Hello Shrinkers one and all! Not only is it time to hop on the scale buck nekkid to see what’s what for Week 2 of our weight loss challenge, but it is also the day before Thanksgiving! We will get to that in a minute. First things first.
How are you doing with the challenge? We always want to hear from you! Have a success to share? Need some help with something you’ve been struggling with? Sharing in the comments puts that help at your disposal when our community members are able to chime in from their own experiences.
Now, about tomorrow. Raise your hand if you want to join me in making tomorrow a test run for any and all holiday events you have to navigate your way through from now until Jan. 1. Tomorrow is a chance for us to SHOW THE HOLIDAYS WHO’S BOSS! And at the end of the day, after we have made it through Thanksgiving successfully, we will be ready for the company party and the cookie exchange and the neighborhood holiday potluck and Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. How you face your choices tomorrow will set the tone and lay the foundation for the holidays to come. Momentum builds upon momentum. We CAN leave the table without feeling as stuffed as that poor bird! We CAN politely refuse to take home any leftovers we made a conscious effort to leave behind in the first place!
MINI CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK
As you know, each week in our Whittle Away for Water Challenge, we pick one thing on which to focus. This week, your mission is to come up with an ACTION PLAN for Thanksgiving. Do not over think this, people. Get out a paper and a pen and WRITE IT DOWN. How do YOU plan to stay on track tomorrow and not let Thanksgiving derail you?
Print out this picture and keep it in your pocket or tucked under a corner of your place mat as a reminder that you CAN stay on track!
Consider these tips in constructing your own ACTION PLAN for Thanksgiving:
- Start the day with exercise. Get out the door for a virtual Turkey Trot around your neighborhood if you have not signed up to do a real life race. Or just go on a walk. Play some Frisbee in the backyard. Shoot some hoops. Do some Wii. Hit up the gym bright and early before the chaos of the day sets in. If you can’t get out, check out a video workout via On Demand or Fitness Blender.You will feel empowered knowing you got the day start off in this way. It sets the stage for whatever may come later.
- Check out the Thanksgiving recipes at our sister Skinny Kitchen site. Again, by bringing a healthy dish or serving one (if you are the host), if YOU are creating that dish, you are in control. Another win.
- Drink a glass of water before the meal, which will aid in helping you to feel full, but also slow
- Visualize your outcome. This is a big tool in the WW meetings I have attended over the years. Picture yourself at your Thanksgiving gathering. Whether you are hosting or being someone’s guest, visualize how you will deal with saying no to something that is not on your plan. Rehearse the conversation in your mind. Rehearse it again. And again.
- Give yourself a job. This tip is more for those of you attending dinner at someone else’s house. Once you say your hellos, ask the hostess to give you a job to do, whether its collecting coats from other guests and hanging them up in the closet, assisting the cook in any last-minute food prep, corralling the kids to keep them out of the way and occupied with a game, playing the role of bartender, setting up folding tables – any of these things work in terms of keeping YOU occupied and “busy” and not hovering around the appetizer table.
- Once you sit down to eat, ask yourself this important question: How do I want to feel when I get up from this table? Proud? Confident? In control? Unashamed? Victorious? If your answer is any one of these, you will know when it is time to put the fork down. If your answer is stuffed, tired, sluggish, lethargic, sleepy, irritable, depressed, ashamed, sad… well we know that no one would choose to feel those things on a day of celebrating friends and family and giving thanks. Keep in mind, it is NOT the food that dictates the outcome to that question. Mashed potatoes are mashed potatoes. They are neither good nor bad. It is our BEHAVIOR that dictates the answer to that question.
- After the meal, get up and moving asap. Hopefully that means you are being a nice person and helping with the clean up. But in addition to that, how about some touch football? A stroll around the block? Some charades? Or some Wii? Anything to keep you up and moving.
- Check out these additional tips.
OK are we ready to show this holiday who is the boss?! Have some tips of your own to share? What is YOUR action plan going to be? We look forward to hearing from you in the comments!
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