserole was just okay. Doing a W30 meal was fine, we just need to branch out from trying to replicate traditional fare. Rib eye steaks and shrimp would be a great meal for us.

[Camille Ho]

I am so proud of my Thanksgiving, since the entire thing was compliant! (Except for the bit of honey in the pumpkin pie, but, I'm okay with that).

I made the turkey breast in the slow cooker, the whole30 cranberry sauce (and someone told me it was the best cranberry sauce they'd ever had), the stuffing, and the root veg in coconut butter w/walnuts all from the Thanksgiving list. I made a paleo pumpkin pie with a nut flour crust that was phenomenal and everyone was so impressed that the meal had been dairy, grain, legume, and sugar free.

It was so inspiring to me and really helped me see that I didn't have to "miss out" on anything as long as I took the time to look at what I was cooking and take a little extra time to plan it out.

[Sharon Simpson Thumann]

Thanksgiving for us was pretty easy. A friend visited and I did not go out of my way to make non compliant side dishes, even though I am not Whole30 at the moment. I roasted a chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and made a mix of collards/mustards that I cooked with some acv and fat drippings from my own bacon. For desert we had pumpkin pie, non Whole30/Paleo. We were all satisfied with the meal and I didn't feel deprived of anything I would have had in the years before Whole30.

Edited:

Originally we were going to be alone for Thanksgiving and had planned to try Chinese as one of our "off road" experiences, so in retrospect I am glad we had an unexpected visitor.