Your Thanksgiving Dinner Game Plan
The Bad News First
How bad can a single meal really be? Pretty bad. Think about the following meal, which isn’t really all that unrealistic.
- 6 ounces of turkey with skin: 351 calories
- ¼ cup cranberry sauce: 110 calories
- 1 cup stuffing: 260 calories
- 1 cup mashed potatoes plus gravy: 240 calories
- 1 cup candied yams: 280 calories
- 1 dinner roll with butter: 200 calories
- 1 cup green bean casserole: 200 calories
- 1 slice pumpkin pie: 530 calories
- 1 slice pecan pie: 920 calories
- 2 cups apple cider: 300 calories
That’s a total of 3,391 calories! That’s about the amount you need to gain a pound of body fat. It’s nearly three times as much as you might be eating most days on your weight loss surgery diet. And it’s probably enough to make you feel sick. But you’re not doomed to eat that much on Thanksgiving.
Enjoy the Turkey
There’s at least one lucky thing about Thanksgiving dinner. If you’re a traditionalist, your main course will be one of the best possible choices for weight loss surgery patients. That’s right: turkey. How often has your surgeon suggested that you eat turkey breast? Well, now’s your chance.
A 3-ounce portion of boneless, skinless turkey breast has 114 calories and 26 grams of protein. How’s that for a good start? Even if you have seconds, you’ll still be at 228 calories, and get in a whopping 52 grams of protein. If you can’t face white meat on Thanksgiving, go for the dark. A 3-ounce serving of dark meat only has 138 calories. Just make sure you don’t eat the skin. For a condiment, stick with deli mustard or cranberry sauce made with a calorie-free sugar substitute – just make the sauce like you would with sugar, but add sweetener instead of sugar.
Look Out for Yourself
Make sure there’s at least one dish besides turkey that’s on your weight loss surgery diet. If you’re hosting dinner, serve steamed or roasted vegetables, such as green beans or Brussels sprouts, and a large green salad with light dressing on the side. You can make and serve all of the guests’ other favorites, too – nobody says you have to eat them.
If you’re going to be a visitor at someone else’s Thanksgiving celebration, be a good guest. Don’t arrive empty-handed! Bring a festive-looking salad that everyone – especially you – can enjoy. For example, you could have a salad with:
- Mixed greens
- Sliced artichoke hearts
- Low-fat feta or goat cheese
- Sliced pears
- Balsamic vinaigrette on the side.
Portion Control to Save Yourself
You may not realize it, but there are some easy things you can do to cut back on your calories on Thanksgiving. One is to watch your portions, just like you do every day. It’s a little harder to do on this day, but you can do it. Have you ever truly tried? Focus on portions, instead of piling as much as possible on your plate. A little bit of concentration can literally save a thousand or more calories that you won’t even miss.
Stick to the Good Stuff
Whatever ends up on your plate is probably going to get eaten, so try not to put it there if you know you shouldn’t eat it. Before serving yourself or letting anyone serve you, take a good look at the table. What can you eat? Probably the following.
- Turkey without skin.
- Green salad.
- Steamed or roasted vegetables.
- Roasted sweet potatoes.
Alex Brecher
I am a native New Yorker who loves spending time with my children and working out at the gym.
I had struggled with my weight my whole life. Diets worked for me until I went off them and gained back more weight each time. Finally, a friend who used to be obese told me that he had gotten weight loss surgery. I could see how great he looked, and I got weight loss surgery in 2003. Thankfully, I can say that I have never looked back. It helped me lose more than 100 lbs. and keep the weight off since 2003.
I am the founder of BariatricPal and proud of everything that it means to the entire weight loss surgery community. Together, we can fight obesity and work toward living healthier lifestyles!
You can view The BIG Books on Weight Loss Surgery book series at the BariatricPal Store.
I am scheduled for the sleeve on dec. 2. may i still eat turkey and stuffing ? I will be on liquid diet on nov. 29,30, dec 1.
thanks.
My plan is to maybe take a small spoon of different things on my plate. Thanksgiving is my first day of "real" food. (How's that for timing!) I still don't have an hunger feeling so I will eat what I can comfortably and then start cleaning! Like I do every year lol! I must have a clean kitchen and food put away before I can rest....it's a sickness I have :/
is it still possible to overeat once you have the sleeve ?
@ Alex Brecher ...OMG, I was looking at that list thinking "who could eat all that"??? HELLO KITTY...ME just a little over 2 years ago! maybe not that order, but the calories...for sure! Now I look at that menu and think...GROSS...so many carbs and sweets...LOL...that definately says something of my personal progress 
...
I plan on bringing a spaghetti squash bake...one of my favorites... in my family, you ALWAYS had a Pasta side dish...so this works great...I even cut up some tofu and add in to the ricotta...no one EVER knows!!! Extra Protein and minimal extra calories 
@thesweetone it is always possible to overeat when you have WLS, it's just how you do it... the list that Alex has up there, I don't think any of us can eat at one sitting anymore, no matter how we try! However, it does helps limit your intake...here's the problem... you can graze on that food all day long... a small piece of pie, an extra roll, some more pie, just a scoop of mashed taters... before you know it, you have EASILY added another 1000 calories from grazing thru out the day... that's what we still have to be careful with... but, like I said, I have maintained for a year now...that has NEVER happened before... I love, love, love my sleeve and the freedom it has allowed me! No longer shackled with food!
Happy Holidays to all 
(@@Elode ...you can stop by my place...I HATE the clean up)
@BigGirlPanties I thought the same thing when i read the list of food.... that just makes me ill thinking about it LOL and the list of food i have... i wont get through what i put down, thats why i sit next to my husband - he is one of those lucky people that can eat all they want & not gain (yes sometimes i want to smack him) 
we will be busy all afternoon with our kids football game - so we will get to dinner just as dinner is ready... so no before dinner picky's for this girl - but i love spaghetti squash! I might just have to make that & take it over with us!!
SO thankful for my sleeve!!! Happy Turkey day!
Edited by skinnygirlwithinThe spaghetti squash bake I make is like a lasagna... @skinnygirlwithin ... I layer the spaghetti squash then add the ricotta/tofu/spice mix, another layer of spaghetti squash, Tomato sauce, mozzarella on top and bake... YUM-O!!!
I'm hosting as I always do. One thing that always helps me eat less is hopping around serving people. The small break between bites when jumping up to get this and that gives my stomach time to realize it's satisfied. I will have food left on my plate but it's okay. And nobody pays attention anyway.
I am hosting dinner at my house and I am still on full liquids only. I also cook everything from scratch because my son has multiple life threatening food allergies. For everyone but me I am making: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. For myself I am making a low fat high Protein butternut squash Soup. Everyone gets some great home cooked comfort food and I stick to my food requirements. My hubby doesn't mind being my taster this year. I plan on freezing left over white meat in 3 oz portions with just enough gravy to keep it moist for when I get to move on with my food intake.
I plan on having turkey.. I don't like the skin so I'm all good there! Haha a spoonful of mashed a spoonful of sweet potatoes a teaspoonful of cranberry sauce a nice scoop of squash and more turkey but I doubt I can eat it all! Hahah I plan on eating extremely slow and talking a lot! Hahah I will be full In no time!! I am skipping Breakfast and lunch and liquids liquids liquids al day!!! Then for the best treat.... A tiny thin slice of pecan pie!!! Ahhhhhh yeap Looking forward to my Thanksgiving dinner!!
I started at 270 had surgery April 24th this year..... Am now at 178 and have been stuck there for about a month now!! Maybe going off the norm will jumpstart my weight loss again? Hahaha Wishful thinking!!! Back to the gym starting Monday!!!
I am a year out (sleeve) and I can still only eat 6 ounces at the absolute most in one sitting, so I'll just be having very small amounts of everything and just being mindful of when I start to feel that I've had enough and ending my meal there. No grazing, no snacking during the day. The few traditional 'sweets' I made (cranberry bread and pumpkin pie) were made with splenda instead of real sugar, and we typically don't eat things like candied yams or mac and cheese anyway. I'm just most excited for the spinach quiche and turkey!
This will be my second Thanksgiving living as a BANDED person. My plan is to let the band do its work.....In other words, I will NOT be able to gorge, overeat, or stuff myself, so I will eat a small amount of what I want to eat......turkey, oyster dressing, green Beans, and a baked sweet potato. I'm cooking for 25 people, so some things never change!!!!!!! Happy Thanksgiving to all of my BARIATRICPAL friends.
skinnygirlwithin 693
Posted
My game plan is two things
1 - sit next to my hubby
2 - keep doing what i have been doing. I use small plate - i find when i have a big plate i tend to fill it. So by using a small plate, i stick to small amounts and it doesnt look like my plate is empty.
My fool plan is a slice of turkey (3 oz), a few veggies, a table spoon of mashed taters, one little taste of sweat potatoes, No roll, no cranberries, no casseroll no stuffing but maybe just a little teaspoon of gravy on my turkey... if there is any thing left on my plate my hubby will eat it before he goes back for 2nds.
And for desert i will have a fork full of pumpkin pie - just to taste it. but that will be it.
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