Simple, Pre-Thanksgiving Exercises To Make You Strong

Thanksgiving is on my mind today, because I want to figure out some ways to help you deal with its challenges BEFOREHAND!.

After all, at your feasts, you’ll undoubtedly be surrounded by:

– Turkey galore
– Stuffing (probably with white flour)
– Sweet potatoes or yams, often covered in brown sugar or some other sugar
– Pumpkin pie

Am I leaving anything out?

What I’d like to suggest are these 3 simple pre-Thanksgiving exercises:

Exercise # 1: Think about the future: Envision 3 different scenarios

1. The day AFTER Thanksgiving, how will you feel if you have a bunch of all of the above-listed foods?
2. How would you feel if you had only one to three small bites of the last 3 quickie-carb items on my above food list?
3. How would you feel if you passed them all up?

My point is this: PLAN NOW exactly what you’re going to do! Know coming into celebration what you’re going to do — no matter what family situation you’re in; no matter what your feelings; no matter the level of your stress.

As for me, here is my commitment for the Thanskgiving meal:

– I might have one bite of the stuffing — if it looks good (which it rarely does to me).

– I will completely skip the dessert and bring an apple along just in case.

– I will have a sweet potato, if my cousin tells me it’s sugarfree.

– I might have a couple of bites if there’s an interesting bread (even if it’s white).

– I will eat turkey, even if it’s not organic.

I have NO nervousness or stress at all going into this carb-laden meal. This is so second nature to me — after all I’ve been watching my diet for 7-plus years, since kicking sweets back in 1998. For years, now, I simply don’t worry about food over the holidays any more.

Better yet, I know that the next morning, unlike many other people, I’ll feel energized, cheerful and full of pride and read to get out and exercise and enjoy being with my family.

You can choose now how you want to behave and how you want to feel afterwards.

Exercise # 2: Plan to enjoy the company of your wonderful family members or friends (if you’re with them).

This is what Thanksgiving is all about — you have a chance to chat and hang out with your beloved family members and friends.

Think about what you’ll say to think. Think about what you’ll ask them. Figure out a way to draw them out and bring them closer to you this Thanksgiving celebration. Remember, they’re what’s important — not the food that is served!

Exercise # 3: Think about what you’re grateful for, especially when hit by carb cravings!

Remember the purpose of Thanksgiving! We’re supposed to be THANKFUL for everything we have — the wonderful people in our lives, our families, our jobs, our accomplishments and more.

If you start to fret about food, switch your brain over to becoming thankful.

Train yourself like Pavlov’s dog: Carb cravings…. OK, thankfulness. It’s fun and simple! That’ll keep you from overeating and consuming low-quality carbs!

You can do all of these exercises today and all week — all holiday season, for that matter!

Wishing you a very happy Thanksgiving — and an even happier post-Thanksgiving day and weekend, where you’ll say, "Oh wow, I turned down sweets and all those simple carbs!" or "Oh wow, I only had a couple of bites of sweets and simple carbs!"

Now doesn’t that feel great?

Wouldn’t you be thankful and full of pride if that’s how you celebrated this year’s Thanksgiving?