I wanted to get this post out early this year so y’all have NO EXCUSE. Failing to plan is planning to fail. We can do a little work before Thanksgiving, have a great time, and crush our goals.
Sticking to your diet and nutrition plan on a holiday can be tough! Thanksgiving is obviously no exception! This holiday is based on eating and being thankful. So what can you do to help stick to your goals and still enjoy your family and friends? Plan ahead and track!
Mindset for a Fat Shredder Thanksgiving
I don’t think you’re a bad person if you totally blow your diet on Thanksgiving, your birthday, or any holiday. You might be someone that can do that for one day and then get right back on track. But my experience has shown me that holidays can be extremely detrimental to a lot of people’s progress. So I’m just encouraging you, and showing you, that there is another way.
So as you go into Thanksgiving planning to stick to your goals, here could be some of what to expect.
- Your family and friends can think you are crazy.
- Your mom or grandma might get upset that you aren’t eating more.
- You could get made fun of.
- You can have a GREAT TIME and feel good when the day is done :-)
We can’t change other people’s opinions. Most of us view holidays as a very special time, so anything that changes the norm can be seen as a threat. I’ve said it before but “making changes, changes things.” You want to remain extremely positive, loving toward your family, and just do your best to explain why sticking to your goals matters.
General Overview for Thanksgivings of Rippedness
In the past, I have given out exact meal plans for Thanksgiving. You can check out a Fat Shredder Thanksgiving plan here. This year I’ve decided to put a little responsibility on you. I know we’ve all been tracking, so we’re used to it. So here is what I think about when I go into a holiday, and in this case, Thanksgiving.
- Get a great workout in! – I think with a lot of holidays this tends to be overlooked. But get a great workout in the morning of Thanksgiving. This will help ensure you have a little more wiggle room in your tracking. You might have to estimate portions a little more and you might not have the exact recipe for every dish, so having a great workout done before hand allows you to absorb those variations.I also know that working out changes my mindset. If I totally crush a workout I’m not as tempted to deviate from my nutrition plan. I don’t want to undo the hard work I’ve already done.
- Protein Early – Save Carbs! – Get your protein started early and save your carbs for later in the day. As with most holiday food, Thanksgiving tends to have a lot of delicious carb options LOL So start off the day with high protein and avoid any excess carbs or fat. What you’re doing is reallocating those carbs and fat for later in the day when you might want to eat stuffing, a casserole, or some pumpkin pie.There is nothing “bad” about the food around your Thanksgiving table, most of it just tends to be higher calorie so you need to be mindful of that. You can fit and a lot of small portions pretty easily.
- Load up on Fat Shredder Staples! – So when Thanksgiving dinner comes around, load up on things like turkey breast, green beans, and salad. You can include other sides in your plan, as long as you track them. For me, I’d like to keep my dinner protein centered and then save my carbs and fats for dessert LOL but it is totally up to you. Get on MyFitnessPal and track your Thanksgiving day today. That will show you where you can add more of your favorites or where you might need to be careful.
- Don’t give up. – Finally, don’t give up on yourself. Even if your plan doesn’t go exactly as you’d like, you are still ahead of the game if you’ve been mindful of what you’re eating. The big problem for most people is that they feel bad ones they deviate from their plan and throw in the towel. That gives way to an entire day of binging. Going over your macros by one slice of pumpkin pie is much better than going over by a slice of pumpkin, a slice of apple pie, some cake, and then some ice cream.
Happy Thanksgiving!
All in all, have a great day! If you are on a Fat Shredder plan, that does include sticking to your goals if you want maximum results. If you are bulking, keep that to yourself LOL ;-)
I am so thankful for all of teamRIPPED! I hope you know that. Keep crushing it!
Coach Wayne
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
