Eat a healthy breakfast and exercise as soon as possible the morning of. If you’re not in town for our Thanksgiving WOD, your workout is a 12 minute AMRAP: 16 Squats, 8 Burpees. Throw in a 200m Run to the neighbor’s mailbox at the end of each round if you want something more aerobic. This is probably the most important part because as the day goes on you’re going to have time problems and obligation problems that will otherwise preclude you from getting a workout in, from which you can feel good the rest of the day regardless.
Be nice to your extended family, you don’t see them that often. Brush off those timeless, annoying questions and judgements about your life. It’s not about you, it’s about them :). Sit at the kids table, play games, get up and show them some squats!
Help prepare dinner, that’s some good quality time there. Eat a bunch of salad as soon as that’s an option. For a drink, opt for sparkling water or kombucha. When it’s dinner time, help yourself to some meats and vegetables. Gravy’s ok. Pick one of the starchy carbs (mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing, corn bread, etc.) and have a small serving of it (half the palm of your hand). It’s when we start going buffet style on the carbs that we get in trouble.
Often it isn’t the food itself that is the problem, there are so many good choices! It is the social pressure to conform and Eat All The Things Because It’s A Family Tradition. Just do meat and vegetables the first helping, announce it to yourself or out loud that those are your favorite, and that you’ll come back for other things on your second helping if you choose to come back. If you do come back, get some more meat and vegetables first.
Have one small dessert item if you’d like. Just one. Someone may ask why you’re not trying all the desserts, and that’s okay! You’re just standing out from the pack, and they are curious.
Enjoy the time with family, especially the old ones and the young ones, it is precious!
And if it all falls apart, we’ll see you at the gym the next day!
Mauricio Leal
Cypher Health & Fitness Owner
