Since acquiring SFN over a year ago i loathe Thanksgiving. I Will watch as others down hefty portions of stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies, cakes and more. The ingestion of any of these high carb, sugar laden foods will send me into a full on flare up that will last weeks. I will stuff myself on Turkey (without gravy) and seltzer and be miserable - yet happy in my avoidance of an intense pain battle.

For anyone who relates, how do you handle a day like today?

I would have small small portions of forbidden foods.
Have regular portions of green beans, squash, yams, etc, and the turkey.
I do avoid gluten.
I can't see how some gravy would be so terrible if you love it so.

We are having a ham, squash, a small amount of potatoes, and mixed veggies.(carrots, broccoli, peas-- a frozen mix), with butter. A conservative meal but still tasty for both of us.

Fats are nearly not so awful as bread, stuffing, sugar etc. These will spike the blood glucose.

I do miss desserts though.

A lot of people load gravy up with corn starch and some sugar, my experience is not good.

Hi Patrick,

Happy Thanksgiving to you & the rest of the gang!

I can certainly relate to your Post as I just painfully turned down a home-made apple pie by two very nice gals I know can really bake!! My plan is to have 2 veggies and a small Cornish Game Hen roasted in the oven.

Wishing you a healthy Holiday! Also, since this is a day of gratitude I wish to express a special "thank you" to the monitors like Mrs D that provide so detailed additional info to the members here.

Cliffman

My wife made me a vegan stuffing. I will indulge today. I am hoping for minimal backlash, but will savor the meal.

I will eat small portions of what my daughter serves. I don't feel neglected at all in the food world. I've eaten and over indulged in T-days in my life that I could sleep thru the day but not ready for that one yet. I've eaten vegan T-days, eaten salads and steaks out with friends and have not cooked a T-day meal in eons. For me at this time, my stomach doesn't hold a lot of foods and that is good too. Who needs to fall asleep and feel so uncomfortable, been there. Life changes and years ago I had read or heard somewhere that one can consume upwards of 18,000 calories from the beginning to end of the meal --- drinks to deserts to leftovers in the evening.

Enjoy your day and small portions are best for our bodies.

Dear Patrick,

I avoid the temptation to eat all the Thanksgiving spread by not attending the family dinner. My taste buds would overwhelm my desire to stay away from the foods I should avoid. I KNOW I would over indulge (be super happy about the taste for the moment) so I found it much easier just to stay home and cook and eat what I want and have NO temptations to which to succumb.

Yes, Hopeless, that is the way I learned too.

Since my hubby doesn't like gravy.... I don't make it anymore. End of that story, but sugar...never have had it that way.

I have a Nesco countertop Dutch Oven. My grandmother used to
use it instead of an oven, and gave me one for my wedding years ago. Its cord died, so I bought a new one unit. When you put turkey parts in there, some seasoning/broth/light garlic in the bottom with the turkey on the elevated grill included, you can cook the most flavorful meal with carrots, or yams, or potatoes on top of the turkey, all at once and it comes out tender, steamed and really doesn't need gravy. I baste every 15 to 20 minutes while it goes, and it takes about an hour or so depending on how much you put in there. I taught hubby how to use it when I was working so many hours...in the past.
So I just buy a package of thighs, and a small turkey breast and do it that way. No more struggling with the "carcass" for the days after.

Here are the ovens... as you can see they have become rather fixey today. Mine is a plain old white one.
http://www.nesco.com/products/Roaste...-Roaster-Oven/

My grandmother used to cook the most tender beef chuck roasts in hers.

--we always start the Thanksgiving meal with a huge salad--broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce of various pedigrees, onions, celery. Oil and vinegar for those who want to dress it--I never do. Those who want to, eat a lot of this to fill up enough to keep from overindulging on everything else; this helps keep me to turkey, cranberries, and a sweet potato--these we just bake, like regular potatoes, not melted with marshmallows and such--for the rest of the meal.

Desserts are served much later, and fruit is an option, along with all the brought over baked goods (which I can't have anyway).

What often amazes me most at these get-togethers is the enormous amount of coffee and tea people drink. As I have never developed a taste for either I find this fascinating/bewildering, but I suppose that if you drink a lot of liquids it fills you up enough to avoid that third piece of pumpkin pie.

and all that caffeine keeps one awake!

I agree with you too, Glenn. I just hate that overfull, sick feeling one can get from eating too much at a time.

From the photo I put up, you can see the plate my husband is eating from. (that Tima has her eyes on). He is a slow eater too, so she was getting impatient with him. LOL

In that photo that side of the table, has a bench instead of chairs, and that is how she managed her vigil. (we bought that table and bench and chairs for their moving into their first house). My son says, they sometimes give scraps off their plates after the meal is over, so the cats are far from starved or forgotten. Tima developed a taste for human fare, living off dumpsters her whole beginning life. Our son says, she goes crazy if they bring in Kentucky Fried Chicken!