Thanksgiving Results....

[pkafka]

Firstly, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Personally, it is my favorite holiday.

Now, to business (or pleasure for a lot of us too), the big question - how successful, in the primal sense, were your Thanksgiving dinners?

Here is what I had a lot of:

Turkey
Brisket
"Primal Mashed Potatoes"(made with cauliflower and turnips) (http://theprimaltribe.com/showthread.php/42-Primal-Mashed-Potatoes)
Primal Stuffing (almond meal base) (http://theprimaltribe.com/showthread.php/48-Other-Primal-Thanksgiving-Goodies)
Fresh cranberry sauce (just a touch, no added sugar)

Unprimal additions included:
Some of my grandmother's sweet potatoes (with melted marshmallows on top!) (just a touch!)
A small sampling of a few pies (it is thanksgiving), however I actually made a crustless, no added sugar apple pie. I'll share the recipe soon.

All in all, I'd say I was about 80% primal. And the rest of you? Looking forward to hearing about your meals.

-pk

[BarbeyGirl]

I made a conscious decision to set primal eating aside for the TG dinner. I'm a first-time guest at my SO's family home, and very occasional, planned exceptions like this fit into my eating philosophy anyway. So, I partook without guilt of everything from mashed potatoes to apple pie...but I definately loaded my plate with mostly turkey and veggies.

This morning, I'm back to primal -- enjoying a huge breakfast of eggs scrambled with spinach and steak as I type. :)

[Annika]

I also threw caution to the wind and ate my heart out. Non-primal food included biscuits, bread stuffing, gravy made with flour, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie made with regular wheat crust. Interestingly, I found the stuffing and mashed potatoes to be only so-so. The gravy, pie, and biscuits, on the other hand.... mmmm. This morning I had eggs for breakfast while everyone else in the family had pumpkin pie (a family tradition). I will certainly indulge in pie later today, though!

[pkafka]

Personally I think that both of your TG experiences are the healthiest way to be! Skipping out on my grandmothers sweet potatoes, and passing on pie would have driven me crazy... Personally, I think the point of being primal is to be as healthy as possible, and I think that indulging... when the time is right... helps promote optimum health.

However, I do feel that eventually, I will have no desire for these things (or if I do, it will only be once or twice a year). When my desire for these things wains, I think that there is no benefit to eating them.

Anyway, a bit of a ramble... haha. I am glad to hear that you ladies enjoyed your thanksgiving feasts!

Barbey - howd the dynamic go with your SO's fam??? (if you dont mind me askin :))

-pk

[celtia]

I made a plan for myself to eat whatever I wanted, but to do it within an hour. So I ate all the family's traditional foods, drank a Dr. Pepper, didn't feel deprived, didn't have to deal with "you aren't eating _______?", and am back on track with no problems. Well, I say no problems; it's only noon and there IS leftover cornbread dressing in the fridge so I'm reading here to keep up my resolve!

I think, in talking about the PB 80/20 principle, Mark said something to the effect that while there may not be health benefits to eating Aunt Martha's cornbread dressing and your elderly neighbor's incredible home-made coconut cream pie (can you tell I'm personalizing here?), there are definitely other benefits that shouldn't be dismissed! It sounds like we all took that to heart yesterday.

BTW, I've made a goal for myself to lose 6 pounds by the 1st of the year to keep myself on track until the Christmas Eve/Day meals. Anybody else make some kind of goal to help stay Primal during the upcoming eating season?

[pkafka]

I made a plan for myself to eat whatever I wanted, but to do it within an hour. So I ate all the family's traditional foods, drank a Dr. Pepper, didn't feel deprived, didn't have to deal with "you aren't eating _______?", and am back on track with no problems. Well, I say no problems; it's only noon and there IS leftover cornbread dressing in the fridge so I'm reading here to keep up my resolve!

I think, in talking about the PB 80/20 principle, Mark said something to the effect that while there may not be health benefits to eating Aunt Martha's cornbread dressing and your elderly neighbor's incredible home-made coconut cream pie (can you tell I'm personalizing here?), there are definitely other benefits that shouldn't be dismissed! It sounds like we all took that to heart yesterday.

BTW, I've made a goal for myself to lose 6 pounds by the 1st of the year to keep myself on track until the Christmas Eve/Day meals. Anybody else make some kind of goal to help stay Primal during the upcoming eating season?

I think these were all nice solutions... However, I would be worried about allocating an hour to "free eating," it is less about the time you spend eating poor foods, and more about the actual amount you limit yourself to. But, it sounds like it worked well for you! Great, I firmly believe in the saying "to each his own," especially when it refers to diet/exercise. I think that a paleo/primal inspired lifestyle is the healthiest for me... that doesn't mean it is for everyone... anyway.

Also - I think that goals are the most important aspect of any sort of attempt to become healthy. In fact, I set micro goals quite often, i.e. "I will only eat one meal today" or "I will only drink green tea with cream for the next 36 hours." When I set a goal, I achieve it... Otherwise I find myself rationalizing any side of the story. Please keep us posted on your progress. In fact, if it will help you, keep a food/exercise log for all of us to check out and comment on in the "Community Experiments" section.

-pk

[celtia]

Hey pk!

Oh, no, I didn't mean totally free stuffing-the-face eating for an hour. I meant keeping the non-primal foods and desert within one hour, instead of grazing/talking, meal, talking, dessert, talking, grazing-on-leftovers/talking that can go on at for hours at my family's gatherings. The definite start/finish time kept me from grazing.

Thanks for the encouragement on goal-setting. Losing 50 pounds is overwhelming. Losing 5-6 pounds multiple times is much more manageable for me. And I do think a log would help me stay accountable; great suggestion!

celtia

[BarbeyGirl]

Personally, I think the point of being primal is to be as healthy as possible, and I think that indulging... when the time is right... helps promote optimum health.

Barbey - howd the dynamic go with your SO's fam??? (if you dont mind me askin :))

-pk

I agree about the value of indulgence.

Nope, I don't mind...especially as the dynamic went astonishingly well. I had a fantastic time, loved the fam, and can't wait to go back at Christmas. Whew!

It helped that they were respectful about my SO's and my primal lifestyle, and we were respectful about their CW "healthfulness." We're all doing the best we know how!