Stephanie Fein MD [00:00:00]:
Hello, fabulous Dr. Stephanie Fein here with weight loss for fertility and Happy Thanksgiving. If you're listening to this in real time, it is Tuesday, so it's not Thanksgiving, but it's right around the corner. It's just a couple days away. So I'm just doing a little shorty episode. But this is a goodie because it's the perfect time to discuss your Thanksgiving plate. So exactly what to think about your plate, what your plan for the actual day, for that actual meal. Now, I've said this before, and I will hook these up in the show notes, too, but episodes 53 and 54 are excellent Thanksgiving episodes to listen to about Thanksgiving in general.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:00:47]:
Today is just about the plate, but I like to think of Thanksgiving and as a whole couple of days, it's nice to think of the emotions that go into it, how to handle the emotions that is discussed in those episodes. So 53 and 54, but this one is just going to talk about your Thanksgiving plate. Thanksgiving is just one meal. It's so good to remember that we make a really big deal about it, of course, as a community, as a country, as a family, it's a very big deal. And it is nice to have it have so much importance that people move mountains to be together. And that part can be very nice. It also can be stressful. And that's some of 53 and 54 what you might want to listen to.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:01:41]:
But we're today just talking about the actual meal on Thanksgiving Day. And it really is one meal. So that's two things. We can look at it two ways. One is, no matter what happens, it's only one meal and we can just move on. So that's fantastic. But what I love to do with Thanksgiving is to use it as an experiment, to have intention around it, to plan for it. And so what we can do is we can give that a shot and then see what happens.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:02:16]:
And here are the things that I want you to remember this Thanksgiving, really in every Thanksgiving. These are the ideas that make weight loss possible during Thanksgiving and beyond really for any. Really for any meal, but certainly any holiday meal. And it will make Thanksgiving enjoyable whether you're losing weight or not. Now, ideally, we're losing weight, if that's what we're doing right now, but we're also keeping it off. So this is going to be useful forever. And here are those things to remember. Number one, be intentional about the meal.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:02:53]:
I like you to be intentional about all your meals, but this one is particularly good to have intention around. So we're going to plan around it. We're going to know when we're eating it. We know what's available. We can make plans around it. So we want to be intentional about Thanksgiving meal. Are we going to continue to lose weight? Are we going to keep to our hunger scale? All these things are decisions that we can make. Number two is use the hunger scale.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:03:27]:
It's such a useful tool and it has us feeling comfortable. Not only comfortable physically, which I think is very important. We eat when we're hungry. We stop when we're satisfied. Not full. Stopping when we're satisfied. Gives us so much room. We can run around, we can play the football game.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:03:46]:
We can interact with the kids on the floor. There's so many things that we can do when we're feeling comfortable. So it's physically comfortable, but it's also emotionally comfortable because there's not guilt involved. Now, I never want you to feel guilty. It's not useful. But there's very little room for guilt if we're not eating past full. Not eating past satisfied. So it's a protection for your comfort.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:04:17]:
And using the hunger scale is really useful. Now with Thanksgiving, sometimes the meal is at a strange time or whatever. So using number one, being intentional and then using the hunger scale may mean that you need to have snacks around the time. And so many times people think, I'm gonna not eat at all so that I have so much more room or calories or however thinking about it for the Thanksgiving meal, that is not the way we think about stuff like that around here. We do not let ourselves get super hungry. The main reason being we will overeat every time and it's uncomfortable. There's so many reasons not to let yourself get over hungry, and it's not a useful plan. So eating breakfast or eating a snack you may need because of the timing, that's really important.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:05:14]:
So for the day of Thanksgiving, using your hunger scale is going to really work. It also, of course, will be very important as you eat the plate of food that we're talking about on Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving meal using the hunger scale, excellent. So we have one, be intentional. Two, use the hunger scale. Three is choose your favorites. Again, this is something I'm always recommending. I always want you to eat food that you love and enjoy.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:05:42]:
So choose the best stuff. You do not have to take some of everything. You can just take the things you really like. And I highly recommend that you do. Hopefully protein's in there. If not, I get it. Turkey is a big deal, and that would be great protein, especially if it's. If someone is very talented in how they cook it in your group of people.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:06:07]:
And protein always lasts you a really nice long time. The goal is to enjoy your food in the amount that will have you feeling comfortable. Eating when you're hungry, stopping when you're satisfied. Choose your favorites, the highest quality stuff. We always want you to be enjoying the food that you're eating. Always. But also on Thanksgiving. Number four, One plate is plenty.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:06:36]:
It's enough. Your stomach is the size of your closed fist. So a huge plate piled high, that takes up more space than your closed fist, that will be uncomfortable. You really only need one plate. If you have your favorite things on there, all your favorite things, it does not have to be turkey and asparagus, unless that's your favorite, then please, by all means. But if you like stuffing, enjoy the stuffing. If you like the yams, take the. Whatever it is.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:07:07]:
Enjoy your favorite. And one plate is plenty for your body. Everyone's body. I can say this with confidence. Because your stomach is the size of your closed fist, the amount of food that fits in that size is plenty. Enjoy what you got, but know that one plate really, truly is enough for your body. And the last one is save room for dessert. Truly save room.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:07:39]:
So if you want dessert, which you may not, if you really don't like dessert, some people don't like pumpkin pie. Omg, I love pumpkin pie. If your plan and remember, number one was be intentional, and number two is use your hunger skills so you're going to stop when you've had enough. If you want dessert, then by all means have it, but we have to save room for it. So we don't want to get to positive two with the food and then have dessert on top of that, because then we will be overeating at that point. If we want dessert, we have a little less of the other things so that there's room for the dessert that we want. It makes things so much more comfortable. And there's no problem with having dessert.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:08:25]:
There never is. If we're eating in the hunger scale, it's part of the meal that you've decided to have. No problem whatsoever. We just want to make sure it fits from the negative two to the positive two. So those are the five ideas for your Thanksgiving plate. Be intentional. Use your hunger scale. Choose your favorites.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:08:51]:
One plate is enough. And save room for dessert. When we use our hunger as the signal to eat and the way we know we've had enough, then eating is really simple. And it really doesn't take very long to eat one plate of food. That's enough for your body. But Thanksgiving, no matter what people say, is about more than food. It's about connections and memories and being with people you love. And none of those things require chewing.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:09:28]:
It's nice to have a meal together, but that's not the special part of Thanksgiving. The special part is being with people you care about, connecting with them, making memories, being close. So do that more than you're chewing, and you will not only enjoy the holiday more and the people you're with more, but you will feel physically well because you enjoyed the food. Within your hunger scale, your body feels good and your brain feels good, too, because there's not guilt and food noise all going on in there. Be intentional. Use your hunger scale. Choose your favorites. One plate's enough.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:10:17]:
And save room for dessert if you want it. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I want to say one last thing. Sometimes the holiday gets a little hectic, and people don't always behave exactly how we'd like. So I want to take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of all your family and friends. I want to thank you for all you've done for them in this holiday time. Running around, standing in line, doing things you didn't have time for. Thank you for that.
Stephanie Fein MD [00:10:58]:
You really make a difference, and your effort is greatly appreciated. Even if you don't hear it from them, know that for yourself. You are someone who cares about their loved ones, and you show that by your actions and the things you've done have made a difference. So thank you so much for that, for creating an opportunity for there to be warmth and sharing. It really makes a difference and it doesn't go unnoticed by everyone. I'm sending you so much love for a wonderful time with your family, with your friends, with yourself, whoever you're with. Happy Thanksgiving. Sending you so much love.
